American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1910-11-12
DRY HELPS
mere Is Nothing That MeIIows a
Clay Soil Any Better.
Disk implement 10 Best But Should
MOI 20 Used Continuously on
Same Land Because II
Doesn't Turn Soil.

Agrlculturists generally advise
against dry blowing, but they do not
Know everything about dry farming.
Dry blowing is often necessary and
Tor clay soils, adobe as we call them,
Is very beneficial. writes E. r. Par.
sons In Ranch and Range. There is
nothing mellows a clay soil any better
than dry blowing and then following
until In condition for planting. To
plant a crop on a 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 eyapo.
rated, and the process of blowing in
PRODUCES still more air. This large
percentage of air gradually mellows
n reduces the clay, especially in the
winter months, but the soil is not fit
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 plow deep. that is the point
and II 1t is In good filth by planting
time. that is all that is 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-
t%inuously or the same land for the
reason that 1t 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
m~oldboard.
The effect of aeration on the soil Is
to give the gases of the atmosphere
a chance to combine with different
substances in the ground to form
plant food, as a matter Of fact, our
western soils are naturally well aer-
ated, for when water goes out of the
soil, air m in. There are no vac
In nature, at least not in our
part of the universe, but in humid eli
mates h water sometimes blocks the
air from getting into the soil and the
effect of this is to sour the land. as
a farmer would say. This
as we call 1t, is really caused by micro
organisms, millions of bacteria and
bacllli, 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.
all the beneficent bacteria. on
the contrary. cannot live without the
oxygen contained in the air. There
fore, 1t Is evident that In order to de-
stroy noxious bacteria in the soil the
best thing to do is to turn it over with
pillow and aerate it. Farmers who
from the east often think our
sod land needs aerating before a crop
IAN be grown on it, but this is a mis-
take. as u lands are we'll aerated to
almost any depth and the first crop
of the sod. If 1t is plowed deep, is
often the best yer taken off a given
piece of land. After the great water
millions of years ago when the
whole continent vas under water our
lands commenced to dry out.
As the water %evaporated and left
cracks and crevices. these be-
filled with air, and today when
Zig clay even a hundred feet I'M
1t all falls to pieces on ac-
,Ount of these cracks and we call it
Oirt clay. The frost we let into our
fallow is sometimes of more
7alue than the air. In raising a crop
LII we have to worry about is the
moisture. l was reading the other
lay that we should get the right
mount of air and water into the soil,
Tut of course. this is nonsense. for
I We got it there it would no stay.
The amount of air and moisture in
he soil changes every hour of the
lay. The best rule is to get all the
moisture YOU a and let the air take
are of itself. When the crop is
the more moisture we have
keep the air out OF the ground the
letter. but | would not by n means
this Ia q humid climate. where
here Is danger of wster logg ng.
here is considerable difference be-
ween dry farming and wet farming,
nd rules which apply t one are very
to apply to the other. Thus
We often notice great confusion of
deas among our agriculturists, many
( whom are turning from wet farm.
ng to dry farming with very little ex-
erience OF the latter.