The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1894-05-05
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
THE WHY AND WHEREFORE OF
FLOWING.
Five Good Reasons for the Process
Keeping Teams Busy Small Farms
Poultry for Women-Pork Pointers
and Household Helps.
Why We Plow.

Q) To bury a surface growth of
sod under the soil, where, by it's
decay, it will add it's elements of fer
tility to the general stock of plant
food already in the soil. (2) To kill
weeds, thereby obtaining a clean sur
face, so that crops may enjoy undis-
puted and sole possession of the soil.
(3) To thoroughly pulverize the soil,
so as to make a perfect seed bed for
the young and growing plant. ()
To break the crust after each rain, so
that the land may imbibe its full
share of air, heat and moisture
In preparing the land for the
reception of the seed it is highly i'm
portant that the husbandman know
just exactly how to plow; but after
the ground is all we'll prepared, and
the crops all planted, it becomes
doubly necessary to know, not only
how to plow, when to plow, but also
why it is necessary to pillow at all, and
what we expect to accomplish by it.
In whatever manner the ground may
have been prepared for the crop,
whether by plowing deep or shallow,
surface cultivation, oft repeated,
should be the order of the day, for
any and all crops that have to be
cultivated by plowing and hoeing.
This ''surface cultivation not only
kills all grass and weeds, but break
ing the crusts after each rain, opens
up the soil to the air, allowing it to
enter to be absorbed by the soil, and
to pass out from the soil freely. This
loose surface is, in short, the lungs
that enable both the soil and the
roots of plants to breathe This
"breathing process' is not only of
prime necessity to the healthfulness
OF the growing plant. but is also es-
sential to that important process
termed 'nitrifcation, by which Or
ganic nitrogen in the soil is changed
into nitrates, the form into which
nitrogen is appropriated by the
plants almost exclusively. Nitrif-
cation requires pretty high tenn
perature. but in soils that contain
liberal supply of humus, and are
stirred frequently with the plow, cul-
tivator Or harrow, will llago6 on rapid
y LII ouSH w W0dUu0I DIS we uSudllV
have after, say, June l.
Large quantities of land scattered
here and there over the United States
are so close in tex ture, so tenacious
and air-excluding as to be almost
barren, says the Journal of Agricul-
ture; yet these same semi barren
soils contain, in their natural state,
exhaustless quantities of plant food,
ottentlmes proving to be the strong
est soils we have. This state of
semi-barrenness is sometimes due to
too much water, but still oftener to
lack of aeration of the soil; or to
make the matter plain as possible, a
lack Of lungs to breathe with. This
breathing process can be brought
about by drainage where the lands
are too wet; by deep plowing on all
soils that will stand deep plowing;
and, thorough plowing on any and
all soils. Thorough cultivation
Gncluding subsoil plowing, harrow
ing, rolling, etc. unIocks the stores
OF plant food the soil contains.
Where the ground is lumpy and
cloddy, it is in too coarse form to
be utilized BY the roots of plants (no
matter how rich in plant food these
coarse particles may be), and they
must be thoroughly pulverized by
frequent and thorough cultivation
before they can be made available
as plant food. The more FREQ uent
the cultivation and the more CON-
plete the pulverization of the soil,
the greater the quantity of plant
food that is made, availa BILE, and the
more rapid and luxuriant will be
the growth of the plants. One fact
should always be borne in mind, that
is that plants do not eat, they drink;
consequently no matter how voraci-
Gus feeder a plant may be, it can
not eat clod, nor appropriate it to
their uses in any manner. A clod is
dead property, worthless, unprof-
table, good for nothing. Most men
would complain when forced to pay
tax on a horse that was dead and
sumed by the flames; a clod is equally
dead.
We come now to the fifth, and what
we consider the most important
reason, why we plow, viz, conserva-
tion of soil moisture. To consever
the moisture that is deposited in the
earth by rains and melting snow,
and even by dews, necessitates deep
preparation of the soil previous to
planting so that the rains may be
readily absorbed. When absorbed
it must not be allowed to escape by
evaporation; but, if the full benefit
of the winter and spring rains are to
be realized, the moisture must be
carried quickly down beyond the i'm
mediate reach of the .evapora ting
influences of the sun. Stored deep
in the earth, a perpetual reservoir,
it is ready to be brought to the sur
face for the use of growing plants
when needed by the capillary
action of the earth. In order to
make this matter plain, we would
say that after every rain the soil ia
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