The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1861-04-20

larry attraction may freely go on, without too
great access of air to dry out the aqueous
vaPor thus deposited, and supplied among
the particles. ! say without compactlng
the ground again, for it is self-eyident that
you might roll il with so heavy weight, or
in SO Wet a condition, a. To make IL Just as
compact and unfit for crop as II was be-
fore it was pIowed at all. For example, If
you set out young tree without treadlng
the soil at all about the roots, when il Is dry
and in good order, il will be So loose, and
so full of of air, that the tree will probably
die, although very hardy. But on the other
| extreme, you may pound your soil SO hard
as to kill even locust. Therefore, when
we say of soil that is as loose a pile OF
sawdust. that il is too loose and needs roll
ing, we do not mean that il needs rolling
till it is hard as milestone and vice versa,
when we say il is too close and needs stirring,
we do not mean that it should be turned
simply bottom up, and again there left like
loose pile OF cobs and sawdust.
| To show exactly what We do mean, take
quart of soil of any sort and rub it in your
hands till you get it as hne as you can make
! it; put it into dish and press 1t down
gently with your hand till it fe-ls quite firm
to the touch now we say that soil is in The
best possible condition for any sort of root
to grow in, usually cultivated on our farms,
and The nearer you get whole field like
that, and the deeper you get it SO. the better
will be your crops of all sorts, except those
that are liable to an excess of growth, as
wheat and oats are on some soils. Such are
the best possible conditions of soil. so far
as air and moisture are concerned, as l sup
pose almost every intelligent farmer in the
State well knows and this end he aims to
secure as we'll as he can. am strongly OF
| the opinion that such an habitual condition
of the surface of the soil not ouly furnishes
the best possible indus and nourishment to
the roots of the plants, but also that it tends
in some way to bring 10 the surface. not
only the requisite amount of moisture by
capillary attraction from below. but with il
| also the needful mineral and other food for
the plant. deposited in the soil at great
depths below Hence the extreme value of
rich subsoil, free from all stagnant water.
or excess of water, even though the roots
may get their food mainly near the surface.
But our learned men have not yet been able,
SO far as am aware, fully to demonstrate
this point.
But the best condition of growth, from
due degrees of warmth, in the soil, has new
er Jet been considered in connection with
the art of blowing. so far as know. In
deed, it has not been suspected that the
mode of blowing could materially affect this
result, either way: and yet it is self-evident,
both from philosophy and experience, that
it does vastly affect it. Now, the heat in
the surface of the soil comes from two
sources, just as the moisture does-fronl
below and from above-from he sun and
from the earth. Many biologists suppose
that the interior Of the earth is one molten
mass of liquid fire, many times hotter than
red-hot iron. Be this as it may, it is well
known TO all, that under deep snow that
operates as Il blanket TO keep this interior
heat of the earth from rallating from the
surface. it has much power as 70 grain
ally thaw out the ground deeply frozen be
fore the snow fell NV, it Is equally wei
known that rough surfaces radate heat with
vastly greater rapidly than smooth ones
and the more rough surface there Is, the
greater the loss ty radiation of The heat thai
rises from the interior of the earth, while
the same conditions even more rapidly di
minish the amount OF heat absol bed from
the sun, from most obvious causes. Bu
for corn crop, the heat that Is stoWec
away in the surface of the earth in the early
\ part of the season, is as important as The
moisture or the manure /; for corn needs I
} vast amount of heat to bring it forward early
! and well hence, cold springs are almos
; universally followed by light crops, howeve
good the rest of the season. Now, take ant
pillow two or more burrows through any fielC
whatever, and leave those burrows rougl
and uneven. full of ridges and Jumps on the
d. q,
very light, chaffy or uncompressed soil
as is common in new fill; pillow again th.
same number IF burrows right alongside, anc
roll them down smooth and level as soon a
! Plowed. and we shall find that tue ,0eeds q
; all sorts will spring up on the rolled burrows
from one to two weeks sooner than on The
unrolled ones. The same thing in principle
!. is also seen in every field after corn plante
which rolls the ground. Now, the rea
cause of this early start of the weeds, is no
/, simply the increased Gneness of the soil
and consequent better indus for the seed o
: all sorts, both of crops and weeds; but thu
increased amount of heat such smooth sur
i. faces absorb day by day from the power o
| the sun, and retain in The soil, both from
the sun from above and from the centra
heat of the earth beneath, thus bringing tht
sou 10 the uetuiuI "dFfnL0 EOr gel ID ildtlO0
. from one to two weeks sooner in one cas-
: than in the other. For where the surface
is rough and covered with clods, the hea
: of the sun that strikes the ciods by day ii
! blown away at night, instead of being alb
sorbed into the ground. while the in:erna
) heat already there by this increase anC
| roughness of surface is radiated and dissi
! pated in the air with proportioned rapidity
and thus. by this thoughtless and careless
} mode of cultivation. or rather of blowing
one of the three most vital elements, espe
} eially for good corn crop, is being contin
ually thrown away into the air. and lost e
the uses of the early and vigorous starting
: of the crop. A properly smoothed or role,
: field will thus perhaps be accumuIating III.
prime element of all growth, this heat. for
) whole month. IN its bosom for future use
/, while rough one will ,iissipate every nj n
all il gained the day before.
Hence the advantage OF rolling moderate
: ~. all ground as fast as it is pIowed. or dur
. ing the act of blowing; or if that il no
practicable, as soon after as possible. NV
some may dispute the soundness of thi
theorv Or exclamation and further lisa