The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1899-04-07
cultivator and harrow have been won
derfulIy developed to meet the require


| derfully developed to meet the require
ments of cultivation in a variety of
soils and under varying conditions.
In bulletin on the conservation OF
moisture in the soil prepared by Prof.
L. A. Clinton of the Ithaca Expert
ment Station in 1896, the following
statements were made: ''The harrow
besides pulverizing and fining the soil
for the seed bed, is most efficient In
furnishing a soil mulch. When the
spring tooth harrow is used as an in
strument to conserve moisture, the
teeth should penetrate to the depth Of
about three inches, and to produce the
best effect, the ridges left by it should
be leveled off by a smoother which
can be purchased as an attachment to
the harrow. The tillage Of orchards
by the harrow Is now practiced extern
sively, and nothing short Of irrigation
will so nearly meet the demands OF
trees for moisture, particularly upon
the heavier Soils"
Of cultivators he said "The size
| ~ ShC ICSlh OhOuiu UC w bHS
work to be performed, many small
toothed implement being preferable to
a few large teeth where the object Is
to conserve moisture. 1t must be
borne in mind that in a dry time the
less surface exposed, the less will be
the evaporation. If large toothed
implement is used to destroy grass and
weeds, then it should be followed by
a smoother to reduce the ridges and
prevent the loss of moisture. Ridge
culture is only allowable when the OBJ
ject is to relieve the soil of moisture
on bottom lands where the water
comes very near the surface, or for
some special crop where a high de-.
gree of warmth is required early in
the season."
In ordinary conditions and seasons,
an implement which will pulverize the
top soil will create dust mulch, that
will conserve all the moisture in the
soil beneath and make it available for.
the growing plants.
Constant cultivation of the proper.
|
kills weeds. 1t has been said that the
time to kill a weed is just before it
can be seen, that any shock or move
ment when it first breaks through the
shell, means death to the plant, and
| every gardener knows that the garden
most frequently cultivated is the one
most free from weeds.
Within the past three years the adj.
vantages Of the cultivator and the.
harrow have been combined in a tool
called the weeder, which is rapidly
becoming popular with farmers and
horticulturists because it performs in
one operation the work formerly done
by the two operations of cultivating
and narrowing. 1t is an ideal imple-
ment for lightly cultivating the SOIL,
killing weeds, and for producing the
dust mulch so much needed in sum-
mer. 1t consists of series of teeth
characterized by much greater flexibil-
ity than those of the harrow, and SO
arranged-in the best specimens on the.
market-that clogging is prevented.
These implements have been found ex-
tremely useful in preparing the soil
for crops and are also adapted to the
after cultivation Of both fruit and
farm produce. The weeder is the only
implement ever made that can be
put into a field of oats, just up but
we'll rooted, and destroy the weeds
without injuring the grain plants, but
the explanation is found in the fact
that the crop is planted one or moro
inches deep, the roots penetrating to
still lower level, while the weed
seeds are on the surface and are
caught by the weeder fingers which
can be made to work not deeper than
one-fourth of an inch. In the straw
berry bed it does wonders; in the rice
fields of the south it has been found
invaluable; it takes the place of the
hoe in the potato field; and is par ex-
cellence in the orchard, and the corn
field where shallow cultivation and
weed killing are required. Another
fine feature of these weeders is their
lightness. They do not necessarily re-
quire mans work. Any of them are |
quite within the capacity of a stout
intelligent boy and that is a great ad-
vantage on many farms at the season |
when work crowds and all available
helpers have to be pressed into SER
vice.
These implements have been much
improved since their first introduction
to the trade, and will doubtless grow
better and better as the seasons pass,
but as they now stand. they are an in
valuable addition to the list of agri-
cultural tools, and busy farmers are
fast discovering the fact.
Early Sweet Corn.-Last year, we
made money on our Crosby sweet corn,
while much of the Evergreen barely