The Van Buren press., 1895-05-25
FARMER AND PLANTER
GOOD FARMING.

e,r Fvn<aneatnl Priacaplss o. which
QeoA Farming = based.
The, farmer who has always In his
mind the ak principles or factors IN
plant growth should never be bothered
about what work he should do every
day in the year.
1t Is absolutely necessary to his sue.
cess in crop raising that he should
know not by name merely, but thor
ouRhly understand the work and influ-
ence Of every ono of these principles.
As they are all necessary factors or
agents In the growth and maturity OF
a good crop of anything. it follows that
il one is absent and neglected there
will be failure, ometimes more and
sometimes less. -&s
These principles are good seed, good
seed bed, fertility Of soil, moisture,
heat and sunshine. Ignorance of one
or more of these in farming makes
rote farming. This kind Is frequently
successful. but sometimes not; and
when not, the rote farmer doesn't know
the reason why. and can not correct
his errors.
The object of this writing is to stim-
ulate study Of all OF these principles,
because knowledge of them will be
q guide to the farmer, telling him
every morning what work he should
do that day. and how he should do it.
Good seed means . well-developed
and matured seed of Its kind free from
the seed Of every other growth. The
largest is not always the best. 1t Is
important that it should have grown
in crop that was as pure Of its kind,
and as free from disease as possible.
The fall months is the best time to
select seed corn. All through the
winter while feeding stock is next best
time. just before planting is the worst
time.
Much good work in the making Of .
good seed bed can be done in the fall,
even for the. next spring planting.
January and February are generally
wet months in my latitude (southern
kentucky, no profitable work can be
done in or on ground when it is wet at
any season of the year. By good
seed bed mean soil thoroughly pull
verified before or at the time OF plant
ing and then packed II the ground is
dry. Some work in the making of a
poor soil richer can be done all the
year round. The only rule wish to
advise at this time is that soluble
manures put on land when wet, is
more than one-half lost Dry ground
has strong affinity Tor attracting and
preserving liquid manure, but il it is
already wet the fertility will pass of
with the surplus water
The meaning Of moisture as here
contemplated is that the soil In which
the plant roots are feeding shall have
just enough water in it to make the
plant food soluble and the soil friable,
but not sticky. Our crops don't wish
to have their roots in either wet or dry
ground.
The meaning Of heat Is that the soil
shall have that degree of temperature
most favorable to the termination and
growth of the desired crop. In some,
such as garden peas, Irish potatoes
rye, wheat and some other grains, q
low temperature is best. But for beans
sweet potatoes, corn, cotton, tobacco
sorghum and southern stock pea the
soil can hardly have too much warmth
in it. ~
BY sunshine is meant that every
plant shall receive its share OF the di
rect rays Of the sun. Because it i.
solar light pulsating, its ETHEREAL wavel
through soil and plants that creates
vegetable life and stimulates growth
We may talk about artificial heat
light and electricity; but there woult
not be upon this globe either vegetable
or animal life If 1t were not for thu
power, the agency and guardianship
Of the sun. The short-sighted farme
may say that he will make his LAM
rich, that he will make good seet
bed, that he will plant good seed, tina
he will cultivate well, but for the matte
of moisture, heat and sunshine, he will
trust to Providence. He may quot
Scripture and say that God said t,
Noah that, "While the earth re
maineth, seed time and harvest, an,
cold and heat, and summer and winter
and day and night, shall not cease
This was promise that is being full
filed. But there came with tha
promise the command to live by tn
sweat Of the face-to subdue the earth
and to possess it, and to be co-labor
er with nature. Where moisture an
heat are deficient we can increas
them. Where there is too mucl
moisture, heat or sunshine W
can diminish them, or which
the same thing, protect our crops from
them. We can SO cultivate as to In
tensify the influence Of either Of thes
on our crops when needed. l remen
ber one late, wet spring while l was
young man l covered my corn fror
three to four inches deep, while my, ad
Joining neighbor covered his one inch
His came up and did well, and min
rotted. His corn had around 1t prope
amount Of moisture; mine had to
much. His corn had temperature @
20 or 30 degrees Of heat more tha
mine. A weak sunshine nursed hi
corn into a new life, while mine neve
felt its genial influence. ] re
member again that 1t was very dry
hot spring and summer that did nc
get all my land intended for tobacc
set out, and 1t was on the 1st day c
July I planted some Of the ground i
corn, covering it six inches deep, bt
cause found little moisture at tina
depth. The strong sunshine brough
it up before the next rain. l remembe
another year when it was q cold, we
spring, and one Of my neighbors an
myself had each field of corn that W
had been cultivating on the level sy,
tenn because it was the time of the yea
IN av-ant -r,nrvxx I,xx ,..ocAlz.