The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-05-19
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ERRORs IN SUMMER FALLowING
One Authority Who Claims 1t is Not
Benefit to the Soil

One Authority Who Claims 1t is Not
Benefit to the Soil
1t is generally believed that the soil
Is kept in a fertile condition by sim
Die summer fallow / differ from a
large majority of farmers on this sub
iect, and claim that summer following
as generally practiced is not benefit
to the SOIL 1t will give more bushels
per acre for few years. but in a short
time the soil will fail to respond to
The treatment. A large percentage of
Western farmers have an idea that
nrairie SOIL if summer falloWed every
few years, can never be exhausted.
This is fallacy which ought to be
corrected, and the sooner the better:
for it could be said with equal pro
priety that a lake would never become
dry were it's waters continuously
drawn out, there being no stream or
spring to replace that which was re-
moved. Every crop that is harvested
has taken a portion of the fertility
from the land, and to keep this up
something must be returned 1t is a
well known fact that there is a con
iinuOuS wasting in q mans body, and
that nourishing food is required daily
to supply this waste. The harder he
works the greater must be the supply
Of food. Our present method of sum-
mer following is too much like feeding.
a laboring man with Cruel and bran.
There is a method of summer falloW-
ing, however, which will enrich the soil
ild produce good crops for an indefi-
ate length of time. If there is any
Ill Il ~
to be summer fallowed and pillow it I'M
der. Some object to this because no
benefit is derived from the fertilizer
Until the following year. 1t is of more
hse however, when plowed under in
- This manner than if permitted to lie
about the barn and yards. If no ma
bure is available, SOW buckWheat, oats,
Dr rye as early in spring as possible,
and after it has made considerable
growth pillow it under. This requires
considerable labor but if one expects
to farm without doing much hard work
he had better quit. One OF the best
blanS of keeping up and restoring fer
lility is to seed to clover. The roots
penetrate deep into the SubSOil and
form innumerable channels, which per-
mits the dissolved salts in the ground
water to be carried to the surface, and
there deposited as plant food. The
Subsoil contains large amount of fer
tilizing material, which has been wash
ed down into it, and the clover roots
act as a subsoil plow, to loosen up the
soil and bring back it's richness to the
plant roots. One of the most import
ant elements in all vegetable and ami
NAL life is nitrogen, and clover takes
this from the air and deposits it in the
soil The three mineral essentials to
plant life are potash, phosphoric acid
and nitrogen. If these are exhausted
from the soil, and the few weeds and
old stubble that we pillow under in sum-
mer following do not contain sufficient
Of these to keep up the fertility, | can
see no lasting benefit from this prac-
tice. We will find it to our advantage
to keep more stock, cultivate fewer
acres and apply all the manure avail
able.-L. B. Smith in Orange Judd
Farmer