, 1900-01-09
SUBSO|L|NG WORK
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS MADE
AT WYOMING EXPERIMENT
STATIONS.

Bulletin Issued by State Agricultural
Observation-Disclosures Made I'm
der Direction of Prof. b. C. Buffum
and w. H. Fairfield-Plan of Elk
periments-Summary of Results.
The natural requisites for farming
are soil, water, air, heat and sunshine.
With n exception these natural bless
ings and sufficiently abundant in the
arid west. That exception is water.
The greatest question in our agricul-
ture is how to make the most of our
limited supply of this lifegiving ele-
ment. Making use of our water sup
ply would be a comparatively simple
matter If all the moisture which might
be brought to the soil could be held
there until plants could make use of
it. But water is never still. In seek
ing its common level, the sea, it runs
off the surface of the land, or seeps
through the upper layers, escaping from
below and that which is retained for
a time by the soil is being continually
dlssipated into the air as visible
vapor. In our dry climate the evapo-
ration Is so great that five or ten times
as much water as ONE to the earth
in a year by rain would be lost by this
process alone. Any practical plan then
for saving as much moisture as posi-
Bile for the use of crops is of great i'm
portance and value.
Tillage consists of stirring the soil
and is as old as agriculture. Its effect
is somewhat complex. 1t breaks up the
soil admitting air, without which
plants car not grow. 1t loosens the
soil so it becomes suitable for plant
ing the seed, as well as for the devel-
opment Of plant roots and for the alb
sorption of water, brought to it by
rain or irrigation. 1t disintegrates the
soil PARTICLES continually unlocking
and making available to the plant new
stores of plant food. 1t destroys
weeds. Breaking up the surface
forms a blanket which prevents the
rapid loss of water by evaporation. Is
it enough that we will cultivate the
it profitable to extend tillage deeper
into the hitherto undisturbed subsoil?
~Subsoiling is stirring the earth below
the region of the plow. For conven-
fence we speak of the first eight inches
of soil which may be turned over in
blowing as the surface soil and all be-
low this as the subsoil. Flowing turns
the surface soil bottom side up. Sub
soiling does not change the position
of that part of the soil, but it breaks
up and stirs the ground below the Or
effected by a spur or prong attached to
the pillow which breaks up the soil at
the bottom of the furrow. or it may be
done with a separate implement, to be
drawn along through the soil beneath
the bottom of the furrow after the
pillow, to stir the ground to greater
depths than can be done with a small
attachment to the ordinary pillow. This
implement is called the subsoil pillow
and usually consists of a mole or a
more or less fiat piece of iron pointed
by a strong fat vertical blade. When
drawn through the soil in the bottom
of the furrow left by the pillow this i'm.
plement can be made to break up and
| stir the subsoil to a depth of from one
to two or more feet.
The advantages claimed for subsoil.
ing are that it makes more room fol
root. development, and enables the
plant to extract food and moisture
from a greater area, and that by loos'
ening up more of the soil IT'S capacity
for absorbing and retaining moisture
is increased. BY the absorption Of
greater amounts of moisture in winter
and spring it is supposed that subsoil'
ing provides against summer drouth
It is reasonable to suppose that thi:
is what would happen and the many
favorable reports on subsoiling from
humid and semi-arid regions indicate
that l%oosening the lower layers of sol
is a valuable way of conserving mois'
ture for those regions. Before discuss
ing the effects of subsoiling in Wyo
ming the difference between a truly
arid region and one which is onl!
semi-arid should be briefly pointed
out. Places where the annual rainfall
is less than fifteen inches are general!
called arid. The air Is dry; the evapo
ration is great; the rainfall Is not suf
fcient to mature cultivated crops. Ii
the semi-arid region the rainfall /
more than fifteen inches ard may b.
enough to mature profitable crops
the moisture can be stored up in tn
soil and saved until the crop can maxi
use Of 1t. In Wyoming the condition
are truly arid unless it be in the ex
IRENE northeastern portion of tn
state. There is little precipitation dur
ing the fall and winter, so very littl
moisture escapes by running directl,
off the surface of the land. If, then
subsoiling is not necessary to increas
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