The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1911-10-03
SAVING ALL MOISTURE
OF Special portance Through
out Mississippi Valley.
n Season Should Continue Dry u VIII
be Necessary for Farmer, az soon
az Oats arc In Shock, to Go
In and Disk His Stubble.

In and Disk HIS StuopIe'
The problem of growing, crops In
dry season-and by this VIZ mean a
season of less than the normal rain
fall of the section--is mainly mat
ter Of holding the moisture. We can
not maze 1t rain, but must simply use
the moisture we have. To save the
moisture Is OF special importance this
year, because throughout the entire
Mississippi valley the past year the
shortage of rainfall was about twelve
or thirteen per cent. We raised fairly
good crops last year. for the year
1910 began with moisture seeping out
Of the soil at every pore. That sup
ply Is nov practically exhausted, and
we must depend to an extent greater
than usual on that which comes from
above. Hence 1t Is important to save
all the moisture possible as long as
the season keeps dry. whether that
L.oisturs Ia secured from below or
above.
Fortunately. tue soil is In unusually
fine physical condition, and has been
ever since the opening of the spring.
says the Wallace. Farmer. Under
these conditions It Is much easier to
save moisture than VIII the ground
breaks up cloddy in the spring.
First, moisture In the corn field
The only way to save this is by fire.
ouent stirring, thus mai. ming
mulch of dry dirt. Someone may ask:
Why does a mulch of dry dirt con-
serve moisture? Simply because by
cultivation the soil particles are kept
80 far apart that tho moisture from
below can not climb out and get out
into the atmosphere. When the
ground is solid, the moisture below
keeps rising to take the place of that
evaporEted from the surface. The
same occurs when a crust is formed
by a beating rain on we'll titled
field. The moisture from below es-
capes through this crust in the same
way that 1t does on the packed road,
or the path through a meadow or
pasture. The only thing the farmer
can do Is to keep the soil particles
so far apart that the water can not,
80 to speak, climb out and get away.
In seasons like this, when the land
Is free Of weeds, farmers sometimes
think there Is no necessity for cult
waiting their corn. They forget that
In time the stirred soil sinks and
becomes compacted, and hence the
water ia able to get out. In fact.
sometimes a half-inch rain in a dry
time Is a damage to the corn field.
II lies mostly ON the surface. The
beating of the rain packs the surface
together, crust Is formed. and water
escapes from It almost as readily as
from a bare field. Hence it is i'm
portant after a heavy rain, and some
times after light one, to restore the
mulch OF dry dirt and to do it as soon
as possible after the ground is dry
enough to work.
II the season should continue dry,
1t will be necessary for the farmer,
az soon as his oats are cut and In
shock, to 90 IN and disk his stubble,
In order to conserve the moisture. The
cat fields particularly will be very
dry. because a pound OF the dry mat
ter of oats, both Of stalk and grain,
requires about five "'rdred pounds
Of water. while corn requires only
about three hundred pounds. Hence
oats dry out the land: and If the field
Is to be plowed. then the sooner 1t Is
disked the better. In fact. the disk
should Immediately follow the binder,
without waiting Tor the shocks to be
removed. Land handled in this way
would break up with fewer Jumps and
be much easier to put In physical con-
dition.
We can do nothing in the way of
conserving moisture IL the pasture or
meadow. We must stand the loss
th~re. but we can do a great deal In
the corn field, In the potato field, or
In the grain field, after the crop has
been removed, II 1t is intended to put
it in fall grain.
AS we have often pointed out,
there are three things that determine
largely the magnitude of the crop; the
physical condition Of the soil. which
never was better; the temperature, of
which re have an abundance, and In
many places great excess: the
moisture. which is short. AS will be
seen by referring 10 the weather re-
ports which we are publishing from
week to week. there are but a few
points in the Mississippi valley in
which we have had normal rainfall
this year. Therefore. one of the most
important things for the farmer to
both study and practice. and that thor.
crghly, Is the best methods of con-
serving moisture.