The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1914-01-23
SOME VALUABLE LESSONS.
By Capt. T. F. Peck, Commissioner
of Agriculture.

Last years drouth, while disastrous
to many crops, taught the farmers some
valuable lessons and think many will
profit by them. Those who had pre-
pared their soil for holding moisture
and who provided the necessary shallow
surface cultivation we're in better shape
to withstand the drouth than those who
had not done anything to store up and
conserve the moisture. They made bet
ter crops in every case. Fresh land
also Jared better than land longer in
cultivation.
That the lesson has been shown by
the unusual amount OF subsoiling and
fall blowing done. Also the large acre
age of winter cover crops on the land.
Spring will soon be here and farmers
will finish turning the land not plowed
last fall / have seen farmers in the
spring of the year start their turning
plows during March, when the ground
was too wet, and break up the ground
and let it lie without narrowing until
the March winds had taken practically
all of the moisture from the soil as deep
as it had been plowed. Some would
then try to pulverize the ground and
prepare a seed bed, and they would find
it very difficult task. 1t took most Of
the summers blowing and cultivation
to pulverize the clods and the moisture
was lost, so no matter If the land was
rich in plant food the farmer had locked
it up and had let his moisture get away
from him. His crop was short and bis
neglect was the cause.
/ have seen other land broken up and
planted with very little effort to prepare
seed bed, and the farmer who would
expect crop under such conditions
would expect the impossible. Such
methods might have been possible when
the land was fresh and full of humus,
but not the land that has been stripped
Of its vegetable matter SO long.
make it rule when breaking land
in the spring to do so when it is dry
enough to fall apart when have pick ed
up handful of loose soil and thrown
it down. When it does not fall apart
the land is too wet and will bake if
plowed. also keep my drag harrow
up with the pillow, pulverizing the ground
and breaking the clods before they
harden and prevent the March wind
from drying out the moisture.
The farmer has learned valuable
lesson when he understands that he
must thoroughly pulyerize the soil be-
fore he plants his seed to get the benefit
from the plant food and retain the mois-
ture to make the plant food available.
Farmers should also begin early with
the selection OF their seed for spring
planting. Many farmers, through care
less selection OF seed, cut off their
yields from one-fourth to as much as
one-half. Few farmers appreciate the
value OF seed selection in their germin-
ating power, their purity from adulter-
alton and productive types.
Farm machinery, hand tools and har-
ness should all be put in first-class con-
dition before spring work starts, that
valuable time needed in the fields may
not have to be taken for such work,
which can easily be done before spring
work starts in the fields.
1t is poor business farming to let ma
nure go to waste or lie in heaps around
the barnyard during the summer, when
it would pay SO well spread out on the
land. You may rest assured that you
will not find any manure going to waste
or lying in heaps in the barnyard OF the
progressive farmer, but have been on
farms where there was CALLED and washed
places and manure piled around the
barnyard that had been accommodating
for years. The farmer knows better.
He knows the value OF the manure,
but he has got into rut and he must
get out of it. It is not want Of knowI-
edge or opportunity it is want Of pluck
and energy.
/ have heard such farmers railing at
what they term book farming ard nov
tangled notions. If they would take
the trouble to look into the matter they !