Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1895-05-16
A TELLING LECTURE.


mirable lecture felt very much en-
riched along the line Of agriculture
knowledge. Our fellow.townsman
Andy Linn, for instance, at the con
clusion Of the lecture, declared ii
"open courts" II would not have
missed IL for five dollars; no, not fol
twenty-five dollars" And the crowd
we're disposed to cheer Andy's senti'
ment.
In reporting this mastery lecture,
we shall be brief. Following is an
imperfect synopsis of the salient
features of the address:
All soil is rock.
Water percolates rapidly through
big rocks; very slowly through fine
rocks (soiD
Leaves are the lungs of plants. A
healthy condition Of plant food is;
One-half soil, one-fourth water, one
fourth air.
Water, if the quantity be sufficient,
sinks into the ground by soaking
equally all parts which it reaches
In order TO effect this adjustment, it
is ready to move sldewise or even up
wards quite as readily as downwards
The great difficulty in conserving
moisture In Kansas is the rapidity
with which nature works her evaporat-
ing pump as the surface of the ground
becomes dry. There is for this diff
Guilty a sovereign remedy. Moisture
cannot evaporate upwards through
dry soil made into q mulch by con-
slant stirring. Following every rain
the soil should be stirred to the depth
of two inches.
Showers of rain always work in
jury where they fail to wet through
to wet soil below.
Fine soil will always rob coarse
soil of moisture. Put your fine soil
where you want roots to grow
whether near the top Of the ground
or down apiece.
A record Of the corn crops in Kan
sas for 33 years shows that the maxi
mum temperature in the month Of
July controls their yields. In July,
1868 year of almost total corn fail
ure in Kansas the average tempera-
ture was 115 degrees. There has
not been in Kansas since 1876 as dry
a year as 1875 was; but, acreage con.
sidered, that years corn crop was the
greatest in the history Of the state
In July, 1875, the temperature sus-
tanned the low average of SO degrees.
When the average temperature for
July goes above 100 the corn crop
drops below 81 bushels to the acre,
Every degree above 100 adds enor.
mously to the evaporation.
Subsoiling is one of the remedies
for excessive evaporation. Provision
must be made against the waste of
torrentail rains. You cannot afford
to let drop Of water run off a plowed
field. Ram does not wait for unstirr-
ed subsoil to welcome it. 1t moves
on, taking the best Of the soil with it.
Sixteen inches of subsoil will hold
five inches Of " alter. AS for blowing,
aside from subsoillng, pillow gradually,
year by year, until you get foot deep,
(Mr. Hilton, like the FARMER, believes
in deep blowing. Like the FARMER,
he acknowledges that the concensus
of opinion IN the West is against that
policy. But here IS where reason
comes to the rescue of the advocaters
of deep plowlng. Corn roots, said the
lecturer, 60 four feet into the ground
and spread lsterally beyond the first
row at either side. Corn can do
nothing IN four or five inch blowing.
Prepare the ground for corn before
After that, rely upon mulch
cultivation, stirring to the depth of
three inches the first time and two
inches at each subsequent cultivation.
Corn cannot be 'lsid away" IN this
country until it is made. The evapor-
alton is greatest after people general
ly have laid away their Germ. The
topmulching process should be con-
stantly applied until the crop has
reached its full development Ten
years from now a double cultivstor
will not be used in a corn field in this
country A new corn cultivator, more
m I've order Of a harrow, must DO in
tented.