Milford chronicle., 1914-07-24
The MIDSUMMER FALLOW.
By Karl Langenbeck.

wheat mas now been very generally
harvested and the returns, in most ali
sections, are very gratifying. Where
the harvest has not come up to expecta-
lions, the trouble has been due to specific
causes in individual fields, rather than
/ to general ones. Of the chronic causes
It IS unnecessary to speak. But, many
cases have come to my notice, inspite
OF good husbandry, where the wheat
had fallen and the grain could not de-
velop and ripen. The general conditions
We're, however, so favorable that fields
IN which there was trouble with weak
straw, and which were predicted not to
yield more than fifteen or eighteen
bushels. gave thirty.
The Lesson of Failure.
Men who succeed are always men who
learn from failure. They are not those
who throw up their hands and say,
farming is such a complicated bust
ness that you can not know buy what
FERTILIZER you can you can and let it go
at that. Was your drainage right :?
If there is doubt about it, invest in some
tile for the new field and put down 3
couple Of lines. But get advice about it.
Put in the tile where the labor will cost
least and yet work it with a complete
system to be carried out section by sec
! ton in the future. If you own the
farm, do some of this rather than spend
all your money for hand to mouth fer
tilizer purchase. If you are a tenant,
squeeze to the owner to do this, or a
part of it, for you. Don't let the dem
Onstration of this failure slip by without
pulling him up to do his duty in bring
ing up his land. If failure does not lie
here, are the soil and subsoil of the new
field you are blowing like those of the
old ? If so, and wheat is in the rotation,
stop before you decide to put it in. You
have time, before seeding, to get advice
from your State authorities. Some other
crop might be safer.
The Immediate Need.
If you are blowing under a sod or
manuring heavily, and your soil has not
been lined for some years, remember
that the condition under which decom-
position bacteria, which convert them
into humus, thrive best, is in land that
is sweet. This is a most important
matter for the summer falloW is short.
The best men started in blowing at the
of inconvenience, to gain time for it.
From the desirability Of quick sweeten-
ing, so as to leave as much time as pos
sible for undisturbed bacterial humus-
making, the most soluble and quick act
ing lime is by all odds the cheapest, in
spite of greater first cost. This is the
hydrate If properly spread on the sod
and turned under, one third of a thou
sand pounds per acre dressing will be
taken up almost Immediately by the soil
moisture and cut the acids. The rest
will follow by diffusion and chemical
action so quickly, even in dry weather,
that carbonate, can not be detected in
a weeks time. Lime, when ground, or
as hydrate, is best spread on a sod and
plowed under with it. Or if blowing
is already done, it should be put on and
narrowed in as soon as possible. If you
have already MANFRED, however, do not
lime until after a rain has leached the
animal matter into the soil. Else you
will lose ammonia. Summer lining
should be light, not over half the late
Fall or early Spring practice. Make
up a shortage at another time.