The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1911-09-07
SAVING ALL MOISTURE
or Special Il portance Through
out Mississippi Valley.
N Season Should Continue Dry II viii
be Necessary for Farmer, as Soon
as Oats are in Shock, to Go
In and Disk His Stubble.

The problem of growing crops in
dry season--and by this we mean a
season of less than the normal rain-
fall of the sections mainly mat
ter of holding the moisture. We can !
not make IL 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 now practically exhausted, and
we must depend TO an extent greater
than usual on that which comes from
above. Hence II Is important to save
all the moisture possible as long as
the season keeps dry. whether that
moisture is secured from below or
above.
Fortunately. the soil is in unusually
/ fine physical condition and has been
/ ever since the opening of the spring,
says the Wallace Farmer Under
/ these conditions IL is much easier TO
save moisture than when the ground
| breaks up cloddy in the spring.
First. moisture in the corn field.
/ 1he only way to save this is by fire.
/ qIent stirring, thus mali ming a
mulch of dry dirt. Someone may ask:
why does mulch of dry dirt con-
serve moisture? Simply because by
cultivation the soil particles are kept
20 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
evaporated from the surface. The
same occurs when crust is formed
by a beating rain on well TILED
field. The moisture from below es-
capes through this crust in the same
way that II 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 is 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 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 a crust is formed, and water
escapes from II almost as readily as
from bare field. Hence 1t is i'm
portant after a heavy rain. and some
times after a light one, to restore the
mulck of dry dirt and to do It as soor
as possible after the ground Is dry
enough to work.
II the season should continue dry
Il r.ill 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. TIL,
oat fields particularly will be yer!
dry, because a pound OF the dry mat
ter of oats, both of stalk and grain
, REQUIRES about five hundred pounds
! OF water, while corn requires only
. about three hundred pounds. Hence
oats dry out the land; and II the fielt
, is to be plowed, then the sooner 1t II
disked the better. In fact, the disl
: should Immediately follow the binder
a without waiting for the shocks to b.
removed. Land handled In this wal
would break up with fewer Jumps ant
4 be much easier to put in physical con
v dition.
r We can do nothing In the way o
q conserving moisture in the pasture o
meadow. We must stand the los
e thore, but we can do a great deal Il
Q the corn field. in the potato field, o
a In the grain field, after the crop ha
L been removed, II It is intended to pu
Il 1t in fall grain.
e AS we have often pointed ou
o there are three things that determin
p largely the magnitude of the crop; tn
e physical condition of the soil, whic
e never was better; the temperature, {
e which we have an abundance, and !
e many places a great excess; tn
u moisture, which is short. AS will
D. seen by referring to the weather r.
ports which we are publishing froI
week to week, there are but fe'
l. points in the Mississippi valley l
Is which we have had normal rainfa
10 this year. Therefore, one of the mos
- important things for the farmer
y both study and practice, and that tho
- oughly, is the best methods of COZ
- serving moisture.