The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1911-03-23


ems, although number Of crimes
have been committed that have been
charged to the notorious bandit
Princeton Post.
Prepare for = Dry Season.
We are not going to tell you
whether you are to have a dry sea-
son in your locality or not. You
would think US fools II We did. We
know that in certain sections 1t will
be a dry season, that in other Sec
lions it will not; but we do not
know what it will be in your section
The point we wish to make is that
whether we are to have q dry season
or a wet one, you should prepare for
a dry season.
1t is quite probable that Tor some
years there will be less rain than
during late years except the last
Last year was a dry season all over
the country, from the Rocky noun.
tains to the Atlantic Ocean; that is,
there was less than the average an
nual rainfall. These dry years have
a habit of coming in succession. One
cycle may be very wet, others very
dry; but after a series Of years in
which the rainfall has been less than
normal, you will not often be disap-
pointed If you expect that a few
years following will average less
than the normal. This Is more
noticeable in semi-arid regions, be-
cause the normal rainfall is low. II
is less noticeable in sections of abun-
dant rainfall, say thirty-eight to
forty-five inches, because farmers in
those sections can get along very
we'll with ten inches less than the
normal amount.
1t is true all over the world that
there is this periodicity in rainfall
The very Oldest records at the sta
tons where the records have been
kept longest, whether in this country
or in Europe, settle that without
peradventure; but no man can tell
the first of March whether the year
is to be a dry or wet one. Neverthe-
less, we say to our readers: Prepare
for dry season; that is, don't waste
any of the moisture. Conserve all OF
it that you can. Plow to the proper
depth. Get the soil settled as soon
as possible after blowing, and with
cultivated crops maintain mulch
of dry dirt. If rain should be abun-
dant, your land will be none the
worse for this thorough cultivation,
but very much the better. II the
rains should be deficient, you will
get a fairly good crop anyway in
most cases by following this method,
and avoid a total failure.
You ask how to prepare for dry
season? Suppose you have corn
stalk land you intend to put in corn,
and have gotten rid of your corn
stalks either by breaking or raking
and burning them. Your land has
moisture in it; not very deep down
however, for last year was dry
year, and there has been no excess
i've rains in most of our territory
since. If you will let that corn land
lie until you are ready to plow in
the last half of April, a crust will
have formed and you will lose q
great deal Of the moisture that you
have. You can never get it back
except through rainfall. Therefore
disk your corn ground thoroughly
break up this crust through which
this water is evaporating; form 9
mulch of dry dirt, and keep what
moisture you get. The land will
pillow all the easier because there IL
no opportunity for clod formation;
and if you follow your pillow with the
harrow, you will have taken a long
step in the direction of good seed
bed.
If you are going to put this land
into oats, do just the same thing
Break up the crust that forms on
top; disk thoroughly, disking deeper
than usual. Put in the oats with q
drill; don't broadcast. In other
words act on the theory that you
are going to be short of moisture
and must conserve it in every way
you can.
If your land is wet, tile drain it.
But, you say, that will let the water
run away. So it will, but only the
water that is of no use to you. The
only water the plant can make use
of is that which is in very thin
film around the soil grains. You
can not use the rest; but as long as
your lands are undrained, the space
between the soil grains, which
should contain air, and must if it
is to produce a crop, is filed with
water. That water is not only use
less, but it is a positive damage. Get
rid of it by letting it run away. 1t
will do so if you give it chance.
Do you know that sometimes land
actually rises after it is drained? So,
at least, government experts tell us,
and we believe they tell the truth.
Why? Simply because it has become
aerated. Instead of being sodden
and run together, in the course of
time the tile drains bring in enough
air to break this up, make the soil
looser, and of course elevate it. This
may be a new idea to some of our