The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1906-05-17
Secret of Good Flowing.

a great many farmers are more par
ticular- about the looks Of a piece OF
land after it is plowed than they are
as to it's physical condition. A plow
that seems to be Of light draft will be
a f~avorite regardless OF the real con-
dition Of the soil after it is plowed.
The Southern Farm Magazine sets
forth these facts and expresses an
opinion very vigorously as follows:
1t is not always the best looking
pillow fallow that is the best broken
land. "A e ow constructed like a gouge,
that slides under the turf and inverts
it without breaking it, looks well, but
for the production of a crop it pre-
pares the land badly. Many of the
blows now on the market are con-
structeG so as to bring the least
draught upon the team, and this by
many is considered the perfection of
the ploM-the least draught for a given
depth. But may we not be laboring
under a mistake in this? The object
in blowing is to invert and pulyerlZe
the soil and prepare it for a crop.
Flowing may be so performed as to in
vert the soil without breaking it, except
in the line of the furrOw slice. 1t is
evident that if a crop be planted upon
land so turned, the roots of the plant
will have to contend with the large, I'M
broken blocks of soil, so hard, indeed,
in many instances that the roots can
not penetrate them. A case was
brought to the attention Of the writer
which occurred on a farm in Southern
Kentucky. The land plOwed was de-
signed for corn. One plow made of
chilled iron with a ~gouge-shaped mold
board was started on one side OF the
field and q steel pillow with an abrupt
mold-board was started on the other.
The first turned over the land beaut-
fully, but did not p~ulveriZe the soil.
The draught was light and two horses
carried it with ease. The second pulled
much harder, owing to the abruptness
OF the mold-board, and the p~erpendic-
uIar resistance which it made to the
fuyrow slice. But it ~puiverized the soil
thoroughly. Corn was planted at the
same time on the land broken by both
pLows. When that planted on the land
broken with the chilled pillow was eigh-
teen inches high, that upon the land
broken by the steel plow with an ab'
rupt mold-board was thirty inches
high. The first was yellow and stunted
the second was a picture of luxurian1
and abundant vitality. 1t is estimated
that the portion of the held broker
with the steel plow would make a
least q third more corn than that
broken with the chilled plow, though
the crop on the latter had two more
plowings. The Introduction of the disc
pillow has been of great advantage in
the pulverization Of the soils. 1t not
only turns over the soil completely, but
it thoroughly hides all the weeds and
bushes and trash on the surface. OF
all the plows yet introduced for the
breaking Of land the disc pillow is by
far the most efficient. but it cannot be
used well upon rocky hillsides.
The question presented in the mat
ter OF breaking land needs to be thor
oughly Investigated by our Southern
farmers. Flowing without pulveriza.
ton does not put the land in good con-
ditiOn for the growt tn Of any crop. II
] be that in seeking to decrease the
draught the farmers may increase the
work necessary to grow a gooC crop.