Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1911-09-04
Where the Plant Feeds.
(By ". c. Palmer.


The plant feeds principally in the
soil that is turned with the plow. This
can be determined in any field by
noticing the poor growth that the plant
in the dead furrow makes, the fair
growth made by the plant outside of
it, and the best growth made by the
plant on the back furrow. The plant
in the dead furrow, while it came from
the same kind of seed as the others,
cannot make the growth, as it has to
feed in the sub-soil-soil that has not
been turned with the plow-and the
plant food that is in it has not been
made available. The plant on the back
furrow has an extra amount of soil
that has been turned with the plow,
and the result Is that. having more
available food, 1t makes a larger
growth than the plant on the regu-
larly plOwed land.
This, then, gives an insight into
what is needed by the plant to make
It's best growth, and the beauty of it
is that the plant tells us itself. The
surface soil will dry out to the depth
of at least two inches. The roots
cannot feed in this. If the blowing
is but five inches deep, that leaves
the plant only three inches of soil
that Is in condition for it to feed
from. If the plowing is eight inches
and the same amount dries out on
the surface, the plant then has six
inches, or twice as much soil, that 1t
can feed on, as compared to three
inches on the five-inch plowing. This
should make it quite plain, from the
standpoint of the plant getting its
food, that the deeper blowing is quite
important.
Then there is the other fact that
rain soaks into the deep plowing more
readily and quickly, so that there will
be less run-off from 1t than from the
shallow plowing. The plowed soil is
also in a condition to hold more mois-
ture than that which has not been
lOosened up with the plow, both
through the soil grians being better
arranged and through the added or
ganic matter Another matter that
should be considered here Is that the
plant must have the moisture where
the food is,'that 1t is going to take up
Being in the soil turned with the pillow
that is where the moisture must be
to do the plant much good This is
the reason, then, why the soil should
be packed and every means taken tc
have 1t in good contact with the sub
soil so tat as the plant uses up the
moisture in the surface soil, more
moisture can travel up to take its
place. The deep plowing also makes
1t necessary that more organic mat.
ter be added to the soil. else, as the
soil is worked deeper and the organic
matter distributed in more soil, there
will be less mount of it in a given
amount of the deep-plowed soil thar
the shallow-plowed land. The fact
that the plant feeds in the soil turned
by the plow is a reason, too, why corn
| should not be cultivated deep after il
has made a good root system. as the
main feeders being so near the sur
face, some Of them will be cut Off and
the plant delayed in its growth, as II
must grow new roots before it can
properly feed itself Especially is this
important late in the season. And in
dry-farming, corn should be cultivated
late, as two reasons for growing 1t in
this system Of frming is to save mois-
ture and kill weeds.
These points in regard to where the
plant feeds and the consequent need
OF deep plowing, of adding organic
matter, Of shallow cultivation for cul-
tivated crops, needs to be kept in mind
whether the farming is being done in
q dry or a humid climate, but more
attention needs to be given them in
dry farming-Dry Farming.