El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-14

method Of farming to the people along
BY using a small gasoline engine
! or even a windmill for pumping pur-
/ poses, every homesteader has been
! aD!S 70 grow good garden or orch
/ ard while he experimental and
/ worked with his field crops after the
/ scientific cultivation methods.
As forage crops grow easiest the
experts are recommending the raising
OF these crops and the combining OF
farming with stock raising for profit
stock farming they call it. Several
with the result
/ DesIrabiIity of the Soil Typer.
There has been considerable dfscus-
sion, among the farmers. concer1iDq,
/ the relative merits of fine 5iffa-s-7
/ types OF soils best suited to drv farm
Iu5; oettIers who had a previous ex-
peIlence with sandy soils were not
dEerse 70 settling on the sandy land
| while those who had previously IA rrr7eJ
Gay foam and clay soils. insisted On
seIectng clay types. Not only were
many OF them quite decided in their
~ S-SI SACe Tor certain textures. but
tney must have certain coIors. among
when chocolate color was most in
uellaho. Dark color indicating the
presence OF abundant humus In the
SOIL is desirable, but if this REQUIRES
ment were held too strictly. the great
er part OF the soils in some parts Of
Doth states would have to be rejected
- the colors OF some Of these soils
are Asnt. This indicates the absence I
OF large amounts Of humus, and shows I
ne necessity for trying to keep I'D I
me uuuus content Prof J. u. Tins
ley dry farm expert, has been watch |
ing the crops grown on the soils Of I
uIIIerenI colOrs and textures for . ]
t HulllOe E OF years, and has not found
SudL one color or soil yielded much
peter than another. The difference in
Yield from soils Of the various far-
cures was less in seasons Of favorable
~
pected. In the last two years. which
nave been very dry, the sandy soils
nave generally produced much better
crops than the heavier soils.
Heavy Soils Are Best
me sandy land viii probably prove
less uufdDIe, ne says, than the heav-
Ter SOILS because the sandy soils are
composed OF larger particles which
VIII decompOse and yield up their
mineral elements of plant food much
more slowly than the finer particles
Wnlch make up the heavier soils Iii
Is probapIe that the greater part Of
the mineral plant food in the sandy
SOILS is already in the available con- +
Qiuon' because the decomposition OF
me rock particles has been going on
Tor a long time, and the rainfall has
not been sufficient to leach out the
soluble materials. When this already
prepared supply is once exhausted the
soils viii show a rapid decrease in
crop yield These sandy soils should
pc taken care of from the beginning
py means OF crop rotations, blowing
under OF leguminOus crops, and the
application Of as much manure az
possible.
The heavier soils viii prove to Be
the most durable because their par
ucIes are finer. These fine particles
are more readily acted upon by the .
various agencies at work in the soil
which set free the plant food now
locked up in them. While these soils
are more durable. they are much more
dlIucult to handle under the limited
rainfall conditions occurring in New
Mexico, than are the sandy soils.
Nature of the Soil.
In sandy soils more of the water re-
celVed from showers of an Inch or
less IS available to the deeper roots of
plants, than In heavier soils. This is
because it requires only about one
half as much water to saturate a
sandy soil as it does to saturate a (
cay IoaI4. II the soils are not allowed
20 dry below the water content at4
which plants begin TO wilt In them.
eacn viii give up about the same
amount OF wafer TO plants If they are
allowed TO become drier than this the I
clay loan viii hold on to more Of the
water than the sand. Corn viii wilt
under. New Mexico or Arizona cOndi- I
lions, IN sandy loan containing less
than three pounds of water Ia 100
pounds of soil; while in clay loan II.
VIII wilt when there is less than u
pouncs or water in 100 pounds OF soil
In the numld regions air dry samples
OF sandy loan have about 10 percent
Of water and clay loan, about to
10 percent; while in New Mexico or
Arizona air dry samples of sandy loam
seldom contain O.5 percent and of clay I
loan as much as 90 percent. The first
few inches Of a clay loan when quite
dry may take UP percent of their Z
weight Of water that is not available
20 the plants, as against 2.5 percent
held out by the same depth of sandy
loam On the other hand, in seasons
When there is an abundance Of rain
tai, the greater water capacity Of the
heavier soils enables them, when
properly opened to receive it, to store
large quantities Of moisture for fu-
ture use.
IdeaI Dry Farming Soil.
The ideal dry farming soil consists
Of from y to is inches Of loan or
sandy loan everything a clay loan or
clay Such q formation combines the
best qualities OF both types. There
are considerable areas Of this kind in
both new states. &
The considerations set out at least ?
partly explain why the rains do so
much more good on the sandy than
IN the heavy soils in years Of scant Ii
'atnfall. 1t also shows that II there r.
s plenty Of rain to thoroughly wet
Town into the clay loan and the clay .
sOllSs and II the surface is prOperly {
nulched to protect the moisture, that g.
he heavy soils will furnish more H.
moisture to plants than the sandy o
mes The heavy soil must be lOOsened
" deep blowing to let the moisture y,
veil down into it, the surface must be =
-ept loose enough to let in the water. Z
nd at the same time, must be in the {
roper condition for reducing evaDo- n
alton to minimum. To get these -
Conditions in the heavy soils requires u
work and Judgment. The sandy soil O