The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1911-09-22

OF Special portance Through
out Mississippi Valley.
II Season Should Continue Dry II VIII
be Necessary for Farmer, a. Soon
~ Oats arc In Shock, to Go
In and Disk His Stubble.

The problem OF growing crops in a
dry season-and by this Wa mean a
season of less than the normal rain
fall of the sections mainly a mat
ter of holding the moisture. We can
not maze II 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 d~y, whether that
Loisture is secured from below or
above.
Fortunately, tie soil is in unusually
fine physical condition. and has been
ever since the opening of the spring,
says the Wallace Farmer. Under
these conditions II 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.
quent 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
so far apart that the 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 a well 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,
so to speak, climb out and get away.
In seasons like this, when the land
is free of weeds. farmers sometimes
think there IL no necessity for cult
waiting their corn. They forget that
In time the stirred soil sinks and
becomes compacted, and hence the
water is able to get out. In fact,
sometimes a halfinch rain in dry
time is a damage to the corn field.
1t lies mostly on the surface. The
beating of the rain packs the surface
together, a crust is formed. and water
escapes from 1t almost as readily as
from a bare field. Hence 1t is i'm
portant after a heavy rain. and some
times after 4 light one, to restore the
mulch Oh dry dirt and to do 1t as soon
as possible after the ground is dry
enough to work.
II the season should continue dry
it will be necessary for the farmer
as soon as his oats are cut and In
shock, to go in and disk his stubble
In order to conserve the moisture The
oat fields particularly will be very
dry. because pound 0. the dry mat
ter of oats, both of stalk and grain
requires about five J -1dred pounds
of water, while corn requires only
about three hundred pounds. Hence
oats dry out the land; AMI if the fielt
is to be plowed, then the sooner it Is
disked the better. In fact, the disl
should Immediately follow the binder
without waiting lor the shocks to bt
removed. Land handled in this way
would break up with fewer Jumps ant
, be much easier to put in physical con
dition.
: We can do nothing in the way O
: conserving moisture Ii the pasture o
, meadow We must stand the los
: th.re, but we can do a great deal il
the corn field, In the potato field, o
: In the grain field, after the crop ha
q been removed II 1t is intended to pu
1 it in fall grain.
/ AS we have often pointed out
5 there are three things that determine
y largely the magnitude of the crop; tn
+ physical condition of the soil, whicl
never was better; the temperature, O
which Re have an abundance, and Il
many places great excess; tn
moisture, which is short. AS win b.
: seen by referring to the weather re
ports which we are publishing iron
: week to week. there are but a few
: points in the Mississippi valley II
!, which we have had normal rainfall
:. this year. Therefore. one of the mos
!, important things for the farmer t
!, both study and practice. and that thol
serving moisture.