The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-02-09
ADVANTAGES OF
WINTER PL0WING
five HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE CAN
Be MADE EACH YEAR BY WINTER
FLOWING.

u "Hsk hHSH hsHh
PL0WING.
The Progressive Farmer and Southern
Farm Gazette.)
BY TAFT Butler.
Soils are formed by the weathering Of
rocks. That is, the effect Of the weather
to break them up and finally pulveriZe
them and make them into soil. The
%weathering of the soil further tends tC
break up and pulverize the particles, ano
the smaller the soil particles. the more
plant foods set free or made into condition
for the plants to use.
Winter blowing adds to the weathing
effects of the winter freezes and rains Oh
the soil. Is this desirable? 1t is OF itself,
wholly so: but there may fellow results
which are undesirable. These undesirable
results should always be kept in mind, but
they are not so serious nor so difficult to
overcome as to prevent the winter pillow.
ing OF practically all ends not growing
winter crops.
OBJECTIONS TO WHITE FLOWING.
In this Southern country probably the
most serious objection to winter blowing
is that it increases the tendency to wash
Of certain lands-those in the valleys that
overflow, in which this overflow is accom-.
panied by the formation OF currents, and
those hill lands which lie in such manner
as to cause certain areas to receive large
quantities of water from other areas LII
addition to that which falls directly upon
them. In many caSes-in fact, in most
consolidating terracing and proper ploW-
ing will correct these defects.
Of course, there is a greater probability
of finding the land being too wet for plow-
ing in the winter than in the fall; but
while lands should never be plowed too
wet, it remains q fact that the winter
blowing of lands when too wet does COM
paratively little harm because, OF the
freezes and rains which follow and the alb
sence Of a hot sun to cause the baking Of
IF the soil. Directly stated, the winter
blowing of lands throws them up into such
loose condition that the heavy rains OF
winter have more opportunity to wash the
bare, loose soil away and, even when this
does not occur, to leach out and waste the
soluble and available nitrogen.
These are real objections which we
should strive to overcome because the
other effects are so beneficial that we can
not afford to neglect winter blowing as an
aid to better farming.
SOME BENEFITS OF FLOWING EARLY.
OOLue VI Iue DeuelCldl oueCGS VI WllUeT
blowing may be briefly stated as follows
All grass, weeds, stalks, etc, which are on
the land may 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 plOw-
ed under until spring, it may become nee
essary to burn them in order to get the
land in condition to plant. If the quaint
ties Of these materials on the land be large
they can not be turned under late in the
spring and the land gotten into satisfact.
DRY condition for planting. This leads to
the burning Of this much-needed humus.
forming material, or there results an i'm
properly prepared seed bed. We have
thought we had to burn these materials
because our small plows would not turn
them under but if we had plowed them
under as best we could in the fall
and winter, even with our small plows
that part remaining uncovered could east
ly have been managed by a spring blowing
Larger plows and winter turning are both
needed to handle the large quantities of
grass and weeds now on our fields, but
winter blowing alone will ahelp US to save
Of burning the very stuff our lands need
most. Because Of our small plowSi it may
require two breakings to work all this ma
terial into the soil, and to do this, the first
breaking should be done as soon as posS-
IDLE so as to get the advantage Of the win
ter weathering in pulverizing the soil and
starting the decay of this trash.
Another advantage derived from winter
blowing is that the labor and teams are
given something to do in slack time, and
better still, this something done in the
dition for seeding earlier next spring when
there is q rush Of work to be done.
We frequently give as an excuse for in
sufficient 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
blowing were done, the land could be east
er prepared for the seed and the work
would be more easily and thoroughly done.
Winter blowing also causes the lands to
dry out and warm up earlier in the spring,
cable.
WHEN DEF FLOWING SHOULD BE DONE.
Much is heard these days Of the neces-
sity for deeper blowing. There is no ques-
ton but deeper and better blowing is need
ed if our soils are to be materially improv-
ed in fertility, but deep blowing is an ex-
pensive operation and unless done at the
right time, may fail to yield results which
will pay for the greater expense. The
time to do deep blowing is unquestionably
in the fall and winter. There is more time
and other matters are not so pressing
hence a better opportunity to do the work.
Again, when the blowing is to lie done
deeper than usual, it is Of the greatest i'm
portance that the subsoil be dry. In the
fall and early winter the subsoil is usually
in ideal condition for breaking. Moreover
if new soil is to be turned up, it should be
done in the fall or early winter so that the
frost and rain may break it up and give it
weathering necessary to make live soil out
of it. There is still another reason why al
deep blowing should be done in the fall
and winter: If done in the spring the land
may not have had time to settle sufficient.
lily before planting time and the dry weather
which sometimes comes in the spring may
so dry out the loose soil that there is not
lsuficient moisture left to sprout the seeds
Winter blowing also destroys many of
those insect pests which prey on the
young plants, by exposing them to the
/ winter weather.
Probably the most important reason for
winter blowing has p~urposely been left tc
the last. 1t is simply the ~weathering
effect of the winter frosts and rains on the
soil particles. "Tillage is manure" when
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