The Raymer enterprise., 1910-11-03
DRY FLOWING HELPS
There is Nothing That MeI|ows a
Clay Soil Any Better.
Disk implement 10 Best But Should
Not Be Used Continuously on
Same Land Because IL
Doesn't Turn Soil.

know everything about dry farming
Dry blowing is often necessary and
for clay soils. adobe as we call them,
is very beneficial, writes E. r. Par.
sons in Ranch and Range. There Is
nothing mellows clay soil any better
than dry blowing and then following
until In condition for planting. To
plant a crop on field dry plowed
without any following. however. is to
take desperate chances. ground plowed
without moisture becomes over-aer-
ated, for air has already taken the
place OF the water which has evapo-
rated, and the process Of blowing In.
PRODUCES still more air. This large
percentage Of air gradually mellows
and reduces the clay. especially in the
winter months. but the soil is not At
for crops until sufficient moisture has
fallen to drive out the surplus air and
rendered the field compact enough for
seeding.
Dry farming In the fall and immedi-
ately planting winter wheat will usu-
ally result In failure except In a wet
autumn.
At the time Of blowing the condi
ton Of the land matters little as long
as you can pillow deep. that is the point
and II It is In good tilth by planting
time. that Is all that II necessary.
Plow in the spring for fall planting
and In the fall for spring planting
should be the rule. and no packing is
necessary for the soil settles from top
to bottom, which Is much better than
artificial packing from the surface.
The disk pillow Is the best for dry
blowing. but should not be used con.
tinuously on the same land for the
reason that It does not completely
turn over the soil and when this Is
the case 1t soon becomes impover.
ished. therefore. II land Is plowed dry
one year with the disk. the next sea.
son 1t should be plowed wet with the
moldboard.
The effect Of aeration on the soil Is
to give the gases Of the atmosphere
chance to combine with different
substances In the ground to form
plant food. as a matter OF fact. our
western soils are naturally we'll aer-
ated. for when water goes out Of the
soil. air comes In. There are no vac.
uums In nature, at least not in our
part OF the universe. but In humid cli-
mates the water sometimes blocks the
air from getting into the soil and the
effect OF this Is to sour the land, as
farmer would say. This sourness,
as we call 1t, Is really caused by micro
organisms. millions Of bacteria and
bacilli, some Of these are helpful to
the soil and sometimes are PERM
cious; In water logged soils the latter
abound. for they live and flourish
without air and without oxygen.
Nearly all the beneflcent bacteria, on
the contrary. cannot live without the
oxygen contained In the air. There
fore. 1t Is evident that In order to do.
stroy no1ious bacteria In the soil the
best thing to do Is to turn It over with
the pillow and aerate It Farmers who
come from the east often think our
sod land needs aerating before crop
can be grown on 1t, but this is o mis-.
take. as our lands are well aerated to
almost any depth and the first crop
on the sod, II It Is plowed deep, is
often the best ever taken of a given
piece OF land. After the great water
period millions OF years ago when the
whole continent was under water our
western lands commenced to dry out.
AS the water evaporated and left
joints, cracks and crevices, these be.
came filled with air. and today when
we dig clay even hundred feet I'm.
derground. 1t all falls to pieces on &C.
count OF these cracks and we call II
Joint clay. The frost we let into our
winter fallow is sometimes OF more
value than the air. In raising crop
all we have to worry about is the
moisture. l was reading the other
day that we should get the right
amount OF air and water into the soil,
but Of course, this Is nonsense, for
II we got II there It would not stay.
The amount Of air and moisture In
the soil changes every hour Of the
day. The best rule is to get all the
moisture you can and let the air take
care OF itself. When the crop Is
growing the more moisture we have
to keep the air out Of the ground the
better. but would not by any means
say this In humid climate, where
there Is danger Of water logging.
There Is considerable difference be.
tween dry farming and wet farming.
and rules which apply to one are very
unlikely to apply to the other Thus
we often notice great confusion Of
Ideas among our agriculturists, many
Of whom are turning from wet farm.
ing to dry farming with very little OK.
perience Of the latter.