The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1910-07-21
Some Pointers
For Far |1le|rs
THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE GIVES
3 SOME VERY VALUABLE HINTS
ABOUT CONSERVING THE
MOISTURE

exposed to tn eair. The housewife
makes use Of this principle in hang.
ing out the clothes to dry. It Ia q
well known fact that oil moves up
through a wick, and that If the wick
is cut the oil cannot pass over
the gap. Water vii act the same
as the oil and it moves through the
soil in the same way that it does thru
the wick. a..' isl, ......e.g& ...-s. ,
Keep in mind that wet soil ex-
posed to the air will give up its mois-
ture to the air; that water moves
from the wetter portions to the drier
soil If the soil is compacted, which
condition compares to the lamp wick
that is cut and 50 the moisture can
not move thru it. ..
The plant needs the moisture in the
furrow slice as that is where it does
most of it's feeding. Notice the plant
growing in the dead furrow. It has
it's roots in the subsoil. The moist
ure conditions should be better there
than in the surface soil yet the plant
does not do we'll, and due to the lack
of available plant food This means
that a deep furrow slice will offer
more feeding room for the roots than
shallow one The furrow slice
should be packed firm against the bot
tom so as to furnish the means for
the moisture to pass from the subsoil
to the surface soil, as the plant needs
it. To keep the moisture from. pass
ing to the surface and evaporating,
the surface soil should be kept loose,
condition known as the soil mulch.
Another reason tor the deep blowing
! is to furnish q large reservoir to take
up the rainfall readily. Shallow plow-
ing can not take in rain as fast or as
much of it as deep blowing, so the re-
suit is more run off. q.
How are these conditions to be met?
The deep blowing has been mention
ed. The proof OF it's value is brought
out by the fact that it produces larg.
er yields. =. .....-..,. q. --..
The soil mulch can be produced
by the common harrow. Crops can be
narrowed till five or six inches high,
and some are trying to harrow till it
heads out and with good results. The
narrowing Of grain or corn should on.
ly be done on bright, sunny days and
not before the sun has been up three
or four hours. The plant when wet
and In the morning and on cloudy
days is more crisp and breaks up
easier The mulch should be made
as soon as the land is plowed. If it
is not, considerable evaporation will
take place at once. In blowing, do
not leave the field before narrowing
what was plowed that half day.
A pillow attachment is now on the
| market that loosens up the, surface
at the same time the blowing is done.
Another way Is to hitch an extra horse
to section OF harrow when blowing;
this does it all at one operation, too.
In the case of spring blowing it may
| be necessary to pack it so as to get
the bottom of furrow slice compact.
The Campbell's subsurface packer is
good for this purpose, though going
over with the harrow two or three
times packs pretty good and Is coming
more into favor. e
Fall blowing should be narrowed
as soon as possible in the spring as
moisture will escape fast from the
surface that has been compacted dur
ing the winter.
Humus adds greatly to moisture
holding capacity Of the soil, acting
like sponge or plotting paper. The
blowing under of green crops or weeds
when green adds humus. Applying
manure Is one Of the best ways Of
adding It..
Weeds are large users OF soil mOiS-
ture. And they are at work all the
time. as soon a. crop is taken OF
the weeds 60 right on pumping out
moisture 50 that . grain field that
would plow nicely at harvest, will be
too dry to plow well in month or
two and all due to the weeds. And
the weeds growing in the grain also
rob thIgrain Of moisture and the re-
suit IS that much less grain. One
way is to disc as soon as the crop is
harvested. It is necessary to have
the land free from weeds and this
can be done IL q crop Of corn and
crop Of clover is grown every four
or five yeas. Manuring win also help
In that It will make tho crops grow
stronger and 20 be moro capable Of
smothering weeds, and It also holds