Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-07-04
The Cultivation Problem.
PLANT NO MORE LAND THAN CAN BE
CARED FOR.

CARED FOR.
Modern ideas are so much at varianc
with some of the customs OF the pas
that we are likely to think of ourselve
and our ways as being much better thai
the men and methods Of our grand
fathers time. New things have take'
the place of the old with such marvelou
rapidity that We have been dazzled b!
the change and have not always beei
able to winnow out the wheat from tn
chaff. New things are not always bette
than the old, and new methods OF doint
farm work do not always bring addec
returns. Necessity compelled our ia
Tiers to do many things that We arc no
obliged to do. The slow moving o,
team has been displaced by the horse il
most places, the grub hoe has given way
before the modern makes OF cultivator.
and the hand scythe to the machine ano
reaper. With these changes has come
change in the mental attitude OF the
farmer. He has allowed himself to gel
into a hurry up condition. He is in
hurry to get things done. And because
machinery and modern equipment en-
able us to get over the ground quickly
and with comparative ease we are often
guilty of not doing our work quite SO
we'll as Ne ought. This is especially
true of the cultivation of our crops.
We plant much and late, and then be-
cause the time is short and the haying
season is near we give only half as much
cultivation as is needed.
1t does not seem wise to plant crop
and then lose part of it for want OF care.
Yet this is what many men are dong
every year. We need to wake up to the
fact that planting the crop is only one
half the job; the other, and equally i'm
portant half, consists in giving good cul-
tivation at the right time.
On our eastern farms large acreages
left to grow at will without constant
care, do not as a rule, prove profitable.
Smaller areas with better care give bet
ter returns. This is not saying that
large acreagss should not be planted,
but it is saying that they should not be
planted unless they can be well cared
for. Plant only what you can take good
care of is good advice that used 10 be
given by successful farmer
W ho has retired with competence won
from the farm.
We must cultivate. When and how
shall we do it? This is an unsettled ques-
tioa. OF late years We have been hear
ing much about the benefits OF shallow
cultivation and dust mulch. | do not
ieny the benefits of either the shallow
working or the mulch, but am fully
persuaded in my own mind that the
theory has been worked little too hard
and made to apply to conditions where
L has been a misfit. Under some con-
iitions, with some crops there should be
reasonably deep stirring OF the soil,
the first part Of the season.
This serves the twofold purpose of stir
ring up good depth of soil to the action
,f sun and air and prevents the roots OF
the plant from forming too near the sur
lace, to be disturbed by later cultivation.
The first cultivation should be reason
ably deep. After that, more shallow
is better in most cases.
I have known the theory OF shallow
to be carried to such an ex-
IRENE that a field of corn infested with
witch grass received only surface work
ing with the weeder for the first cul-
tivation, to be followed by light cul-
tivator set to cut only one inch deep.
This helped the witch grass as much as
il did the corn. 1t was an extreme
example of a mistaken application Of
modern scientific teaching. A good idea
IN the mind of a man who could not
make practical use of it. do not ad-
vocate the extreme shallow working
practised by some. l would avoid ex-
.remes in both deep and shallow work.
two inches of we'll worked top
soil will give, on the average, better re-
suits than more OF less; yet this cannot
be made fixed rule and be applied to
al crops and soils. Yet, IL dust mulch
Is to be maintained in time of drouth
and is to be effective 1t should be two
inches deep. On light gravelly soil, II
you make IL three inches you make it
still more effective.
With all our theories about the con-
of moisture, 1t still holds true
hat the primary object of cultivation is
10 kill out the weeds. Having succeed
I'd in doing that, the most Of us are con-
tent to let nature take her course and
be- thankful for such crop as We may get.
There is much to be said in favor OF
his view of the subject, but will not
AXE space to say 1t here. How can We
best subdue the weeds? With the potato
crop, there is no better way than that
practiced here by our large and success
'ul growers.
As soon as the potato tops show we'll
above ground the cultivator Is run be-
tween the rows to stir up the soil, and
then the horse hoe is put on and the row
% hilled up enough to cover the plants.
Usually about two inches OF dirt is boed
over them by this method. The pota-
.oes readily push up through this, while
he weeds are killed outright. A second
later usually completes the
work. Under this method the hand hoe
Is not used at all, or is used so sparingly
hat it need not be considered neces-
,ity.
But most of our field crops need the
work OF the hand hoe to supplement
hat OF the horse. This is especially
true of the corn crop, either sweet corn
Tor canning or yellow corn for ripened
grain. With ensilage corn on large
scale, it may not be profitable to use the
hoe much, but I feel sure that it is still
q good tool to use on the rest of the field.
How often shall we cultivate? do not
know, neither does any one else. have
cultivated q crop seven different times
during the season and got no better
vield than from two workings on the