The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1912-02-09
FLOWING FOR WATER
Must Be Done Deeply and At The
RIGHT Tina


Il u not alone sufficient to plow,
and to plow deeply: II ID also necss-
sary that the blowing be done 1t the
right time. In the very great ma
jority Of cases over the whole dry
farm territory. blowing should b
done In the fall There are three re-
eons for this; drst. after the crop u
harvested. the soil should be dis
turbed Immediately. % that It can b.
exposed to the full action Of The
weathering agencies. whether the win
Ter be open or closed. II for any re-
son blowing cannot b done early. Il
rs often advantageous to follow the
harvester with . disk. and TO plow
later when convenient The chemical
effect on the soil resulting from the
weathering made possible b fAn
blowing. as win be shown in chapter
TX. In of itself % great a. to warrant
the teaching Of the general practice
Of fall blowing Secondly. the early
stirring of the soil prevents evaporer
ton of the moisture In the coil dur
ing late summer and the fall. Thirdly.
in the parts of the dry-farm territory
where such precipitation occurs In the
fall. winter OF early spring. fall
blowing permits much Of this precipf
sation to enter the soil and b stored
there until needed by plants.
A number of experimental stations
have compared blowing done In the
early fall with blowing done late In
the fall or In the spring. and With
almost no exception II has been found
that early fall blowing In water-con-
serving and in other ways advantage
GUS. II was observed on q Utah
dry-farm that the fall-plowed land con-
tanned to a depth of 10 feet TAT acre
inches more water than the adjoining
spring -plowed land-a saving of nearly
pne-half Of years precipitation. The
ground should be plowed In the early
fall as soon as possible after the crop
is harvested. II should then be LEFT
in the rough throughout the winter.
broken down by the elements. The
rough land further has a tendency to
catch and hold the snow that may BE-
blown by the wind. thus insuring
more even distribution OF the water
from the melting snow.
A common objection to fall blowing
is that the ground is SO dry In the fall
that It does not pillow up well. and that
the great dry clods of earth do much
to injured the physical condition Of the
soil. II is very doubtful II such an
objection Ia generally valid. especially
il the soil Is so cropped az to leave .
fair margin OF moisture In the soil at
harvest time. The atmospheric agen-
cies will usually break down the
clods. and the physical result Of the
treatment will be beneficial. On
doubtedly. the fall blowing Of dry land
is somewhat difticult. but the good 70
suits more than pay the farmer for
his trouble. Late fall blowing. after
the fall rains have softened the land.
is preferable to spring blowing. II
for any reason the farmer feels that
he must practice spring blowing. he
should do It as early as possible in
the spring. OF course. 1t is inadvis-
able to pillow the soil when It IL %
wet as to injure its filth seriously. but
as soon as that danger period b
passed, the pillow should be placed In
the ground. The moisture In the soil
will thereby be conserved. and Whist.
ever water may fall during the spring
months will be conserved also This
lis Of especial importance In the Great
Plains region. and In any district
where the precipitation comes In tha
spring and winter months.