The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-02-05

hetavy rains of winter have more op.
, portunity to wash the bare, loose soil
away and, even when this does not
occur to leach out and waste the
soluble or available nitrogen.
These are real objections which
we should strive to overcome be-
cause the other effects are so bene-
| iicial that we can not afford to neg
lect winter plowing as an aid to bet
ter farming.
Some of the beneficial effects Aof
winter plowng may be briefly stated
rs follows: All grass, weeds. stalks.
etc., which are on the land NAV be
plowed under, where they will at
least partially decay and improve the
texture of the soil and help to feed
the next crop grown on the land. If
not plowed under until spring it may
become necessary TO burn them in
order to get the land in condition to
plant If the quantities of these ma
terials on the land be large, they can
not be turned under late in the
spring and the land gotten into sat
ls1actory condition for planting. This
leads to the burning of this much
needed humus-forming material or
the results are an improperly prepar-
ed seed bed. We have thought we had
to burn these materials because our
small plows would not turn them un-
der, but If we had plowed them under
as best we could in the fall and win
ter, even with our small plows, that
part remaining uncovered could cas-
lily have been managed by a spring
plowing. Large plows and winter
turning are both needed to handle
the large quantities Of grass and
weeds now on our fields, but winter
| plowing alone will help us to save
/ most Of them and do away with the
need of burning the very stuff our
lands need most Because of our small
plows 1t may require two breakings
to work all this material into the soil.
and to do this, the first breaking
| should be done as soon as possible so
as to get the advantage of the winter
weathering in pulverizing the soil
and starting the decay of this trash.
Another advantage derived from
winter plowing is that the labor and
teams are given something to do in
a slack time, and better still, this
something done in the winter will
aid in putting the land in condition
for seeding early next spring when
there is a rush Of work to be done.
| We frequently give as an excuse
for insufficient preparation of the
seed bed that the rush of work will
not permit of giving the necessary
time to more thoroughly prepare the
land. If more fall and winter plow-
ing were done, the land could be
easier prepared for the seed and the
spring work would be more easily
and thoroughly done. Winter plowing
also causes the lands to dry out and
warm up earlier in the spring, there
by making earlier planting practi-
cable.
When Deep Flowing Should De Done.
Much is heard these days of the
necessity for deeper plowing. There
is no question but deep and better
plowing is needed If our soils are to
be materially improved in fertility,
but deep plowine is an expensive op-
Grafton and unless done at the right
time. may fail to yield results which
will pay for the greater expense The
time to do deep plowing is unuues
tionably in the fall and winter. There
is more time and other matters are
not so pressing; hence a better op-
portunity to do the work. Again when
the plowing Is to be done deeper
than usual, it is of tn greatest i'm
portance that the subsoil be dry, In
the fall and early winter the sub
soil Is usually in ideal condition for
breaking. Moreover, if new soil is
to be turned up, it should he done in
the fall or early winter so that the
frost and rain may break it up and
give 1t that weathering necessary to
make live soil out of it. There is still
another reason why deep plowing
should be done in the fall and win
ter: II done in the spring the land
may not have had time to settle suf-
ncintly before planting time and the
dry weather which sometimes CONS
IN the spring may be dry out the
| loose soil that there is not sufficient
| moisture left to sprout the seeds.
Winter plowing also DESTROYS
| many of those insect pests which
prey on the vOunp nIonts h,, o.,