The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-10-16

compact by the abundant rainfall that
air does not penetrate them to aid in
preparing plant food. Such fields,
therefore, may not show any benefits
Of subSoiling until after two or more
years.
It rarely pays to subsoil land in the
spring, and it is never advisable to
use the subsoil plow when the sub
soil is fully saturated with water,
even though the surface be fairly dry.
Under such conditions of plowing the
clay subsoil is pressed and packed,
when the object is to pulverize it and
allow the air to act upon it.
Experience Agrees With Theory.
No principle in agriculture has
been more thoroughly demonstrated
than the value Of deep, thoroughly
pulverized seed bed.
The Romans plowed on an average
g inches deep-always three times for
a crop, and in stiff lands nine times.
They did not call 3 inches "plow-
ing; it was only "scarifying."
The Flemish farmers were the first
to follow the better lines Of agricul-
ture after the Dark Ages. They de-
voted their efforts to three main
points: (D The frequent and deep
pulverization Of the soil, (2) the ac-
cumulation Of manure, and (3) the
destruction Of weeds.
A deeper and more thoroughly pull
verized seed bed was the foundation
upon which England built an improv-
ed agriculture, and this principle has
been generally accepted there for
more than one hundred and sixty
years, until the average production
has increased nearly fivefold.
A late letter from Hon. VIM. Saund-
ers, director Of the Central Expert
mental Farm, Ottawa. Canada, states
! that farmers usually plow shallowly
Immediately after harvest (August)
"to preserve moisture and destroy
weeks. In October they
commonly plow 8 inches deep. Any
plowing done in the spring months is
usually shallow, not more than 6
inches deep" Eight inches Of break
ing in October in Canada, where
frosts penetrate or feet deep. is
better for moisture storage than plow-
ing to a depth of Is inches in the
Southern States.
The writer has visited a number of
Southern agricultural colleges this
year. In every case the directors Of
their experiment stations favored a
deep and thoroughly prepared seed
bed.
The Georgia Experiment Station
bulletins repeatedly urge a deep, mel
low, and rich seed bed for corn, and
they insist that if the soil is not
naturally such it should be made so
by deep tillage and the addition Of
humus.
Bulletin No. 63 Of the Georgia Ex-
pertinent Station. on "Cotton. -
States that "fourteen years of ex-
perimentation have justified certain
conclusions that may be accepted as
practically final.' The following is
one Of them: "Thorough bearking
and commingling of the upper soil.
gradually increasing the depth to s
or 10 inches. using pillow and harrow,
lis more effective than deeper but less
thorough pulverizing.''
On the sugar plantations Of Louisi-
ana the tillage for cane averages - to
Is inches in depth.
On the Eva plantation, in the Haw-
allan Islands, the average depth Of
plowing is 80 inches. This plantation
produces the largest crops of sugar
cane to the acre in the world.
In the Farmers Cooperative De-
monstration Work the Importance Of
deep and thoroughly prepared seed
bed like garden has been most wide
ly demonstrated. Thousands Of tests
have been made each year by exact
and painstaking farmers to an ex-
tent that leaves no possible room for
doubt as to the great value of a deep
and thoroughly prepared seed bed.
Concretely stated, deep, thor
oughly pulverized seed bed filled with
humus has the following advantages:
(1) It provides more food, because