The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1914-09-18

and in study of horse utility for
period covering six years, it was
found hat he averaged only 3.l4 hours
OF work per day as his contribution
10 lessening the high cost OF living.
In contrast with this it was iornd
that he ate up the entire yield of one
of every FIVE acres which he hclped
to cultivate. 1t has been shown too
tor every hour worked It cost about
sixteen cents: whereas, a full horse
power hour can be delivered by 4
high-grade oil engine for only two
cents per hour, in both cases inter
est, fuel, food and depreciation being
included, Again, irr blowing. L team
OF two horses can pillow only about
two acres per day In doing this,
they travel sixteen miles, which is a
good days pull for horses with a
load. A small tractor, on the other
hand-the kind which costs less Ian
six horses, weights less than six
horses and with a capacity of doing
the work of twelve-will pillow fully
that much in an hour or So 1t will,
furthermore, pillow deeper and keep ii
up twenty-four hours each day until
the work is completed without feed
ing, resting or growing thin. While
it would be wise to dispose of brood
mares and blooded stock to satisfy
the foreign buyers, in the end, per-
haps, the increased prices which their
purchases will undoubtedly bring
about will be beneficial in forcing
thousands Of farmers to adopt a new
err and more economical form of power.
Everyone who cultivates 100 acres
or more is a candidate for a share in
the millions of dollars which the coun-
try-wide adoption of this method Of
blowing will ultimately save.
Insuring the Crop in Advance.
After blowing, the first duty of
man is to guarantee the work by pro-
delving into the chemistry of plant
life too deeply, the growth of plant
is determined by the proper prepare
ton both in the soil and out of it, of
air, water and certain salt compounds.
Rainfall, sunlight and air in conjunc-
ton with the soil have a knack of
assembling these elements in such a
way that the plant grows; or failing
to assemble them in such way that
the plant fails to develop. Nature
has provided for this intermixture of
elements for limited time and plant
life will go on without much outside
interference, but, like so many other
forms of natural activity, it is pos
Sible for human intelligence to greatly
increase the effectiveness of natures
work. The disk harrow is one of the
leading nature aiders in farming. 1t
is said that rightly used it does more
to increase crop profits than any other
farm implement and should be used
on every farm. 1t is one of the sim
plest implements made; one of the
easiest to obtain; simple to run; will
stand much hard work; and lasts a
long time. 1t is so inexpensive that
if used on a fair-sized field, it will so
increase the production that it soon
pays for itself. In certain parts of
the United States, farm without
disk or two is as curious sight as a
farm without wagon, but in other
parts, it is still on the threshold OF
universal use.
F. H. DeMaree, Acting Agrono-
mist at the Missouri Agricultural
Experiment Station, says: I'm my
opinion, and that of everybody con-
nected with the crop and soil work
of this institution, the disk harrow is
one of the best implements which can
be used on any farm. In early-plow'
ed land and in fall-plowed land, there
is generally crust, and many clods
form before complaining time. One
of the best implements which we
have found so far for pulverizing these
is the disk harrow. On sod land il
is nearly impossible to make good
seed bed without the use of the disk"
To the bumper crop farmer, the
skilled agriculturist, so to speak, pillow,
ing is merely the rough work of get
ting ready to plant. He puts the fin
ishing touches on with other machines
just as the sandpaper follows the
plane in finishing woodwork.
Professor Daniel Scoates of the
Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Mississippi, says: "The disk har-
rows special duty is to take the soil
after the pillow has done its work and
put on the finishing touches. The re-
suit of these touches act in different
ways under as many circumstances. II
the land receives a heavy rainfall, the
disking allows the soil to take up a
larger quantity of this moisture thar
could be obtained under the former
conditions. Then the absorption o
this water has not only the benefit o
storing up moisture for the future ust
of the plants, but by allowing the wa
ter to soak into the ground, it pre-
vents, to a certain extent, the surface
washing of the land. Further, TIL
disking of the surface gives still ano
Their advantage in that it forms
mulch which breaks up the effect o
what is known as sapillarity, thu
causing the rapid evaporation to ceas,
and saving up the moisture stored il