Weekly journal-miner., 1911-11-08

1 ting steel implement, capable of turn ing a furrow S1a or inches. The disc harrow is indispensable both be- fore and after blowing. A double disc is preferable to the single. A disc is, on account of the sharp blades, very searching. It pulverizes and packs the soil uniformly from the surface to the bottom of the furrow.
 The subsurface packer is of great value as a pulverizer of both surface and deep elods, packs the soil to the depth of several inches and firms it around young plants, but it is not in tended to pack the lower ground like this implement. Often there are Jumps or air spaces at or near the bottom of the furrow, and unless they are crushed and the air spaces closed up, capillary water will not come from the deeper subsoils to the seed-bed. Again, plants gather food and moisture from the soil particles which are coated with moisture, hold plant food in solution. If Jumps ex- ist, the delicate roots are unable to penetrate them, but spread over the surface, securing the benefit of only a small per cent of territory in the seed-bed. The particles of soil are SO small that -equires one thousand or more laid side by side to make an inch, hence, if a lump has an area of one inch from which the little roots gather food, the area is increased to one thousand inches if the lump is thoroughly pulverized
 The subsurface packer is indespen- sible to the dry land farmer. In fact it is practically useless to under take to produce crops in many re- gions where the rainfall is abnormally low during the growing season, un- less the seed-bed is made compact. The wedge shaped wheels pack and nulverize the soil, just as a fork crushes boiled potato, or the rail road builders spade packs the dirt under the tie. This implement used or forty acres of wheat land in a normal year will increase the yield in one crop enough to pay for the 1 tool and the cost of labor.
 The dougle gang pulverizer, known as corrugated roller, packer and | clod crusher is valuable for at least three things First, it pulverizes the surface. The back roll of wheels is 70 placed that the cutting edges of each wheel mismatch the pulzerizing done by the wheels of the front gang. This hit-and-miss arrangement of the wheels insures that no clods are miss ed and the ground is left in little ridges, very desirable condition to catch and absorb rains. If used after seeding, the soil is made compact around the seed, thereby hastening germination.
 Second. in sections where it is not advisable to use the smooth roller on account Of the soil drifting or the sub-surface packer because it is not needed, this implement gives remark able results If the roller is run at right angles to the prevailing wind it prevents, in a great measure, the i soil from blowing. The hollow spaces ! between the ridges, which are from | one to one and half inches deep, | contain dead air and the current of dead air above holds it in place and supports the edges, on the same prin- ciple that water in a little bayou on the border of a swift stream is always ! still, held as it is in place by the pressure of the stream. This feature alone is of great value in windy sec tions.
 Third, the fluted shape of the wheel so pulverizes the soil that a mulch is formed which prevents rapid evapOra- tion of moisture. The implement is used to good advantage on grain after it is up. The soil is made compact about the roots and the mulch pre- vents the escape of moisture.
 Storing Water.
 Farm crops require water, and with out it they will not grow. It requires 300 pounds of water to make one pound of dry matter or from 400 to 600 tons to mature an acre of cereals, corn, hay or root crops.
 In semi-arid regions where the rain fall is from ten to eighteen inches and the greater portion of that dur ing the winter and early spring, it becomes necessary to store the water in the subsOils to be utilized during