Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1909-08-06


r. attachments. BY using them all the
trash nu lie turned under completely.
This not ONLY hastenS the decay OF
such matter. but also adds greatly to
the looks of the field. Too many farm
crs do not pay enough attention to
looks. \ ragged looking field may
raise just a. large n crop as a smooth
one, it l. true. but the farmer who is
careless in his blowing Is likely to be
careless in everything else
If the Flowing is done in the fall it
does not matter so much whether it
turns up cloddy or not. The hard
freezes CT winter are the best pulver-
1Zers that ever tore clod to pieces.
This is one of the advantages of fall
blowing. One Of the disadvantages Is
that in an open winter the soil is LA
bic t. wash badly. This can be pre-
vented TO some extent. however, by
planting 4 catch crop, such as oats or
millet, on the field after blowing.
The depth Of blowing will vary with
the conditions. \ light, sandy soil
does not need to be plowed as deeply
as a heavier one. If the ground is
plowed the same depth every year the
bottom of the furrow will become hard
and the roots will have difficulty III
getting through 1t readily. A good plan
Is to begin at, say four inches, and
plow One-half inch deeper each year
until depth of seven or eight inches
Is reached. Then go back to four
inches and begin over again. In this
way a little new soil is turned I'D
every season and the layer of surface
soil gradually deepened.
Spring blowing should be shallower
than that done in the fall. The soil is
full Of TRY pores. its structure being
much the same as that Of light bread.
If you will put one corner of a slice
of bread in Il dish Of water you will
notice that it becomes wet for a con-
siderable distance above the surface
Of the water. This is caused by the
moisture flowing upward through the
little holes in the bread The force
that causes water to rise in small
tube is called capillarity. 1t is this
capillarity that makes the water rise
from the subsoil up to the surface
where the roots can use it. The
smaller the capillary tubes the faster
and higher tie water will rise.
When tie ground is plowed these
capillary tubes are broken up. and the
rise Of water is checked. To start it
again the soil must be allowed to settle
for long time CT else be worked down
fall the depth of blowing does not mat
ter, since the furrow slice Will have all
winter in which to settle. But in the
1pring this capilarity must be restored
almost ut once or the surface layer
vii! become so dry that termination
Hence the Importance of shallow plow-
Ing, so as 60 reduce the labor of disk
Ing and narrowing. If the surface Of
Oe ground IS crusted or If there Is
n1oM trash to be turned under the
6eh should be disked before 1t Is
p1owed. This will provide for a layer
OF fine dirt In the bottom Of the fur
row. which will pack down closely
and help to restore capillarity.
II tho furrow turns up shiny" or
Shows any tendency to bake into clods
Z should be narrowed every half day,
q every day at least. This seems like
a great deal Of extra work. but If
harrow IS kept IN the field it does not
tBke long to hitch on to 1t and go over
he newly plowed strip Just before
quitting for noon or night 4 few
Minutes spent in narrowing at such
times will pulveriZe the ground more
than hours IF work after it has be-
come dry and baked
The fall blowing will usually need to
be gone over with the disk to get it in
shape for planting. The superior con-
dition obtained by double disking-
that fs, letting the disk lap half"-will
more than pay for the extra labor
There IS an additional advantage In
that the surface is left smooth. Disk
ing spring blowing Is seldom neces-
sary.
In cases where Improper blowing has
left field cloddy the roller may often
be used to advantage. \ corrugated
roller Is better for this purpose than a
smooth one, as 1t tends to crush the
clods rather than To simply push them
down into the finer dirt. A home
made ''planker" or clod crusher will
often answer the purpose as well as a
roller
The roller packs the ground consid-
erably and 50 quickens the capillary
rise Of water. II the surface Is left
smooth much Of 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 follow.
Cd immediately by the harrow. .