The colored patriot., 1882-05-04
Flowing.

There is no work on the farm that
REQUIRES more care than the operation
Of blowing. And yet how many there
are who call themselves good farmers
who vet seem to act upon the princl-
pie that if the soil is turned over no
matter how it is done, it will pass.
Again, how many are there who study
soil in relation to the manner in which
it should be plowed, as to depth, Pul.
verization, and form of the turrow!
How large proportion offarmers have
but one kind of plow for all soils, or
conditions of soil to be plowed?
The object of plowing is to so stir OF
turn the soil as most easily to bring 1t
into state best adapted for the crops
to be raised, whether the soil be prai-
rie sod, green sward, second sod, trashy
land, stubble land or fallOw. Feftu-
nately, in the West, the soil is so free
from obstacles, and, as rule, so easy
to plow, that stout boy can do as
good work there as competent plow-
man can in grubby, stony. or more diff
licult soil. Added to this the admira.
Bile forms of plows manufactured, and
the attachments thereto. have almost
made the operation OF blowing simply
to correctly gauge the depth, and the
capacity of keeping the burrows
perfectly straight.
No matter how good the plow, unless
it is properly adjusted it cannot do
good work When n coulter is used,
whether a rolling CT rigid coulter, it
must be adjusted 50 the line of draft
will be true, Often the difficulty with
2 plow partially worn is, that the beam
is out of line, bolts are lost, nuts get
loose, and yet the rlow is too often al
lowed to run day after day with little OF
no attempt to put it in proper trim.
when, if this were done the plOw would
be carried along III free land, almost
without the aid of the plowman, or so
nearly that light grasp only should
be required to keep it in correct line.
In fact in free sols. if a modern made
plow does not run nearly itself,you may
be pretty sure that something is wrong.
In fact, dclicacy and lightness Of touch,
is by no means out of place IN q plow-
man, for this, with a correct eye, is
what enables man to do good plow.
ing.
In relation to the rationale of plow.
inc, the American EnclyclOpedia OF
Agriculture says: "a soil in finely
pulverized state holds more moisture
microscopic water--than when in q
solid state. A single experiment will
show this. A field plowed i'll the fall
will retain larger amount of moisture
in the spring than If it were left un-
| plowed. Finely pulverized soil, when
in !: dry state, takes up moisture equally
from the air, and with it large quanti-
ties of nitrogen compounds. Thus pO.
rous soils, because cool, are constantly
conden8ing water during drouths, and
hold the constituents it contains to be
taken up by the rOOtlets, and assimi.
| lated by plants. Soils thoroughly un-
der drained, when allowed to rest, be-
come honey-cOmbed by insects to the
water line occupied by the drains, and
hence these serve as channels to quick
| ly conduct the rain which falls imme.
diately away. This, however, is not
what is wanted, for thus the fertilizino
properties in rain water do not come
intimately in contact with the soil, and
are lost; thus the error into which GER
tain superficial experimenters have
been led, in suppOsing that drained
lands would not Stand drought. If the
surface soil were pulverized to depth
of from six to ten inches or more, the
case would be very different. 1t would
then act as q filter, passing the water
off more slowly, but still fast enough,
and, in addition, the elements of fer.
tility would be retained and the whole
area of the soil uniformly moistened." ("
In blowing each person must act fo1
himself. Volumes have been written
as to how to lay the burrows, and in
relation to every minuti;e connected
with turning the soil. These are aids
to a correct understanding of the sub
iect, but practice alone must be the
means to enable one to do the work in
the most perfect manner. The general
principles are that the lands must b'
laid out straight. and the burrows KEEP
so true that there will not be varia
ton of more than one furrow at tht
close. The team should walk evenly
and steadily, and directly forward. ant
to do this they should not be overload
ed. Then if the plowman will keep hi
attention fixed upon his work, so tina
each furrow is turned alike, and 0
even depth, the plow being of prope
form for the work in hand, there is NJ
reason why any person of fair judgmen
with little practice, may not plov
with the best.
AS to the amount of blowing q team
will doin a day, we give the followin!
table, showing the travel necessary t
plow an acre, according to the breadtl
of furrow turned, from an eight to
| siXtpnn-innh flIrrnW.