Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-25
Good Preparation of the Soil.

No part of farm work pays better or is
more essential to successful cropping
than a thorough preparation of the soil
in advance of seeding Many farmers are
careless of this, thinking that they can
make up for good preparation by good
culture after the crop has been started.
This is a deception and a snare, against
which the State Herald would sound its
warning. With the pillow, the harrow and
the roller prepare the land thoroughly in
advance. An old saying is, "A crop that
is we'll put in is half made" From long
experience we recognize Its truth. A
good mechanical condition of the soil
bears a close relation to successful re-
suits as a general rule than a moderate
application 600 pounds, say) of CONNER
cial fertilizer. There is no question that
a thorough pulveriZation of the soil to
depth of from to inches just prior to
planting and then cultivating the crop
afterwards in such a manner as to Sc
cure the continued pulverization of the
surface soil is easily made equivalent to
an ordinary application of commercial
fertilizer. In other words, intensive prep
aration of the soil with intensive cultiva-
ton without manure or much of 1T is
more than likely to produce more salts
factory results than poorly prepared soil,
haphazard cultivation and the usual APP
plication of manure. From some obserVa-
ton of the matter we are inclined to
think that great many farmers hold the
worn soil 200 pounds of commercial fertil-
izer they have done about all that is nee
essary. They look to the fertilizer to
make good the deficiency of poor prepa-
ration and poor cultivation. 1t is a sad
mistake. Unfortunately, most farmers
overcrop themselves They plant more
land than they can properly prepare and
cultivate 1t is quite true that If farmers
in this section of the country did all the
blowing that they should do in December
and January there would not be any
thing like the area of badly prepared
soil that is now the case
A farmer need only to test the matter
once to realize how much he will gain by
putting the land in thorough condition
for the seeds before they are planted. If
the soil is so prepared 1t obviates the ne
cessity for that prompt working that
must be given the starting crop on land
poorly prepared and less cultivation will
be necessary in all probability.
Finely pulverized soil presents a better
medium for the free upward circulation
of internal moisture and shallow STIR
ring of such soil promotes its deposit of
moisture in the form of dew, causing
q more energetic attraction between the
moisture of the atmosphere, the descend
ing moisture Is 1t were, and the moisture
of the earth, the ascending moisture, the
common meeting ground of which is at
or near the surface. 1t Is wonderful how
little rain is necessary to making a crop
of corn on land that has been finely pre-
pared at the start and then properly Gull
tivated with cultivator and harrow. The
crop that would fail utterly on badly pre-
pared soil would, under conditions of
drought be a fair average crop on the
well-prepared soil. We would beg every
farmer to take the necessary time to pre-
pare his soil properly, let him plant what
he may. Even If the planting must be de-
ferred a week or ten days beyond what
was intended, let the preparatory work
| be what reason tells is right. You will
never regret. You will have no cause to
having made the start right, but you
| are almost sure to regret having planted
in ill-prepared soil.