The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1911-04-27
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN FOR PLOW-
ING PRAIRIE SOD
PROFESSOR THOMAS SHAW TELLS HOMESTEADERS HOW TO
FLOWING BEST

The temptation to break up prairie
sod, to break it shallow and to con
tinue breaking and sowing it to croL
until the season is far advanced is
ever present with the new settler.
He is anxious to grow crops that will
bring income and that will furnish
food for his household and such ami
mails as lie may own. If the break
ing IS done early and deeply. if a
good seed bed is made, if the sowing
and planting are done early, and if
the crops put in include mainly, flax,
fodder-corn, and potatoes, the effort
is TO he commended. But if the
| blowing is shallow and the sowing is
continued until late III the season,
| the process is full of hazard should
| the season prove more than ordinar-
lily dry. Should the season prove
moist, the results may be fairly sat
isfactory, but 1T can not be known
before hand what the character of
the season will be. In 1910 many
thousands of acres of crop were lost
in this way.
Even though a crop should be
grown OH all the land thus broken
the gain may be less than is
apparent. lfa crop is grown on
spring broken sod there is but little
reserve moisture left in the land.
This will mean, that should crop
be grown on that land the following
year and the year prove one Of
drought, it would fail. OF course it
would avoid such hazard to summer
fallow the land. IT on the other
hand the newly broken sod is sum-
mer falloWed the season when it is
broken, the opportunity is thus fur
nished for getting into the soil re-
serve supply of moisture that will
aid in growing the crops that follow.
Such reserve supply will nndonbt-
edly go down into the soil the first
season, providing the plowne is
done not later than early July,
and providing the season is one OF
average moisture and the plowed
land is properly cared for subse-
quently.
The new settler, therefore, should
aim to be content with a small acre
age sown to crop the first year. lie
should rather center his effort OH
breaking a large amount and prepar
ing it for the next years crop
whether that crop is sown in the fall
or the spring. All diligence should
be shown in breaking until the moist
ure leaves the soil. 1t may proba
bly, be done more easily in May or
June than during any other months
because of the precipitation that is
then likely to occur. Every effort
be made to turn every furrow that
can be turned over at such a time,
because of the influence which such
a cour Sc will have on the crop of the
next year. The more the land that
is thus brok Ell the larger will be the
area that may be depended OH to
grow good crop the following year,
providing that the land is properly
managed in the interval.
What is to be understood by prop.
er manage ment? 1t means blowing
carefully and deeply, not less deep
ly than six inches deeply as a rule
and turning the sod carefully over.
When plowing is thus deep at the
first it is possible to plow thus deep
ly subsequently,, even though the
weather should be dry. Those who
employ power plows should insist on
having the soil plowed thus deeply.
AS soon as the land is plowed it
should be compressed to prevent the
escape of moisture. This may be
done by using a roller, disc and har-
row in quick succession. In the ab-
sence of the roller the disk and har-
row may suffice. When disking the
aim should be not to turn up the sods
to any appreciable extent. The dust
mulch made by the harrow which
follows the disk should be kept up
until winter wheat is soWn in the
autumn, or until the end of the saa-
son, if spring grain is to follow. The
frequency of the renewal of the dnst
mulch will depend somewhat on the
frequency and extent of the showers
that fall. After any considerable