The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-12-20
By G. II.

by u. II.
For a considerable number OF years
Southern farmers have been trying to
produce large, profitable crops OF corn
OIL shallow soils. The records of corn
growing show hat they "a failed.
During this same period q few Of the
more progressive farmers have been
breaking their lands from six to eight
inches, and eve to ten inches deep,
II have produced from thirty to sixty
bushels per acre at a small cost For
forty years the average depth OF
breaking land in North Carolina has
been about four inches with an av-
erage yield OF less than fifteen bushels
OF corn per acre Last year the men
engaged in the Farmers Cooperative
Demonstration Work broke three
thousand acres from six to ten inches
deep and harvested a little over forty
bushels per acre. The cost was about
twenty-five cents per bushei.
Can we not learn a VALUABLE lesson
from the experience of these farm
ers? Let US study, briefly, some Of
the advantages Of a deep soil. One
OF the most important problems con
nected with corn growing is a proper
~ distributed supply of moisture. We
cannot have his on shallow soils.
water during rainfall. If the rains
continue several days, the soil stays
saturated with water. This keeps out
the air. (Two things cannot oc-
cupy the SAM space at the same
time.) Corn will not grow unless
air gets down to it's roots. Therefore.
the corn fails during wet spells OF
weather. The excess Of rainfall usual
ly does much washing under such con-
ditions. When the rains cease, the
small amount of water held IN a shall
low soil is Don exhausted by evapora-
tSo- oo1 NV HoS4o rcoA nv tho corn
so hat the corn now suffers for lack
of moisture. With a deep soil these
conditions do not exist When ain
comes it sinks down into the lower
parts of the deep soil, letting the air
into the upper portions SO that the
weather prevails the deep soil, by
having caught previous rains. is able
to supply moisture enough to keep
the corn green n growing.
In this section we nearly always
have a wet spell or a dry spell Of
weather during the period OF corn
growing. One usually follows the
other. The effects Of both extreme S
can be largely overcome by haVins
a deep seed bed. Then. too, it stands
to reason that there is more plant
food in a deep soil THAI in u shallow
one.
Some exceptions to these statements
should be noted. A soil that is filled
with water during a considerable por-
ton of the year is not benefited by
deep blowing. If such soils We're we'll
drained, then deep breaking would be
good for them. Many marshes and
other wet soils would produce big
crops il they were drained and deep
ened by blowing. Loose, sandy lands
with open norous subsoiis, without any
clay in them or under them are not
much benefited by deep breaking. If
much humus is to be turned under on
them. then deep blowing gives much
better results.
The time Of deepening the soil is
important. Many farmers wait till
spring to deepen their soils and often
make poor crops because the sub
soil was too wet to be plowed after
the winter rains had fallen The
the winter rains had fallen. The
during the fall and early winter, pro-
yided the soil and subsoil are dry
enough. This permits several weeks
weathering to take place before spring
planting begins. Land that has never
had the atmosphere down into it is
not a fit place ID plant seed This
also allows the soil to be ~pulverized
by the freezes.
Both the air and the freezes are
very valuable in making plant food
available for the use of crops. In
doing deep breaking at any time, it
is not advisable to turn very much
Of the raw subsoil out on ton. Those
who expect to make big crops next
year should begin now to deepen the
soil. If properly done, under average
conditions, no further deep breaking
will be necessary in the spring. Then
is the time to do a lot of discing and
narrowing in order to make a nice,
well pulverized seed bed.
Bulletins.
No. Ass, Farmers Cooperative
Demonstration Work. Address DR.. s.
A. Knapp, Washington, D. c.
Farmers Bulletins 81 and PAS. Ad-
dress Secretary Of Agriculture, Wash
ington, D. c..
PREPARING BEDS.