The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-11-21
a GREAT REVIVAL NEEDED ON
THE FARMS.

l. plemcntS ana machines for farmer
q Their advertisements are very aura,
s tive and the pictures of many of III
, riding pows, harrows and machine
G indicate that preparation of the so
4 and the making and the harvesting {
crop is only Il big plcnic that last
2 most OF the year. The wise tarmc
/ Will carefully consider what implement
are best suited to his lands and the
buy them and let the others 90.
Those who have been reading Tb
Spartan lately are bound to cOnclud
that thorough preparation of the LAM
IS about thrCe-fourths Of the wor
necessary to make crop. That prc
paration should begin as soon as thu
small grain has been sown. The turn
ing of the land ut this season, or an,
season OF the year may do good and i
may not. If there is nothing to turn
under it ma. cause certain soils to run
together and get very hard during the
winter. The object in plowlug clean
lands is to deepen the soil and prepare
the surface for the seed. All the land
OF this Piedmont section needs sub.
soiling. That should be done by de-
Srccs. With our shallow soils, three
to five inches deep, two inches of the
clay Is about enough to break and mix
with the top soil at one time. The
deeper the top soil, the moro clay may
be lifted up. Bear in mind that this
clay should be brought very sparingly
to the surface. There it is apt to har-
den into clods.
The simplest way to subsuil land is
to use a twistcr, or half shovel, and
follow with a small tongue plow, with
Hat set on a foot that is set back
pretty straight. That takes two hands
and Two horses, but the work when
well done is quite satisfactory. If
weeds or any other growth are very
rank, two.horse turn plow may be
used, to be followed by the subsoi!
plow That also will be highly
satisfactory. BY that plan the soil is
turned in on the clay and before the
next year that clay has been changed
into good, productive soil, and its
p"osphoric acid and potash made avail
able. All this work requires the plow-
man to walk. All the power
of the animals is directed TO
the preparation Of the soil and not TO
the hauling of heavy man and
heavy machinc.
y better plan for clean land, or that
with an ordinary covering of weeds,
grass or pea vines, is to use two
horse subsoil plow. Their construction
is simple and there are no wheels, lev
ers and cranks to get out of order.
One man and two good horses will
burst up two to four inches of clay and
mix it somewhat with the top soil
without disturbing the surface. Irl
that plow Is used in the fall, or during
January, the weeds and grass on the
surface will serve as a mulch and keen
the clay lands from baking
After the rains have penetrated the
soil and the freezes nave done their
work and the time for planting ap-
proachcs, put III the cutaway harrow.
Just a day or two before planting har-
row again. Then you will have Il seed
bed that will give you great pleasure
i'll planting and cultivating and greater
JOY when the harvest time comes
Now if you have no cutaway harrow
and do not feel able to buy one, take
MIR. Ncwman'S advice, and 90 to the
woods, get the fork of tree, square it
down. bore holes. nut in tcn.mch tcrth
and 90 TO work with il. proncrlv
weighted, that VIII pulvcrlzc the soil
four inches deem and mi il in fine con.
dition. Such preparation as this re-
ouires that the plowmon and his foam,
be at work during all tbc GOOD weather
of December, January and Ech,uorv
The reporls of some of thc farmers
who subsoilcd thclr land last wintrr
show that crops ON such fields wnrn
green and flourishinp while thcv we're
parched mn ON others Durino q wcl
spell the water GOES down into the soil
and the top dries off rapidlv. So supsoil-
ing is better both for dry and wet wealth
cr. This breaking of the CLAW and deem
cnino of the soil increases thc nlant food
bv making the potash and phosphorlc
acid available which is stored nm in
most of our claws.
We know this subsoiHnq is slow
work, but when ono. done. il does not
have To be done aoain. The brcokin,
of the first or top laycr of CLAW is The
hardest work. Anyone who ever dug
hole in the ground knows that the
first two or three inches of clay is hard
or than 1t is deeper down. The Scrap.
ing OF plows and tralnplng of animals
may cause that. If that hardpan is
thoroughly broken the water Will then
easily penetrate me Underlying stratum