Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1914-07-23
THURSDAY, JULY %. 1914.
The Midsummer Fa||ow,
By Karl IIangenbeck.

" neat mas now Decn Ntiy 6'h''"'
" harvested and the returns, in most
all sections, are very gratifying
Where the harvest has not come up
to expectations, the trouble has been
due to specific causes in individual
fields. rather than to general ones.
OF the chronic causes, it is unneces'
sary to speak. But, many cases have
come to my notice, in spite of good
husbandry, where the wheat had
fallen and the grain could not devel-
op and ripen. The general condl-
tons were, however, so favorable that
fields in which there was trouble with
weak straw, and which were predict
ed net to yield more than fifteen or
eighteen bushels, gave thirty.
Men who succeed are always men
who learn from failure. They ART
not those who throw up their hands
and say, farming is such a rompli,
Gated business that you can not know );
buy what fertilizer you can and let ii
60 at that" Was your drainage
right? If there is doubt about it, liz
vest i'm some tile for the new field and
put down couple of lines. But get
advice about it. Put in the tile
where the labor will cost 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
your money for a hand to mouth fer
tlizer 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, are the soil and
subsoil of the new field you are pillow,
ing 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.
If you are blowing under sod OF
manuring heavily, and your soil has
not been lined for some years, re-
member that the condition under
which decomposition 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 earliest
moment, even at the expense OF in
convenience, to gain time for it.
From the desirability of quick sweet
ening, SO as to leave rs much time as
possible for undisturbed bacterial
humus- making, the most soluble and
quick acting lime is by all odds the
cheapest, in spite of greater first cost
This is the hydrate. If properly
spread on the sod and turn ed under,
one third of thousand 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 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 man
ured, however, do not lime until
after 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.