The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1912-03-22
Golden Rule Store
CALDWELL, IDAHO

soiling has proven to be from May
to November for showing results the
next year, while in the south the best
season for the work is from October
to February l. The full results of
subsoiling by means of dynamite are
not yet known, because most of the
remarkable results noted have occur
red within the last two years, with
the exception of few pioneer users
of dynamite, whose experience has
proved that the effect of subsoiling
lasts for many years.
Costs SIS Per Acre.
The cost averages about $500 an
acre, including dynamite, caps, fuse
and the labor of making the holes and
doing the blasting. In most cases the
cost is recovered within the year, out
of the increased yield, but in others
where the increased yield would not
: be worth $500 an acre, it is import
! ant to know how long this increased
production is going to keep up SO as
to justify the expense.
Let US first consider the matter.
therefore, from a theoretical stand
point. The reason why deep tillage
or subsoil farming is desirable is
that all the soil below the bottom of
the ordinary pillow cut, in other words
everything below E or inches, is
still in its primeval condition. 1t has
never been disturbed. Chemical analy-
ses of soils down to a depth of 20
feet show that for this reason, on the
average acre there are tons of plant
foods which become available only
when ascending moisture brings them
up to the roots that cannot get down.
Alfalfa and other deep-rooted
plants are called soil makers, be-
cause they penetrate this compact
soil, introduce humus and provide a |
passageway for the descent and ascent
OF water, which carries with it the
soluble, fertilizing elements, but many
subsoils are so hard that it is practi-
cally impossible for any one plant to
penetrate them. And even when this
is possible it is useless to put such
burden on the plant, because what
ever vitality is expended in making its
own home beneath the surface, is sub
tracted from the vitality of the plant
above the surface. In other words,
the plant that has to fight for its life
beneath the soil has little energy left
for fruition.
Consequently, ii we make root
growth easy and quick by breaking
up the subsoil, then we make the
tertilizing' elements of the subsoil
immediately available and save the
energy Of the plant for fruition. And
we also create in the subsoil a Dor
Gus condition favorable to the stor-
age OF water at depth that will not
keep the soil cold, and yet near
enough the roots to feed them through
capillary action, for subsoiling also
introduces air into the soil. And it .
S just as necessary, of course, for the
-oots Of plant to have air as it is ,
or the human being. |,
Now it is obvious that the passage {
If air and moisture through the re- c
ulting deposit of humus, all tend to !
Keep the soil open. Therefore, if it
S once thoroughly shattered with dy- t
lamite to depth of S or E feet and t
he principles of crop rotation are {
ollowed thereafter, it is safe to say c
hat the subsoil treated in this manner l
VIII never again get back into its pri- f
neval compact condition. In fact, |
whether or not it remains as open f
S Immediately after blasting, depends q
m the continuity of cropping and the a
roper rotation of the crops. 5
The effect of subsoiing, therefore, a
virtually to change farm from a t;
inch layer of top soil to 6-foot {,
lyer. The only element of fertility q