The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1905-02-18

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Cultivation Of New Land.
Franklin Williams, in bulletin of
sne. United States Department. of Agri-
cullure, relative to the cultivation OF
new land, says:
fhe quantity of roots remaining in
the @ ground after it has been cleared
y Always surprising. No matter what
gearing s4e method has been pursued or
noK carefully it has been done, the
dow will discover an aggravatingly
large number of roots. When stumps
are pulled out by machinery many
more roots are removed than by any
otner method. But even in machin-
ery-cleared land the ground will still
oes 1ull of roots, mostly small, it is
trne.
plowing new land a. good, steady,
sff0ng span of horses is of the first
Importance. Horses that are fast or
Hfctlous will not answer. They will
R1et the plowman, break the pl0w,
ana bruise their shoulders. With
smr1ted team, even though nothing is
pIoken or injured, it is hard to do
good work. If the plow is drawn rap
laly it is quite impossible to guide it
closely and avoid stumps and roots.
After the winter season of compara-
tlYe 1dleness horses should not be put
70 blowing new land. Their shoulders
nave grown tender from disuse and
should be first gradually toughened in
ola land; moreover, some Of their &C.
cumulated energy should thus be
worked off.
Oxen preferable to horses:-For
ploWlng new ground oxen are prefer
aDte to horses. They are steadier and
stronger. Formerly in breaking new
lanu 1t was a common occurrence to
see several yoke of oxen attached to
one strong plow; and they did yoe-
man service. Now, in, this age of
hurry and rush, the slow, plodding
OK has been forced to give way to the
faster horse, and when new ground is
to be plowed unfortunately the OF" is
seldom at hand.
There are several patterns of plows
made especially for new-ground work.
These grub plows, however, while
strong and handy, are not essential.
ANY standard plow with a good cutter
I properly and securely adjusted will. do
| good work.
Cut roots that stop the p1ow.-When.
plowing new land always have a mat
took conveniently fastened to the plow
handles, and cut all roots that do not
break. When the plow becomes
hung" In roots it is better to cut it
loose than to back and pull out. The
root that stops the plow will inter
fere with cultivation, and the same
root, unless severed, will occasion this
annoyance for several successive sea.
| sons. In plowing new land it is well
TO make haste slowly" Leave no
skips. Turn a continuous furrow. The
| time saved in cultivating the crop,
. together with the increased harvest,
will more than pay for the pains
| taken.
The second season the plow burrows
! should be run at right angles to those
OF the first. If these two plowings
are thoroughly done, the ground will
be completely broken and subdued.
If the land is very stumpy it will be
quite difficult to level down for plant
ing purposes. When the stumps are
too thick for the oldfashioned A har-
row to be used heavy brush or culti-
vator, run opposite to the way the
land was pl0wed, will answer fairly
we'll. When the land is not too
stumpy, or the stumps are cut very
low, the spring-tooth harrow will do
excellent work. The teeth will bound
over stumps and roots that are fast
and comb out a great many that are
loose or broken. If the roots are plen-
tiful, and they usually are, many of
them will have to be removed. With
an improved adjustable spring-tooth
harrow, many Of the loose roots may
be combed out and windrowed and
, then burned or hauled of.
In bringing new land under cultiva-
tion, cultivate for several successive
seasons or until all roots are thorough
ly broken and all foul vegetation COM
pletely destroyed. If cultivated for
only one year and then seeded down
or left idle any number of roots and
small bushes will revive and start into
renewed life.
The Growing of Sugar Beets,
The sugar beet is not very particu-
lar as to the soil in which it grows
and has a wider range of service in
this regard than have the grains. The
best soil is one that is rich and loamy,
but as q general thing any kind of
soil that will produce grains will pro-