The Glasgow courier., 1915-08-27

~AS Sdui'oiCAt w OAAy AiSII VI Ao"AS
and inch of rain penetrates the soil
to depth of inches, it will be read
lily seen that SHOWS Of to 2 inches
supply very small amount of mois-
ture, greater part of which will be
lost by evaporation. Every effort
should be made, therefore, to conserve
the moisture which falls either while
the crop is on the land, or while the
land is lying idle.
Early fall rains will be used by
weeds unless the land is cultivated.
Heavy winter SHOWS may occur, but
they are likely to blow off the fields
unless there is either stubble or an
uneven surface to hold them. The
time and method of cultivation, then,
should be planned to prevent weed
growth, and still leave the soil or
stubble in such condition that it will
hold the maximum snow. However.
the period when labor is available will
also be an important factor in deter
mining the time of plowing. When
labor is scarce, cultivation other than
plowing which will kill weeds, and
can be done rapidly, may be resorted
o. If this cultivation leaves the stub
BILE on the surface or leaves the sur
face rough enough to hold the snow,
it may be of even greater value than
plowing. Disking or listing in the
fall are the methods most commonly
used.
Spring Flowing Eliminates Weeds
The amount of moisture in the
ground in the spring is only one of
the factors in producing grain crops.
Weeds growing with the crops may
use enough water to decrease the
grain yield. It is estimated that one
ton of Russian thistles uses 65 per
/, cent as much water as it would take
to grow a ton of unthrashed wheat.
1t was found that fall plowing at the
Akron station is especially favorable
to weeds starting with the grain.
Flowing in the spring, however, thor
oughly eliminates the weeds, and if
done Immediately before seeding gives
, the grain crop a start before the
weeds commence to grow. The ideal
cultivation would prevent weed
growth in the fall, leave the land
in such condition that it would retain
the maximum snow in the winter, and
retard the termination of weed seed
until the crop starts in the spring.
| Possibly this may be accomplished
by disking in the fall and plowing in
the spring, or listing in the fall and
bursting the ridges in the spring may
be more practicable. Early fall plow-
ing is effective in that it destroys
weeds which use the early fall preci-
pitation, but it does not leave the land
in condition to retain the snow in
the winter, and it gives the weeds an
opportunity to start before the crop.
In deciding the time to plow, the
advantages and disadvantages Of both
spring blowing and fall plowing must
be taken into consideration. Heavy
rains in August indicate that fall
blowing should be done, as the gain
of moisture during the winter by the
stubble land probaly would not equal
the loss of moisture taken by the
weeds in the fall. If only light rains
occur, however, the moisture in the
soil produced by these rains probably
would be more than offset by the
greater quantity of snow held by the
stubble during the winter, and the re-
duction Of the weeds in the crop.
Spring plowing would then be better.
The availability of labor in the fall
will influence the amount of plowing
done, but greater effort should be
made to do the plowing if there is
heavy precipitation than if the rain
fall is light. The only advantage in
late fall plowing is that the amount
of spring labor in preparing the seed
bed is reduced. This advantage, how
ever, may be offset by reduction in
the yield.
In deciding when field should be
plowed, the question of whether a
greater amount of water will be ac-
cumulated from snow than will be TAX
en- up by weeds is the greatest ques-
ton to be decided, and this must be
done by the man on the ground. The
bulletin named above gives the re.
suits Of fall and spring plowing on
oats and on wheat stubble through a
series Of years. and the amount Of
water available in the soil at differ.
ent dates during a series Of years
This bulletin may be had upon appli'
: cation to the Editor and Chief Of the
Division of Publications, United States
. Department of Agriculture, Washing