The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-03-24
TWO LESSONS OF LAST YEAR.

A rainy spring will usually be follow
ed by dry summer, and cice UerSG.
This is a natural inference, for in the
same locality the annual rainfall and
the annual temperature vary but trlt1e,
as is shown by the records. Seasons do
repeat themselves in character, though
seldom two in succession, hence obSer-
vatiOn and memory may enable us to
draw useful lessons, and the outcome of
a crop season may in a degree he antici-
pated, as well as the wants and needs of
cultivation. The season of 1881 was
wet in spring our whole country over.
The West was visited with floods and
hurricanes such as had seldom been wit
messed before. In the East the season
was wet and growing crops had a fine
start and hay a good set, and which was
not materially shortened by the drought
OF summer. The early maturing crops
were usually good, having ripened before
the severity of the summer dTouth came
upon them but the corn, fruit and veg
etable crops were reduced in the aggre-
gate so per cent. below an ordinary av-
erage. And just here is to be learned a
lesson of profit. That is, that deeply
plowed lands, kept under constant or
frequent cultivation, produced full crops
OF corn, beans or potatoes. while these
crops on shallow plUwed and but little
stirred soils were almose a failure.
One farmer told me he planted five
acres to potatoes, on good soil, and
would not harvest in all enough for his
own family use. 1 harvested on nv
farm about two hundred bushels per
acre, and of fine quality. The land was
clover lea, dressed with about twenty
loads of unfermented yard manure,
turned under some eight or nine inches
deep, in rows three feet each way, was
mostly whole, lof medium size, some
large tubers were cut, and half a potato
planted in hill ; the cultivation was
thorough, and twice hand-hoed. Paris
green was applied once, soon after the
slugs of the beetle came out. which des-
troyed them. The planting was sdone
the first week in May, and the crop har-
vested the latter part of September.
\ leId, two hundred bushels per acre.
Corn land, prepared in similar manner,
by deep blowing and deep cultivation.
the weeds and thistles all cleaned out
by August, so nothing, could rob the
crop of moisture while the drOuth pre-
vailed, gave yield of fully 100 bushels
of ears to the acre, with a full abun-
dant growth of stalks.
In the dryest seasons good CROPS NAV
be grown by deep and frequent stirring
OF the soil. 1t is lesson that a farmer
should learn, that when weeds do not
grow for reason of dTOuth, his crops need
more cultivation than when wet, and
weeds grow freely. Another lesson
learned from the last season of drouth
is That wheat may be sOwn in dry
soil with safety to the seed, if sown
shallow, so that no moisture will cause
1t to malt without sufficient to germin-
ate it. At the usual seed time tie
drouth Was 50 severe that but few farm
ers ventured TO put in the seed, but
those who did, and drilled the seed
shallow, had as fine seeding after rain
fell as those who waited until after rain
had moistened the soil. Seeding was
generally deferred two or three weeks
after the usual time, till showers mois-
tened the surface but there is now no
difference observable between that Sown
before and that sOwn after the rainfall.
There was notable difference in the
effects of drouth on wheat seeding. be-
tween the seeding of 1880 and 1881.
There seems to have been no damage to
the seeding in she latter year, for the
plants never showed a more healthy and
uniform growth.
But in 1880 much fall-sOwn seed did
not germinate. even after rains fell in
torrents yet the dTOuth was at no time
nearly so severe as last year. l have
heretofore regarded it as certain, that
wheat sOwn in a soil too dry to germin-
ate it would be failure unless rain fell
very soon after. Frequently | have OBJ
served that in some portions of a field.
where the soil, being a little coarse, did
not retain moisture sufficient to geTmin-
ate the seed, subsequent rains did not
bring up more than a few scattering
plants. I once sowed a field of wheat
after corn crop. in very severe drouth
the ground being so dry that when
plOwed it was much like a bed of dry
ashes and not one-fOurth of the seed
ever grew. Last fall l commenced sow
ing on September 18th. anticipating rain
soon, but none fell of any account until
the twenty-ffth. Twenty-Five acres were
sOwn when the work was suspended un-
til rain came. The seed all came out
the first and last sowing equally well,
and at the same time. The entire alb
Sence Of moisture in the surface soil pre-
served the seed from injury, but little
moisture would have destroyed TT.
p. Root, an ". J. Tribune.