Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1905-01-05
KEEP q 3 RoE 60.

II one has ever gone through q farn1-
Ing country in.the blowing season a lita
tie ubservati0tf showed him that there
are two quite distinct differences In the
matter OF handling and managing
plowed land. For instance, one
man plowS his soil and at
least once a dayzrolls It down; IL the
day Is very hot he will frequently level
the forenoon's work before leaving the
Held fpt tiooh, and DIT night roll down
the afternoons blowing. Ons the other
hand there are men who never do the
thing In Its proper place. When they
begin to plow they continue to turn the
land until the field Is completed. Then
they perhaps turn to the roller or some
other implement to Smooth ard level
the soil for the crop that is to follow.
These two men have followed two diff
ferent courses. The former has
plowed his land, but by regular rolling
has compacted the soil and retained its
moisture so far as possible. The latter
has turned his soil up to the sun to be
scorched and dried until 1t is little bet.
ter than an ash Heap when the time for
seeding Is at hand;
Even this year, with the vast
ainotnt+ Of surface water that has bur
dened farmers this past season; there
is need of care Of the furrowed land:
Before landSis fit for the plow 1t must
have reached a certain iryness, conse.
quently the soil will contain no more
water than 1t has previously when the
ploWtng of the same season has been
done. In other words without any re-
gard to the abundance of surface water
that might have been at hand at one
extent before the land Is worked year
IN and year out this standard does not
vary greatly and only means that d
severe drought may be at hand In July
or August, in spite of the water that
might have been present during the
preceding winter OF. early spring. There's
fore the STRONG advisability of guarding
all Of the moisture that the soil con.
tains at the time of blowing. This can
be done iii an appreciabie degree By
keeping the plowed land compact by
rolling as soon after the blowing as
practicable
Frequently we find that the farmer
dose not understand the matter of wa
ter retention. There are different meth
stances, and these In a measure seem Of
contradictory nature. For instance,
why should 1t be recommended that
burrows be rolled at once to retain
moisture and worked at another time
for the same purpose? AS a matter OF
fact the only explanation is that either
plan is one>of convenience. Few men
Will work land as fast as it is plowed,
though there is no doubt it would be
better for the land than rolling. Con-
sequently where a field will lie i'm the
furrow until all is plowed 1t ia highly
advisable to roll down the plowed part
and keep 1t as firm as practicable SO
as to prevent undue evaporation. Past
experience has demonstrated to those
who have carefully followed the matter
that land SO plowed and compacted is
much superior in condition to that
which has been furrowed and then all
lowed to lie in the sun until every par
ticle Of available water has been evap-s
grated.
We have used the expression "rolled"
for the reason that the roller is the.
popular implement among farmers.
Some weeks ago we discussed the con-
struction of a plank lump crusher and
In certain cases advised its use in
stead of the roller. In the case of lev
cling burrows we believe that the
crusher is superior generally to the
roller. as we pointed out i'm our dis
cussion of the matter ut that time.
This implement, sometimes called n
float, will answer all the purposes of
the roller and in addition leave the land.
in a more compacted condition ordi-
narily and has a marked superiority
in the ease with which it may he
ndled.-Chicago Drovers' Journal.