The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1914-11-28
FALL FLOWING.

for our next year crops and not wait
till the last minute and have to rush
things in order to get everything in.
Labor Is cheap now and we ought to
make the most of 1t while it is. 1t is
said by men Of other professions that
we farmers are the worst people for
procrastination, or putting things off
until the last minute, of any class of
people they ever knew. A farmer to-
day has to be alert and on the lookout
tomake his farming more efficient, and
economic as much as possible in order
to make a success. The time of the
easy-going, happy-go-lucky farmer with
his hit-and-miss methods of farming
has come to an end. 1t is the bright,
energetic, businesslike sort of fellow
who makes a success of farming now.
feel pretty safe in saying that in
almost all parts of Louisiana fall plow-
ing can be practiced profitably. The
only exception to this rule is in the
sandy hills of the northern part of the
state. Here there is danger OF having
rain come along and wash your farm
down into the creek bed. But on the
heavy bottom lands and the bluff soils,
fall blowing will prove profitable in
several ways. The advantages derived
from fall blowing are: first, it checks
Evaporation of moisture already in the
soil; second, it is in a condition to
soak up and hold the winter rains for
the crops in the early spring; third, in
the case of the heavy bottom soil
which will not puddle, the rains will
melt the Jumps down, making it work
up fine in the spring; fourth, the
economy of labor, by distributing it
more evenly throughout the year, and,
fifth, aeration and the covering of the
trash.
| Conservation of moisture Is not of
paramount Importance to Louisiana
farmers, but is a good thing to keep
in mind. At the Wisconsin Experiment
Station two adjacent pieces of land
very uniform in character were plow-
ed seven days apart. At the time the
second plot was plowed it was found
to have lost Its inches of water from
the surface four feet in the previous
seven days; while the earlier plowed
piece had actually gained slight
amount of water over what it contain
ed when plowed, owing doubtless to
the increased capillarity. From this
it can be easily seen that unplowed
land loses moisture very rapidly un-
less plowed or stirred.
Fall blowing to form reservoir for
winter rains is important because our
rainfall is not distributed evenly
throughout the year Therefore it is
a good plan to catch and hold as much
of 1t as possible to tide us over
droughts. We are not gambling with
luck, but have the moisture and are
not sitting around watching and wait
ing for rains.
A good many of our heavier bottom
lands are difficult to pulverize imme-
diately after blowing, while If plowed
in the fall and rains and frosts are
allowed to act on it, the Jumps will
pulverize very nicely, making a fine
mellow seed bed with plenty of mois-
ture in which the seed will terminate
quickly.
The more even distribution Of labor
throughout the year is of vital import
ance in farm management to-day. On
the smaller farms fall blowing saves
to a great extent the hiring of several
men and teams in the spring at plant
ing time. On larger farms, where hired
labor is used, fewer men will be re-
quired the year round and can be given
steady work the entire year. Then
too, the stock have to be fed even If
they do no work, and they could be
working just as well as not. Fewer
head would be required if they could
be kept steadily at work.
Last is the aeration of the soil which
facilitates nitritication and liberation
of unavailable plant food by the wealth
er. In the case Of soils not leachy,
this Is Of great importance. Then too,
1t covers the trash and gives 1t plenty
OF time to decay, and consequently
makes the ground easier to cultivate.
A few things to be kept in mind
when fall blowing is to be practiced,
are: not to pillow when the ground is
too wet, as there is danger of pud-
ding, and when soil Is puddled it Is
hard to pulverize; and leave your land
rough until month or two weeks be-
fore planting, as this will prevent 1t
from becoming compacted by the
winter rains.
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