The Grit-advocate., 1905-11-10


tain Its moisture better, since it regu-
larly and evenly fills the interstices or
openings at the bottom edge of each
furrow slice. Always first harrow
lengthwise and later cross harrow il
the ground is not in fine enough tilth
for the seed. Ground that is inclined
10 be cloddy should be worked with the
disc harrow instead of the spike tooth,
double disking or half tapping length
wise with the burrows. See that your
disc Is the proper size to do the most
effective work in puiverizing the soil.
A fourteen to sixteen-inch disc gener-
ally pulverizes better than an eighteen
or tWenty-inch disc, and the draft is
correspondingly greater. Experiments
seem to indicate that the smaller
diameter discs are better adapted for
farming conditions on the Colorado
plains than the larger diameter
discs. Experiments conducted by
experiment stations and by Mr..
Fl. w. Campbell of Lincoln,
Nebraska, show that disking grain
ground after the harvester prevents
loss of moisture on stubble ground
through too rapid evaporation, and pre-
Dares the ground for the ready absorp.
ton of rain.
3.-Sub-Surface Packer-This tool
consists OF series of wedge faced
wheels attached to. a common axle :
These wedge-faced disks are eighteen
inches in diameter and placed Vert
ically on the shaft six inches apart
This machine is better than smooth
roller for roller firms the surface soil
with little or no effect upon the under
or sub surface soil. The packer
firms the soil in the lower
portion of the furrow slice, restoring
the capillariety where plowing had az
rested it. This firmed under-surface
soil is enabled to draw moisture from
below and give good normal root de-
Velopment. In case sub-surface
packer Is not obtainable, a corrugated
roller can be used. 1t firms the ground
but not to the depth which the sub
surface packer does These packers
should be followed by smoothing har-
row to produce an earth mulch which
Shall arrest capillarity and thereby
check evaporation.
A spike toothed harrow with lever
attachments for regulating the angie
OF the teeth is very satisfactory i'm
plement for this purpose.
4.-Summer Culture. Fallowing
Ground-leaving the land without d
crop for one or more seasons-was
common practice with the ancients.
DR.. Roberts in his work on Fertility
of the Land" says this was a neces.
sity for them. The imperfect tools
then used made but small proportion
of the plant food in the soil available
and the demands OF the crops grown
soon outran the obtainable plant food.
Then the only method for renewal was
to let the soil weather out" enough
plant food, with the decayed vegetable
matter to sustain another crop. Some
centuries later the French found tha,
'manOeuvering" the land-causing
the particles of earth to change place
by tillage-made it more productive
Experiments now show that sumer til.
lage in our semi-arid lands has an
added value-it conserves the moisture
while 1t renders more plant food avail
able. Good results have been obtained
in eastern Washington. eastern Oregon
Utah and many sections of Colorado
from summer culture of the land every
other season. 1t has been found that
in this way sufficient moisture can be
stored from the years rainfall to ma.
ture crop, in many localities.
After the SHOWS of winter have
melted in the spring, plow the ground
at least seven to eight inches deep.
Level this down with the harrow and
packer, following this process with a
smoothing harrow, forming an earth
mulch to check evaporation This
mulch should not be too fine as the
winds of the plains will tend to rift
the soil, or blow the earth mulch EN-
tirely away. II possible, stir the sur
fact soil from two to four inches every
ten to fifteen days throughout the sum
mer. Allow no crust to form after
summer showers, as this will increase,
the evaporation of the soil moisture.
Keep the ground clean-free from
weeds.
If fall grain is to be sown it is ad-
visable to drill in the grain, as this in
sures getting it below the earth mulch
which is really dry earth blanket
used all summer to hold the moisture
in the. soil below Get the seed into
this moist under-soil where it can have
the moisture so essential for germna.
ton. 1t is advisable to seed fall grain
not later than the last week in Sep.
tember in the lower attitudes and not
later than the first week in September
in the higher attitudes; better still, the
third or last week in August.
Ground that has been well cultivated |
for several years will produce two
crops in succession and can be given
summer culture the third year. In this
way it is possible to- grow two crops in
three years.
II a farmer expects to cultivate
eighty acres he should divide it int,
two crop divisions-cropping forty
acres the first year and giving summer
culture to the other forty acres. This |
gives him crop on one half of hi, |
land each year while he is storing I'M !
moisture in the soil reservoir of the |
other half to make the next years
crop Farmers in the southern part of |
Larimer county. Colorado, have been