Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-09-06
FARM and HOUSEHOLD.


hSiC diO 4cNCi boou pAO" ihSH ehoi
formerly, and with this decline IL
workmanship, there is less inJeres
taken TO do creditable work. So mucl
of the drudgery Of farm labor is nov
done by horse and steam power, tina
all kinds OF handiwork are more or les.
neglected. The sulky pillow does or
! good ground do away with the ncces
sity for skill in the plowman. But we
think that under many circumstance.
IL man and team with good steel pillow
can do better work than the sulky ar
rangements, in which the man merely
rides and drives. We find usually tina
when the sulky pillow does make a ballS
the team is rarely, If ever, backed up
TO remedy the mistake. Still, with
poor plowmen, probably the automatic
pillow will prove an improvement on
their practice.
The first blowing in the spring i:
usually OF com stubble in prepara-
ton for some spring grain. In all the
northern states, corn stubs are usually
loosened by the frost, SO that going
over them with a forty-tooth harrow
will tear them up, and in so doing fit
the ground most admirably for the
subsequent blowing. This breaks the
six TO ten acres per day, while two
acres is good days work in stubble
with the pillow with a single team.
The result is that the sol, opened to
light and air for two, 0,e or four
days before blowing rapi'y dries out,
and at the same time develops nitric
acid for the use of the coming grain
crop. We have too often seen the de-
cided advantage of this preliminary
blowing TO doubt it, Even on DO.
tato ground, where there is no stub
he to be broken down or rooted up,
this dragging before blowing will al
ways pay. 1t will make the work OF
blowing easier, and with the surface
smoothed down the blowing need not
DC SO deep.
In blowing for corn and othe> ;loed
crops, it is important not to have
many dead burrows. The latter in
these Us of moving and reaping
machines are u nuisance, though toll
cradle on undrained lands where win
ter grain is sown. For spring grain,
unless the land is unusually wet, we
would pillow back the dead burrows
three or four PAGES so as to level ii
down. But if sod land is plowed, this
is not practicable. The only way to
avoid dead furrow is not TO make it.
There must be at least one in the CEN
ire of the field. This often in irregu-
lar-shapcd fields becomes very deep.
usually there is corresponding ridge
around the piece against the fences,
thrown there by successive blowing
around the field. 1t is always good
policy in such cases to back furrow
three, five or ten PAGES from the fence.
thus not only remedying the difficulty
there, but making the dead burrows
in another place.
Sod ground should always be plowed
with a jointer. This is the technical
name OF the small pillow running a little
ahead OF the large one, the first mere
ly cutting one-half the sod, turning it
over on itself. and the pillow following,
bringing up three or four inches Of
loose soil, and throwing over both.
Glover sod plowed in this way works
up beautifully when narrowed. The
Tapped burrows of one or two Inches
beneath holds the soil loose so that air
and warmth enter the sod and manure
rots readily, and this starts the crop
to growing as soon as the seed touches
the soil. 1t is not possible to get corn
ground too light and warm. With the
Jointer much less deep blowing is nee
cssary to make good seed bed. In
fact. with some kinds of tough June
grass sods, it is not possible to fit the
and for hoed crops unlees the jointer
IS used.
1t will generally pay to subsoil heavy
lands In spring for the potato crop,
provided it is done while the soil is
not full of water. Opening the sub
soil makes it warmer in spring. and
II also retains supply of water for the
.inc roots of the potato to re CHI down
for moisture in time OF drought.
Thousands of acres of potatoes do not
produce half they should for lack of
,ubsoiling. 1t is better and safer to
plant fewer acres in this crop which is
necessarily expensive, and do the work
thoroughly. If the potato ground is
SUBSIDIZED and the manure applied is
turned under the surface fnrrow. and
good seed bed made. the crop will
ncarly always pay double what it
would without the extra preparation
OF subsoiling. The benefit from the
Subsolling endures several years unless
;he land is sodden with water In
TACT, there is some difference in the
soil ever after Land that has once
occn broken up is easier to dig into, as
IS found in digging DAT post holes or
following the limo OF drains. -Prac-
teal Farmer
Feeding with Hay
1t is the practice OF some farmers to
give their horses too much hay. There