Weekly journal-miner., 1911-11-08

ptu. heuce, we eH pHdSlLe lue HtCeS- sity of carefully pulverizing the sur face before blowing, the seed-bed af- ter blowing and subsequently, making it compact. It must be remembered that trash not worked into the seed bed before blowing will form an in- sulatiOn on the bottom of the furrow that effeetually stops the upward movement of capillary water. Too often a crop is lost after the moisture in the seed-bed has been consumed which would have been saved had the contact between the furrow slice and the bottom of the furrow been made compact.
 Hygroscopic Moisture.
 Hygroscopic moisture is the vapor that exists in the air. Surface soils if they are in good tilth and rich in humus, absorb air and with the air, moisture. While the amount is not sufficient to produce crops, it is of material benefit in localities where heavy dews and fogs prevail.
 Hygroseopic moisture is sufficient to maintain plant life in deserts.
 Summer Following
 Summer following, or summer cul- ture as it is often called is another method of storing and conserving water. In some localities the annual rainfall is insufficient to grow crops each year, hence the necessity of cropping and land alternate years. The plan that has been successfully adopted in California, Wyoming, Utah, Western Kansas and Nebraska. is as follows:
 As soon as the frost is out of the ground in the spring, land that has been plowed the previous year is disced until the soil is loose and DOT ous enough to absorb any rains that may occur. After rains and as soon as a crust forms, the harrow is used for the purpose of forming mulch blanket and destroying weeds. This operation ie continued until early fall, when the ground is again plowed, disced, and if lumpy and loose, made compact by using a subsurface pack CT. Wheat is then drilled and the surface made compact by using the corrugated roller To summer fallow and not cultivate the land is of no benefit, but on the contrary a det1i- ment if weeds are permitted to grow, for they not only consume as much water and plant food as a crop. but in the absence of a mulch blanket, moisture escapes.
 Soil Mulch.
 Soil mulch or spreading on the sui face, straw, grass, on any organic matter that will prevent the suns rays from reaching the soil, causing evaporation, as a means of conserving moisture is not practical in any ex- tensive way, still some farmers have distributed straw during. the vii ter over their winter wheat and been re- warded by a fifty per cent increase. The mulch prevented the waste of moisture during the time the crop was growing. It also proved effective after the grain was cut, and when plOwed under, it improved the tex ture of the soil. The plan gives ex- cellent results to the truck gardener, is it beneficial to potatoes. The objection is, that it flinders aera- ton of the seed-bed, due to the fact that if a straw mulch formed culti- vation is impossible.
 Fertility
 The dry farmer must not lose sight | If the necessity of maintaining 9 | nigh state of fertility. The moisture 1! absorbing and retaining power of soil | depends upon the amount of organic | natter it contains. Soil deficient in hat, will not retain moisture long. !, Iumus is necessary to hold nitrogen, md it is absolutely essential to main ain soil bacteria. Nitrogen can be maintained by plsnting alfalfa, COW ,eas and soy beans. If the soil is in phosphorus and potash. md manure is not available, it should ,e supplied in commercial form.
 Rotation.
 Rotation of crops should not be Alfalfa is not only a routh resisting legume, but it i'm 'roves the soil in every way. It fur fishes organic matter and nitrogen. t renders the soil porous and makes vailable latent plant food. A good otation for the dry farmer to adopt g mbao+ DaoS YO+atoaS rupp;pr aI