Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-23
Mistellaneous Grading.
DEEP FALL FLOWING.
Discussion About Important Matter BY
High Authority.

DEEP FALL HlOWlNI.
Discussion About Important Matter BY
High Authority.
The following bulletin issued by the
bureau Of plant industry of the United
States department of agriculture, deals
in a comprehensive and authoritative
way with a subject that is of tremend-
Gus interest and Importance to those
who seek to be informed on correct
agricultural methods:
At the commencement of the Farm
ers' Cooperative Demonstration Work
in the southern states it was found
necessary to outline the fundamental
principles of good farming and to in
sist that the tillers of the soil should
become familiar with them and prac-
tice them as a first step in the better
ment of farm life. We have previously
bly, they should be more fully explain
ed.
Preparation of the Seed Bed.
Prepare a deep and thoroughly pull
verized seed bed, we'll drained; break
in the fall to depth of 8, 10 or II
inches, according to the soil, with i'm
plements that will not bring too much
Of the subsoil to the surface. (The
foregoing depths should be reached
gradually
The presence of heat, air, and mois-
| ture is essential to chemical and germ
action in the preparation Of plant food
in the soil. The depths to which these
penetrate the soil depend upon the
depth of the blowing, provided the soil
is well drained. There is no use in
plowing down into a subsoil full Of
water.
1t has been proved beyond that the
roots of plants penetrate the soil deep
er and feed deeper in deeply plowed
land. Thus, in general, it may be stat
ed that when the soil is plowed 8 inches
deep the plants have inches Of food;
when plowed inches deep, they have
6 inches of food, and when plowed 10
inches deep they have 10 inches of
food. The fact that the bottom por-
tions of the plowed land are not as
portions shows the necessity Of getting
more air and heat down to them by
deeper tillage.
The most essential condition for fer
tile soil is a constant supply Of mois
| ture, so that film Of water can envel
op the soil particles and absorb nutri-
tive elements. The hair roots Of plants
drink this for nourishment. If there is
any more than enough to serve as films
for the soil particles and capillary wa
ter there is too much and it should be
drained Off This can be determined
by digging a hole 20 inches deep. If
there is standing water in the bottom
of the hole, it indicates too much water
in the soil or subsoil.
The capacity Of a given soil to hold
| film and capillary moisture depends
upon how finely it is pulverized and
upon the amount of humus in it. Un-
plowed lands retain but little water.
Thoroughly pulverized soil inches
deep can not store enough to make a
crop.
In all southern states there are every
year periods of drought, sometimes not
serious, but generally sufficiently pro-
| tracted to reduce the crop. The rem
edy for this is increased storage capac-
ity for moisture. This can be accom-
plished by deep and thorough tillage
and by filling the soil with humus
(partly decayed vegetation). The eff
feet Of deep tillage has been explained.
The effect Of humus is to greatly in
crease the storage capacity Of soils for
water and to reduce evaporation. A
pound of humus will store seven and
one half times as much moisture as
pound of sand, and the sand will lose
it's water by evaporation three and one
half times more rapidly than the hu
mus. A clay soil will store only about
one fourth as much moisture as hu
mus, and will lose it by evaporation
twice as rapidly.
Plants use an enormous quantity Of
water. An acre of good corn will alb
sorb and evaporate during it's growth
nearly 10 inches Of water. About three
fourths of this amount will be require
during the last seventy-five days of its
growth, or at the rate Of 2-5 inches Of
water a month. This is in addition to
evaporation from the soil, which, even
with the retarding influence Of dust
mulch, will amount to several inches
each month in midsummer In case
the land is plowed only or inches
deep, though thoroughly pulverized, it
will store an amount of moisture en-
tirely insufficient to supply crop re-
qurements in any protracted drought.
These shallow and generally poorly
prepared seed beds are the principal
cause of the low corn yields in the
south, and they affect the cotton yields
similarly but not so much, because
cotton is a more drought resisting plant
than corn If planting is done at all,
it is folly to prepare seed bed sol
shallow as to bring about the almost
total loss of the crop some years and
reduced crop every year.
Many farmers plow or cultivate their
corn nearly as deeply as they break
their land in preparing a seed bed, this
leaves no space for roots in the pull
verized and aired soil. Roots occupy a
large space. If all the roots of sim
gle vigorous cornstalk were placed end
to end they would reach more than a
mile, and if allowed by the plowing
they will fill the soil to a considerable
depth and feed in all portions of it.
The Root System Of Corn.
At the Wisconsin agricultural exper-
iment station it was found that when
corn was feet high the roots had pen
etrated the soil for feet and thor
oughly occupied it, At maturity the
roots were feet deep. At this time
the upper laterals were about inches
from the surface.
At the North Dakota agricultural eX