The Mena weekly star., 1913-11-06
Jobn b. }Aage's
 0aeeklp 1etter
Fall Flowing and Deep Tillage,

AA a'AAN ANNP
 Fall blowing and deep tillage are important factors in the growing of good crops. The bad weather that has prevailed this fall has delayed the gathering of the cotton and corn crops, and of course the farmers cannot break the ground for the next crop until the present one is gathered, hence many farmers will be prevented from breaking their land, or a part of it, until after the first of January. However, those who can should break all the land they can without delay. By fall breaking greater amount of green stuff and vegetation will be turned unler and humus added to the soil. By adding humus you get more or ganic matter into the soil, and it becomes enriched and otherwise improved thereby. The vegetable matter turned under will decay and have beneficial effect on the soil. No soil will last and continue to make good crops without organic matter. Turning under weeds, grass and stalks will not meet every pur- pose, but it will go long ways to- wards maintaining the productive ness of the soil.
 Deep tillage serves another pur- pose. It gives a better seed bed and more loose soil to hold the moisture next year while the crop is growing, and also goes a long way in pre- venting washing. If soil is plowed shallow the soft pulverized dirt or top soil will easily wash away. If plowed deep the rainfall will be ab- sorbed to the full depth, and the washing will be lessened. Let us take an example of the difference between shallow and deep breaking as applied to a corn crop in the growing season. If you lay off your rows three and a half feet apart and plant the corn in the drill l2 inches apart you will have a soil surface to support each stalk eX- tending from4he stalk to the middle of the row, on each side, or 2i inches each side, making a total of i2 inches, and the width of this strip would be inches each way be- tween the stalks, or a total width of l2 inches. Multiply the i2 by the i2 and it makeks a surface of 5Oi inches to each stalk on which the winter rains fall. If you break your land inches deep you will have in cubic inches times 5Oi, or 2.Oi6 cubic inches of loose soil to catch the rain and hold the moisture to feed each stalk of corn. Now sup pose you should break your land inches deep. You have 4,032 cubic inches of loose soil to hold moisture. Not only that, but you would have the same proportion of loose soil in which plant food would be made available by being released and areated, and by having moisture to take up the plant food and convey 1t to the roots of the plant. There would also be the increased pro- portion of loose soil for the feeder roots to make their way in search of plant food. Then isn't it reason able to suppose that the growth of the crop would be better and the yield greater without any additional labor or cost in cultivating the crop?
 This example will apply 10 any other crop as well as corn. How ever, it is not best to break your land too deep. Do not break your ground more than inches deeper than you did the last time, unless you use disk blow and thoroughly mix the soil. If you desire to gc deeper it will be alright to subsoil and in fact subsOiling will be good plan anyway.
 John H. Page,
 Commissioner.