The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-12
Prepare Early for Drought.

Almost, every season, no matter how
abundant the supply of moisture In the
early months, there comes a period of
drought in July, August or early Septem-
Der which shortens many crops, taking
away all the profit. says the Agriculturist
The effect is usually more noticeable if
the drouth follows a spring and summer
marked by excessive precipitation, for the
ground has been packed by the heavy
beating of the rain and the chances are
that in the anxiety to get to work in the
spring, the fields have been plowed and
narrowed while wet. Such land is in poor
condition to withstand dry weather later
in the season unless very judciously han
died. If the rains should continue through
out the season, of course there will be
little need of special treatment but this
condition of affairs seldom exists.
The best possible preparation for bought
is to pillow the ground to a good depth,
thoroughly pulverize the seed-bed COM
pact it and then with a light harrow loos-
en- the upper two or three inches of soil.
For small grain crops, as well as newly
seeded grass fields this is about all that
can be done. In other words, the drought
has TO be prepared for entirely before
seeding with these crops. But not so with
corn. The method of culture has much
TO do with the ability of the crop to with
stand drought. Cultivate as little and as
shallow as possible consistent with the
keeping down of weeds and preservation
of a dust mulch. 1t is a common error
to cultivate deeply the first time but if
the corn has attained hight of four or
five inches, roots foot or more long will
have been formed and many of these will
be broken by the cultivator shovels if
they are run deep the first time. The best
e. he mo hTWras oil
of this is to trace out the root systems
of corn plants at different ages. 1t will be
an object lesson and do more TO prove the
necessity of shallow culture than hours of
scientific explanation.
Cultivate the corn as often as the sur
face becomes compact. This may seem
unnecessary at times, but determinations
of soil moisture in fields stirred frequently
and those given ordinary cultivation show
that the frequent stirring conserves water
much the best and the crop yields are
correspondingiy greater. After the crop is
laid by" a heavy beating rain will fire.
quently form a hard crust, to the great
detriment of the corn plants. If this crust
can be broken up the increased yield will
more than pay for the labor This work
can only be accomplished by using some
implement that one horse can draw, so
that the rows of tall corn will not be in
jured One section of a spring toothed
eral single cultiyators on the market
which do the work very nicely. Where
corn is raised on large scale this loosen
ing the surface soil after the crop Is too
large for the cultivator is seldom practice
ed, but 1t pays, and in neglecting this one
of the great leaks on the farm remains un-
stopped.
With small fruits and orchards the Gull
tivator or weeder, the latter consisting Of
a beam 10 which is fastened a large num-
Der of springy, heavy wire teeth, must be
kept going from spring until fall. at least
until the fruit has been gathered. Black
berries and raspberries are especially sus-
ceptible TO drought, and require particu-
lar attention. Young orchards and nur-
sery stock thrive best when given such
treatment, and the same Is true of cur
rants and gooseberries.
Gardens flourish under the same treat
ment. AS a rule, garden soils are In very
high tilth and do not suffer so much from
lack of careful culture In dry weather
Where the soil Is very loose and friable
Il may be necessary TO compact Il. then
loosen up the surface 20 prevent evapora-
ton. A constant stirring will prove bene-
fetal 10 those garden crops which grow
through the late summer months.
A thorough preparation OF the seedbed
and frequent shallow cultivation are the
two principal means by which the farmer
fruit grower and gardener can lessen me
disastrous effects OF drought