Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1910-08-12
no CONSERVE MOISTURE
by .. &. Thorn, Assistant Agrono-
mist at W. ). c., Pullman,
Washington

Dry farming does not mean farm
ing without rain. 1t means farming
where the moisture supply is limited
and must be conserved If a crop is to
be raised Every inch of precipitation
that falls must be saved; and it is Of
ten the case that the amount of mois-
ture the farmer has in his soil COM
pared to what he might have had in it
had he kept all that fell spells the diff
ference between success and absolute
failure.
In order to conserve the moisture
in the soil it is necessary to make use
of the best methods Of tlage. Gull
tiyate the ground 50 that it will take
in ana hold every bit of the moisture
that falls. To do that you must cul-
tiyate in the fail. Plow if possible
For best results in blowing the fur
rows should not be turned squarely
upside down but should overlap like
the shingles on a roof with the loose
ends turned up. If the furroW is turn
ed upside down the result is a smooth
compact surface, which soon runs to-
gether and is slow to take up mois-
ture. On the other hand, if the fur
row is not turned upside down, but
laps against the next one, between
these two there is a break through
through which the water finds a
ready entrance
When blowing in the fall do not
use packers. Leave the soil as rough
and open as possible. In this condi-
ton it is in more receptive con-
dition to take in and hold all the
winters precipitation. If you cannot
pillow your land in the fall, as is un-
dOubtedly the best, you can at least
disc it. This will roughen the surface
somewhat and it Will take in more
of the winters rain than if left in
smooth, compact condition, such as
is brought about by harvesting and
subsequent pasturing,
However, precautionary measures
should be taken against heavy cuI-
tiyation of steep hillsides where there
is danger of washing if you loosen the
soil too much.
Thorough fall cultivation should be
followed by as early spring cultiva-
ton as possible. 1t is highly impor-
tant that q surface mulch should be
formed early in the spring to check
the evaporation and thus conserve
moisture in the soil collected there
from the autumn rains and winter
SHOWS. BY mulch" we mean a loose,
open, dry condition made by loosen
ing the soil at the surface with a disc
harrow or other similar tools
Experiments have shown that a
mulch gives the maximum
conservation of moisture That is,
three inches of mulch will conserve
as much moisture as five or six in
ches, and stirring the soil to a great
er depth than three inches is 5, waste
of labor.
Fall blowing should be deep, as
much as six inches; but if it Is i'm
posi- BILE to give fall cultivation then
it is advisable to pillow land that is
to be seeded to crop or kept for sum-
merfalow, just as early as possible.
Do not pillow so deeply in spring plow-
ing-say four or five inches. In
blowing deeper than that there is
danger of getting the mulch too deep
and the succeeding fall. when you
come to plant the winter wheat, the
ground will be too dry at the proper
depth of planting to give proper ger
mination, whereas If the soil had
been maintained with a three inch
mulch the moisture in the soil would
have been within three inches Of
the surface and the seed when plant
ed would at once have been placed
in the moist earth, terminated, and
by getting a good start, would cover
the ground so thoroughly that there
would be very little danger of wash
ing in the most severe conditions.
Spring blowing should be followed
cd nv hacking ueinp some imnrOVed
form of the Campbell packer. Prop
er tillage of the soil means a life OF
prosperity for the farmer, Improper
tillage means failure, but in coun-
try where land is rich, crop failure"
should be unknown. If the farmer
will adopt method Of fall tillage,
followed by early spring cultivation
success will follow and the days Of