Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1911-04-14

through the dry season on the mois
ture already conserved. There is no
more common cause of failure or low
yields from these crops than lack of
early spring tillage.
Where cover crops, such as rye or
rye and vetch, have been grown on
the land to protect the soil from
teaching or washing through the win
ter, the early spring is the proper
time to plow this cover crop under
as green manure. To be of the
greatest benefit as green manure 1t
is vital that the cover crop should
be plowed under early In the spring,
say about April to Is, when it is
from IL to 16 inches high. At this
stage 1t is still lush and green, so
when it is plowed under it will de-
cay rapidly. After green manure has
been plowed under the land should
be thoroughly disced to compact the
soil of the ground layer and to cause
its rapid decay. Where a cover crop
Is allowed to grow late in the spring
1t becomes too mature to decay rap
idly and in addition saps the soil OF
moisture and plant food that should
be reserved for the main crop of the
season.
The fifth step in the early spring
work is the seeding. The best stands
of clover in Western Oregon are Sc
cured by broadcasting the seed on
fall-sown wheat as early as it is
possible to get on the ground, say
not later than March Is. This early
seeding, If the soil will permit, should
be followed by light narrowing to
better cover the. seed. Field peas,
both in Western and Eastern Oregon,
depend nearly altogether for success
full yields upon their being seeded
at the earliest possible date the
weather will permit, say the latter
part of February or early March
When the land has been plowed the
field peas may be drilled in to a
depth Of three inches at the rate of
two bushels per acre. If pea hay is
desired, oats should be seeded about
two weeks after the peas have been
sown. If field peas are sown later
than March Is their yield is greatly
reduced. Mangels and other root
crops should also be seeded during
March, as should the thousand-headed
kale Kale, where seeded early in
March, is ten to twelve inches high
and ready for transplanting by the
first of June. Spring oats, of course,
give the highest yields when seeded
during March. Potatoes generally
give the best crops when seeded be-
tween April is and March 1. Corn,
alfalfa and field beans find the best
seeding time from May to 10.
The sixth step in the spring work
refers especially to the growing of
legumes such as vetch, alfalfa and
clover, in Western Oregon. The cor.
rection of acidity for alfalfa growing
Is absolutely essential. This is done
by lining the alfalfa ground the lat
ter part of March. Water slaked
lime, at the rate of 500 to 1900
pounds per acre, should be used.
The vetch, clover and alfalfa should
receive light dressing of from 40
to 60 pounds per acre of land plaster
about April 1. Land plaster, of course,
does not correct acidity, but, by
making potash available, legitimately
increases the yields of leguminous
crops. Land plaster can be broad.
casted either before or after seeding,
or directly on the growing crop, but
} should preferably not be applied later
than April 15,Fas it must be washed
into the soil by the last spring rains
Finally, none of these early spring
operations may be successful unless
good seed Is used. The enormous
! losses suffered by the farmers OF
Oregon each year from the use OF
inferior seed Is not realized. Seed
low in vitality or containing large
amounts of noxious weeds are all toe
, commonly sown, but seldom does the
farmer stop to think how easily this
continued and costly waste may be
prevented. A representative sample
of the seed to be purchased or used
can be secured from the scotsman
and this sample placed in an en-
/, velope and mailed to the Seed Test
ing Laboratory at the Oregon Agricul
tural College, where it will be imme
diately examined as to purity and ger
mination and reported upon free o.
: charge. If the seed Is inferior Il
need not then be purchased or sown
!. 1t is especially vital that all the
grasses, clover and alfalfa should bt
examined before purchasing and SOW
ing. A tablespoonful sample is suffi
cient. The month of March is the
!, ideal time for the farmer to make
arrangements for purchasing seed fol
the year. All the foregoing costly
operations and labor on the farm may
be thrown away If this step II
}. neglected.
. We should have some record
: breaking yields this year. Seasona
2 conditions have never been better. /
r the Oregon farmer Is to get maxi
|, mum crops, however, he must re
! member that it will depend yer!
largely upon the careful observance
t of these first important steps In tn,