Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-05-06

tivator, going over the ground four
times, twice each way; after which go
over the ground with a hoe and cut off
the few struggling weeds that are left,
before they go to seed, laying it by or
finishing the cultivation about the mid
die of July, in time to be ready for the
harvesting of my small grain. The
other portion Of my cultivated ground,
Chat which was in corn the year before)
I SOW with small grain in the following
manner: Sowing it broadcast by hand,
putting on about two bushels of wheat
and three bushels OF oats per acre. I'M
mediately after the grain is sowed it
should be cultivated with either a
double shovel or two-horse cult
vator, cultivating the ground the
same way as if intending to cultivate
corn. After the ground is cultivated in
sufficient amount co commence harrow
ing, then take a harrow and drag down
the corn~stalks crosswise Of the way it
was cultivated in, taking an even num-
Der Of corn rows in each Of the lands
laid out. Do not clean the harrow, but
let it fill up with the old dry corn-stalks.
When full of rubbish it Will leave the
stalks distributed evenly over the
ground, whereas, if a person undertook
to keep the harrow clean he would not
only tire himself out handling it SC
often, but would also leave the stalks in
small piles scattered over the field. At
ter going over the field one way with the
harrow, drag it the second time in an
opposite direction from the way it was
narrowed the first time. It is then fin
ished until ready for harvesting. 1t
leaves the ground smooth and mellow,
and the corn stalks broken down and
scattered evenly over the field. prefer
this way of sowing small grain over the
old way of cutting off the corn stalks
and burning them before sowing, for
several reasons:
l. It is less work to put In the crop,
saving the labor Of cutting of the stalks
and raking and burning them before
commencing to SOW.
2. By leaving the stalks on the ground
they act as mulch, keeping the soil
moist andmellow and also preventing the
wind FROM blowing the loose, dry sur
face soil from off the grain before it
terminates and comes up.
8. By leaving the stalks on the ground
and blowing them under after harvest
stacking, they help toward renovating
the soil, keeping it from wearing out as
soon as it would otherwise and thus
causing it to produce larger yields.
Mulching is an auxiliary operation
that would be more generally practiced
if its beneficial effects were better I'M
derstood. Its object is two-fold, viz /:
to preserve uniform degree of moist
ure in the soil and protect the roots of
the young plants from the frosts of win
ter and the hot dry winds of summer.
These conditions are obviously important
to vegetation, and can be efficiently Sc
cured by partially covering the ground
by this stratum of cornstalks, which
will prevent the surface soil from be-
coming compact or hard, and at the
same time assist in maintaining uni
formity in its mechanical texture favor
able to the retention of moisture.
Bodies are represented as good or bad
conductors just as they are solid or por-
GUS. Air is the best non-condnctor of
moisture. A kard-trodden path is
colder in winter and warmer in summer
than the cultivated ground alongside
of it. When the soil particles are in
pressed contact the condition is favor
able to conduction; as the summer winds
passing over the surface carry off the
moisture which the heat evaporates, the
surface soil is speedily parched dry and
hard, and vegetation languishes. Cor.
Dakota Farmer.