The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1914-07-31
THE MIDSUMMER FALLOW.
(BY KARL LANGENBEcK. J

Wheat has now been very generally
harvested and the returns, in almost all
sections are very gratifying. Where the
harvest has not come up TO the expec-
tations, 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. in
spite of good husbaddry, where the
wheat has fallen and the grain could not
develop and ripen. The general condi-
tons were, however, SO favorable that
fields in which there was no trouble with
weak straw, and which were predicted
not to yed more than fifteen or eighteen
bushels, gave thirty.
Men who succeed are always men who
learn from failure. They are those who
throw up their hands and say, farming
is such a complicated business that you
eau not know it; buy what fertilizer you
can. and let it go at that" Was your
drainage right? If there is any doubt
about it, invest in some tile for the new
field and put down a couple of lines.
But get advice about it. Put in the tile
where the labor will cost the least, and
yet work it with complete system to be
carried out, section by section, in the
future If you own the farm, do some
of this rather than spend all of your
money for a hand to mouth fertilizer
purchase. If you are a tenant squeeze
the owner to do this or a part OF it for
you. Don't let the demonstration of this
failure slip by without pulling him up to
do his duty in bringing up his land. If
failure does not lie here. is the soil and
the subsoi of the new field that you are
now blowing like those Of the old2 irso,
and wheat is in the rotation, stop before
you decide 10 put it in, You have time,
before seeding, 10 get advice from your
State authorities. Some other crop may
be safer.
Ifyou are blowing under sod or ma.
nuring heavily. and your soil has not
been lined for some years, remember
that the condition under which decompo-
sition bacteria, which convert them into
humus, thrive best, IS in the land that is
sweet. The best men started in blowing
at the earliest moment, even at the ex-
penSe of inconvenience, to gain time for
II. From the desirabiity of quick sweet
ening. so as to leave as much time as
possible for undisturbed bacterial humus-
making, the most soluble and quick act
ing lime is by all odds the cheapest. in
spite of the greater first cost. This
is the hydrate. If properly spread on
the sod and turned under, one-third of a
thousand pounds per acre dressing will
be takensup almost Immediately by the
soil moisture and cut the acids. The rest
will follow by diffusion and chemical ac-
ton SO quickly, even in dry weather, that
can not be detected in weeks
time. Lime, when ground or as hydrate,
is best spread on sod and plowed un-
der with it. Or, if the plowing is al
ready done. it should be put on and
narrowed in as soon as possible. II you
have already manured 1t, however, do
not lime it 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
shortage at another time.