River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-09-26
PuLvERlzlNG THE SOIL
An Operation That Pays for Itssif I'm Ono
or Two Seasons

An Operation That Pays for ItssIT I'm Ono
or Two Seasons
l am convinced that on clay uplauds
no other one thing (cost considered)
pays AZ we'll as thorough timing of
the soil. and it is one OF the serious
drawbacks that these lands. which are
naturally fertile, are so easily packed
by heavy rains and made hard and
cloddy. The advantages of a soil made
fine and mellow are that plant food is
unlocked and made available TO the
roots OF plants and that in dry weather
moisture is retained. as the mellow
surface acts as a mulch to prevent
evaporation. Making the soil fine
hastens the maturity OF plants. as they
will gain strong, vigorous growth in
less time than on a rough surface. For
this reason too much pains can not be
taken in preparing the seed bed for
wheat, as the season of growth is short
in the fall, and to insure that the plant
be we'll rooted, and that it make a
growth which will furnish winter pro-
lection it must be made fine and mel
low. The oats crop has only a short
period of growth, and from some years
experience in making a fine seed bed
for oats / conclude that it adds to the
yield and hastens maturity. For eight
years past have. by the use of har-
rows. and plank drag, made the seed
bed for my oats crop as fine as gar
den, and as many of my neighbors fol-
low the old plan of sowing oats on the
plowed land without narrowing, and
then covering them with an Indifferent
narrowing. | have had q good chance
to compare the two methods, and con-
clude that the fine seed bed often adds
one-third to the crop.
Cost considered. the best implement
for pulverizing the soil is a plank
drag, and if | must choose between
this and a roller ! should take the
drag. To do the best work the drag
must be used on fresh-plOwed land, or
at that time after a rain when the land
| crumbles at touch. One great adj
vantage of the plank drag is that you
can go over so large a breadth with it
in day. Two horses can easily draw
one which covers a sweep of ten feet.
and with this from fifteen TO twenty
acres can be dragged in day. while
with drag eighteen feet long. and
two horses at each end from thirty to
forty acres can be covered in a day as
every mile the team walks covers over
two acres All that is needed to make
a plank drag is simply TO bolt the
planks together, laping each plank
four inches on the top OF the one in
front of it. Using strong, three
eights to half inch bolts and iron
washers, and put in enough OF them to
make the drag firm and strong. find
three planks two inches thick, foot
wide, and ten feet long, make drag
of just about the right weight for two
horses when the driver rides. To
hitch TO it there should be two clevises
attached at equal distances from each
end, so that they will be from five to
six feet apart Attach a chain to
them with enough slack so that in
drawing the double trees will be foot
and half from the drag. This will
make 1t run steadily while if the hitch
is too near the center il will see-saw;
first one end and then the other being
ahead.
While we want fine seed bed for
wheat, it must not be loose, for this is
fatal to the crop, and when the plow-
ing was deferred until near seeding
time, it is very difficult to get the seed
bed compacted as it ought to be with
an ordinary roller or drag. There is a
cast-iron roller manufactured which is
the best implement for this purpose |
ever saw. 1t is called 1.-THE pulver-
izer," and is made in ten sections.
each turning independently from the
other. At the sides of each section
are hanges extending about three
inches which pack the land and crush
the clods. If you bend your hand at
the middle knuckle so that the middle
joint of the fingers will rest flat on the
table aud spread the fingers apart and
rock the hand you will get an idea OF
the way it works. 1t weighs about
one thousand pounds, but runs light
for two horses, and retails. 1 think, at
forty dollars. 1t is very durable, as
there is little wood about it. / have
had mine ten years and it is as good
as ever. One of these pulverizers will
answer for two or more farmers, as
something like twenty acres a day can
be covered by one of them. There is
no question that our lands need more
pulverizing now than they did when
they were new and had more vegeta-
BILE matter in them, and the farmer
who has the best Implements for this
purpose and uses them with the best
Judgment. will get the best crops. -
Waldo F. Brown. in Ohio Farmer