The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1912-06-14
A DISSERTATION ON
BOOK FARMING AND
EXPERIENCE VALUE
BREAK GROUND DEEPER AND
PROVIDE MOISTURE FOR THE
GROWING CROP.
Old VERSUS new GROUND
More Work Is Necessary In the Prop
or Preparation But the Returns Are
Ample and Abundant and Should
Teach a Lesson.
(Py Capt. T. F. Peck, Commissioner
of Agriculture.)

(Ry capt. i. r. feCh, COumiseioncl
of Agriculture.)
want to talk this week to the
farmer who. is either Indifferent OF
antagonisiic to what he has styled
book farming. l want us to get right
down to our own experience and for
get for the time that any books have
been written on this subject. We will
not 60 outside our own experience to
provo the value of the things l want
you to do and will not ask you to
begin with more equipment than
should be found on every farm In the
state of Tennessee.
livery farmer when he gathers his
crop would like to have so intsead
of rs bushels per acre. 1t REQUIRES
less work to prepare, cultivate and
gather a crop on 10 acres than on 20
acres. Now l want to asck you farm
ers If you do not always make bet
ter crop when you have sufficient
rain than when you have drouth?
Now din it ever occur to you that
you could regulate that matter so that
you can have enough moisture for
Your crop even though 1t does not
rain during the growing season? The
reason you do not have enough now
is because your soil Is not broken
deep enough to hold it. You have
0ecn braking your soil about four
inches deep and below that is hard.
pan that water will hot penetrate,
30 when the rains come the thin coat
o. soil gets so full of wafer that it
washes away and when dry weather
comes 1t soon dries out until there
Ia not sufficient moisture to Keep
your crop growing If it does not rain
often, and you make very little crop.
Aretbe thing you know that nine
out Of ten farmers do, that is to take
all of the crop of Of the ground and
In many cases even rake up and burn
the grass and cornstalks. You ask
what good they will do. I will tell
you In most, cases you find your
land inclined to break up cloddy, and
the longer you work 1t year after
year, you find it more that way? No,
because it is SO full Of vegetable mat
ter The soil is loose and porous: it
will hold great deal more. water
/, than your tight land; it will hold
more than double the water for the
same number Of inches of SOIL, Now
If YOU want to put your ground in con-
dislon so it will not suffer for rain,
you must fix it so it will hold moist
ure and enough of it to supply your
crop while it is growing. A pint
cur will not hold as much as a quart
cup and ground plowed four inches
deep will not hold as much as
ground pulverize eight inches deep,
and tight cloddy land will not hold
as much as loose, loamy land, so if |
you wantthe moisture, instead of
blowing four inches deep, let your
plcw down eight inches deep. To
make your land loose, never burn |
anything, turn under all the vegeta-
BILE matter it will keep the water |
from running off and you can keep
the sun from pulling it out II you
will stir the surface thorough and
often, not deep, but thorough and oft. |
ne Do your deep blowing before you
plant. After you plant work the sur
face often as it should be, and your
crop will grow right off II 1t don't
rain. because you have the moisture |
in the ground and it is doing its work. |
I have explained to you before that
in every 100 pounds Of green crops ]
only about thre pounds came from
the mineral plant food in the ground,
the rest came from the air and water
You do not have to bother about thet
air further than to give it a chance
tor get into the ground and we have
shown you. how you can have anil
abundance Of water. We have not
asked you to use anything except
what should be on every farm. or
course 1t il going to take more work
on an acre to fix 1t right than to half
prepare 1t, but II is work that will
pay you better than the work has
paid that you have been doing, and
at tn same time 1t IL making your
land better every year. You are get
ting the use Of plant rood that the
way you have been working 1t, has
been locked up.
II