Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1909-01-27
Home Course In
Modern Agriculture
m.-Preparing the Ground
By C. ". GREGORY
As9fcuffaraT DfSfs.sn. IoaG Stare CoTeSs
conNd nv An,crc Pee. Asnca
Preparing the Ground
By c. ". GREGORY,

times will pulverize the ground more
than hours OF work after Il has be
come dry and baked.
The fall blowing win usually need 10
DC gone over with the disk 20 get II In
shape for planting. The superior. con
ditiOn obtained by double disking-
that is. letting the disk LAP haif''-will
more than pay for the extra labor.
There is an. additional advantage I'm
that the surface is left smooth. Disk.
ing spring blowing Is seldom Reces.
Sary.
In cases where improper blowing has
left field cloddy the roller may often
be used 10 advantage. a corrugated
roller is better for this purpose than a
smooth enc. IS IL tends 10 crush the
clods rather than 60 simply push them
down into the finer dirt. A home.
made "planl<er'' or clod crusher VIII
often answer the purpose as we'll a. a
roller.
The roller packs the ground ccnsid-
erably and SO Quickens the capillary
rise of water. IL the surface Is left
smooth much or the moisture that
comes up will be lost by evaporation.
and later in the season the crop will
be likely TO suffer from drought. To
avoid this the roller should be fellow
ed Immediately by the harrow.
This looSens thin layer of surface
soil. When the capillary water reach
cS this loose layer it's rise Is checked.
and comparatively little is lost by evap-
grafton. For this same reason It is
often well TO harrow fall plowing az
soon rs Il Is dry enough i'm the spring.
especially Il diSking is not to be done
until hate.
After the ground is plowel and disk
cd the harrow must he used 10 CON-
pletc> the nreparation for planting.
TherSsre many kinds Of harror-s. brt
none that are better than the ordinary
spike tooth These are made i'm all
styles ard sizes. The harrow is eco
nomical Ia use. since Il rcts over
ground so rapidly. The bcsi time to
harrow IN o.-cr To pulverize the soil is
immeCiItciy after light shower. The
little clods viii then be sos.cned and
viii bc easily Knocked TO pieces. To
Kill weeds. however. il Is better Go wair
until the soil Is a little drier. rs bar.
rowing wet field will transplant the
weeds rather than destroy them
DO not he afraid TO harrow too much.
No work that you can put on a field
pays better No other implement will
kill rs many weeds In SO short time.
and no other machine will tear clcds 20
pieces SO rapidly. \ field well plo,yod
and disked and narrowed until II Is I'm
as fine tilth ns IL is possible 20 make II
is an ideal seed bed. Seed planted in
such soil will start under the most
favorable conditions. IL the seed itself
is strong and the after treatment what
IL should be. a maximum crop may be
expected.
Not all fields need 10 be plowed be-
fore the crop is put In. IL Is general
practice IN the corn belt 10 sow small
grain on stalk fields without any pre-
vious preparation. Experiments have
shown that small grain does not yield
enough more on plowed corn stalk
ground 10 pay the cost or piowing.
Very frequently they do not Yield az
much. Nherc small rran follows
small grain. however. plowl... Is nee
essary 10 XII weeds and !aoscn tho
surface soil. II does not raed 10 be
loosened as deeply as for Germ. how.
ever, since the small grain plants arc
harder than corn and the roots are
more aggressive In pushing through n
hard soil
While blowing stalk ground Is un.
necessary, ii viii usually hc found
profitable TO disk the land before see J.
ing. This chops up the rornstall,s
and provides mellow layer OF soil
for the seed 10 germinate In.
Where the oats are To be put IN with
4 drill the ground should be double
disked previously. If sown broadcast