Tombstone epitaph., 1916-02-06
HOLD SPRING MOISTURE
Question of Vital Importance to
 Farmers in Dry Areas.
Anything That Can Be Done to Pro vent Loss Ought to Be Done Local Conditions Largely
 Determine the Method.

By PROFESSOR THOMAS sHAw) The question of holding spring moisture is one of vital importance to those who farm in dry areas. Every particle of moisture that is lost from the soil at that season is lost so far at the expense of the crop. Anything | that can be done. therefore. to prevent such loss ought to be done. providing It does not involve too much loss. What can be done to effect this end? The answer to this question will de- pend upon many conditions.
 If the ground has been plowed in the autumn, on very many western soils. minute Assures will be notice able on the surface as soon as the ground begins to dry out. These fis- sures are in some instances quite large. and the openings penetrate the soil more deeply. Into these Assures the air penetrates as they are formed. It is drier and warmer than the soil. and because of this it aids in the re- moval of moisture. The process of moisture removal Is further hastened , Sy :he climbing up uf tine subsoii mois- ture from below. How shall this re- l moval of moisture be lessened? It may be lessened by any method of stirring the surface soil that will remove the cracks or Assures on and near the surface. The harrow Is the most efficient implement to accom-. plish this purpose. But when the ground is somewhat impacted. it may be wise to use the disk first and to follow the same with the harrow. In yet other instances the plan may be good which sows seed first by drilling 1t in and then running the harrow across the drill marks to stir the whole surface of the soil. This
 may be done sometimes with advan. tage, as when spring wheat is sown, as this Is kind of grain that may be sown quite early. Such sowing before narrowing can only te done with ad. vantage on comparatively smooth sur. faces, as on those that have been har. rowed the previous autumn. One dis. advantage. of course, follows such har. rowing, namely. that 1t does not hold the snow so well as ground that Is left rougher. When thus treated the escape of moisture is. in great meas ure. prevented from the opening of spring. The effect upon crop produc. tion will. in most instances, be quite material!
 Though such autumn plowed lands are not planted until late. as in the case of corn or beans, such stirring of the surface soil as soon as it can be done is of great importance. It checks the escape of moisture, and the har. rowing of the soil subsequently, once or twice before these crops are plant ed, not only aids in preventing the es- cape of moisture. but 1t may mate rially aid also in the destruction Of weeds that may germinate near the surface in the interval between the opening of spring and the sowing Of the seed.
 In the case of stubble, the treatment called for will depend upon the use that is to be made of the land. and on the condition of the land. Should the Dc Ol that udluIt lAdl CdllS TOT the aid of the harrow to close the ifs sures. it will pay to defer the planting of the land or the blowing of it as the case may be, until the land has been first narrowed or disked If the land is to be drilled in with some kind of grain, as wheat, it will usually pay to defer the drilling of the wheat until the land is gone over with the harrow. Such drilling without blowing is sometimes in order, as in the case of drilling spring wheat into flax ground that has been broken from sod the previous spring. Should the stubble land be wanted for some such crop as fodder corn. it would probably pay to first disk the stubble in tho early spring. to blow it little later. and to pack 1t with a disk or subsur. face packer after 1t is plowed.
 Land that is broken in thu early spring and that is to be devoted to the growing of crop the same season should. of course. be compressed as soon as it is broken with some kind of a packer. It should then be har. rowed at once and the crop should be planted fin season. On such land. the packing and narrowing cannot be given too soon after the blowing. pro- viding the blowing is not done at a time before the land has become suffi- ciently dry to be plowed in season.
 It is. of course. true that some soils do not thus form Assures in the early spring. This Is true of sandy soils These may call for a different kind of treatment. Narrowing them thus early may aid in their blowing. Nuch judg- uent is called for in all the operations of the farm.