The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-01-03
FARMS AND FARMERS.
Short Talks With the Men Who
Guide jhs Flow.
OF GENERAL INTEREST TO FARMERS.


after New Year. Rains or hard freezes often
cut down available working time between this
and spring. to avery small amount After a
little while oat sowing will come on, and that
will reduce the time for general work still
more. If one has stubble or rested land. adj
vantage should be taken. therefore Of every
good working day now, to break it up. Not
that ii would not produce as we'll, or better if
broken later but because it is not wise TO de-
fer too much work till spring. For much
orowding then makes hurried, imperfect work,
and as between breaking early, and imperfect
work in spring, We should always choose the
early breaking. The decision reached that the
plows must start, the next question is
the order of the breaking; what kind of land
first, which next and so on.
By common consent, stubble and rested land
has precedence, because the debris on these
prevent, or rather counteract, the
running together of the soil. Stubble land
first and clean land (cotton) last. But the ma
ture Of the soil should be considered, as well
as the growth on the land in deciding the Or
der OF breaking. The general rule should be
to break first such land as has least tendency
to run together. The running together is the
chief objection to early breaking. The object
of breaking and cultivating land is to secure
and maintain fine filth. With some soils this
is very hard to do-and every operation should
pc regulated with reference to it. Unfor-
tunately there is large quantity of Just such
soils. Old time land, with clay subsoil near
the surface, for instance. 1t is hard to break
1t deep, hard to pulyerize it finely, and worst
of ALL if you succeed in break
ing and pulverizing it, it will not
stay broken and pulverized. Again there
are close, tight clays, without grit or sand,
often seen in blue limestone regions, which
run together very badly, even when compare
lively well filled with vegetable matter. All
such lands as these should be broken as late as
possible. If we had cold dry winters, the
freezes might rectify matters but hard freezes
are rare, and heavy rains are common in our
climate. On the contrary, deep soils and light
soils will bear early breaking better. Clay
plays the chief part in the running together of
soils, Its particles are so fine they can go
with water as it sinks down and spreads
through the SOIL and thus fill up its pores.
Sand soon settles down if mixed with water,
and the whole is stirred up. Clay, under like
circumstances, remains suspended in water
long time. Fresh land will bear early break
ing better than old land, because its soil is
usually deeper; it is filled with vegetable mat
ter, which imparts lightness, and the clay sub
soil is less mixed with the surface soil by the
plow. In deciding, therefore, the
order of breaking, study the soils
Of different tieds-break enough land to keep
from being crowded in spring, but defer break
ing all you can, until a later day. If it were a
practicable thing, it would be well to defer the
breaking of all, but light sandy Soils until
just before planting time. Exception IS made
OF light sandy soils, because after being broken
they are improved by being somewhat compac-
ted again.
How to plow and with what plows, is the
next question. Whilst pulverizing the soil is
leading object in blowing it, the thorough
mixing of the various parts of the soil with
each other, is hardly less important. At one
spot. plant food has been exhausted by the
roots OF previous crop, i'll another it has not
rain water has carried down plant food from
the surface toward the subsoil and accumula-
ted it at lower level. These inequalities
need to be corrected. a uniform distribution
of plant food is desirable, that all the soil
water may have an opportunity to dissolve
some Of it, and Il good solution of average
strength be everywhere in the soil instead of too
strong solution here, and too weak one
there. Uniform distribution is also desirable.
that a root may find some plant food wherever
It goes. Turning over the land mikes the soil
If you wish to mix compost heap thoroughly,
you put shovel underneath and bring the
bottom to the top. The turn plow acts in sim
liar manner. Especially is this true, if the fur
row slice is turned only a little more than half
over, and left standing on its edge instead Of
being turned completely over This is the
kind Of turning to be recommended always in
the breaking of land Some Of the surface is
carried down as deep as the ploW runs, and
some of the deeper layer is brought clear up to
the surface The intermiXture is complete.
But when the soil is very thin, and the clay
near the surface, only n very thin fuIrow slice
can lie turned over without bringing too much
clay to the surface, and, therefore, the land
cannot be broken sufficiently deep with the
turn pillow. That is true. Either a subsoiler
must follow the turn pillow, or a different pillow
be used. In such case, we prefer a two horse
scooter Get a plowstock as large, as
heavy, and as strong as that Of
two horse turner, let it have
an IRON foot like onc-horse scooter pillow.
only longer and stronger, and put strong.
long five or six inch wide scooter on it. Such
pillow viii break land from six to eight inches
deep without turning it over. 1t is an adj
hlirable plow Tor thin soils with clay subsoils.
Does exactly the same work as an ordinary
one-horse scooter, except that it will run deep-
er and clog less. Except on the highest soils.
a one-horse pillow should never be used for
breaking land. It is both cheaper and every
way more satisfactory to use two-horso plows.
Every one-horse farmer would do we'll to
swop work with lis uejghboi and have a
double team for breaking land. To recapitu-
late. Break only 50 much land as will prevent
you from being crowded towards planting
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