Graham guardian., 1912-02-02
FLOWING FOR WATER
Must Be Done Deeply and at the
Right Time.
Experiment statlons Find That When
Work 10 Done In Fall Il Proves
Water Conserving and Has
Many Other Advantages.

4. II =
It Is not alone suflcient to plow
and to plow deeply; It is also neces-
Bary that the blowing be done at the
right time. In the very great ma
jority OF cases over the whole dry
farm territory, plowing should be
done In the fall. There are three rea-
sons for this; first. after the crop Is
harvested. the soil should be dis.
turbed Immediately. 30 that It can be
exposed to the full action Of the
weathering agencies, whether the win.
ter be open or closed. II for any rea.
SON blowing cannot be done early, 1t
Is 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 by fall
plowing. as will be shown in chapter
TX, is Of itself SO great as to warrant
the teaching OF the general practice
of fall plowing. Secondly. the early
stirring Of the soil prevents evapora-
tion of the moisture In the soil dur
ing late summer and the fall Thirdly.
In the parts Of the dry-farm territory
whore such precipitation occurs In the
fall. winter or early spring, fall
plowing permits much of this precipi-
tation to enter the soil and be stored
there until needed by plants.
A number OF experimental stations
have compared plowing done in the
early fall with plowing done late In
the fall or In the spring. and with
almost no exception 1t has been found
that early fall plowing Is water-con-
serving and in other ways advantage
GUS. It 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
one-half OF a years precipitation. The
ground should be plowed In the early
fall as soon as possible after the crop
is harvested. It should then be left
In the rough throughout the winter,
30 that 1t may be mellowed and
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 plowing
10 that the ground Is SO dry in the fall
that It does not plow up well, and that
the great dry clods of earth do much
to injured the physical condition Of the
soil. It ID very doubtful il such an
objection is generally valid. especially
II the soil Is so cropped as to leave a
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. I'm
doubtedly, the fall plowing Of dry land
is somewhat difficult. but the good re-
suits more than pay the farmer for
his trouble. Late fall plowing. after
the fall rains have softened the land,
Is preferable to spring plowing. II
for any reason the farmer feels that
he must practice spring plowing. he
should do It as early as possible In
the spring. OF course. It is inadvis-
able to plow the soil when 1t Is 80
wet as to injure It's tilth seriously. but
as soon as that danger period Is
passed. the plow should be placed in
the ground. The moisture in the soil
will thereby be conserved, and what
ever water may fall during the spring
months will be conserved also. This
Is Of especial Importance In the Great
Plains region. and in any district
where the precipitation comes In the
spring and winter months.