The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-09-14
FALL FLOWING
Ground Properly Disked May Be Ex-
pected to Mature a Crop Of Corn
a Little Earlier Than II
Flowed in the Spring.

Flowed in the Spring.
There is great difference o
opinion regarding the advisabilit!
and benefit of blowing in the fall
Throughout the corn belt, the tenn
perature becomes low and Tho
weather is so variable as TO cause
considerable heaving of the surface
Freezing disintegrates the soil, ant
the mellowing of the furrow slicr
allows the nitrifying bacteria to be
gin action early in the spring
Weedy areas are plowed in the fall
to check the growth and bury the
immature seeds. In fact, many con-
slider this the only object of fall
blowing. Wherever crop, whether
crop of weeds, or Of fall forage
grows late into the winter, the fol-
lowing corn crop is slow in starting
The available plant food has been
drawn upon until cold weather sets
in, thus not allowing the formation
Of soluble compounds during the
warm weather of the autumn
months, because the field is busy.
One of the chief objections TO fall
blowing is that the fields wash 81
badly unless they are properly ter
raced. This is especially true OF
soils which have been depleted OF
their humus. There being no organ
ic matter to retain the moisture and
hold the particles of soil, the whole
mass is washed away TO lower lew
els. When such is the condition,
corn growers are wise to rotate and
in some cases to sow the fields 10
grass permanently until they are re-
stored.
Fall blowing cannot be recon-
mended for all climates and locali-
ties and is usually not recommended
in the south, but should be more
generally practiced than at present.
If a clover crop or sod be turned
under in the fall, decomposition will
increase the amount of available
plant food.
Fall blowing is one Of the best
methods OF combating the grub
worms, the cut worms and wire
worms which are often destructive
to the corn.
Because the surface of the soil
plowed in the fall may seem drier
at planting time in the spring than
that of the ground not so treated,
il does not mean that there is less
moisture in fall plowed land. In
fact, fall plowed ground contains
more moisture for the growing crop
as il has penetrated the subsoil and
is stored away for future use. But
unfortunately poor management Of
fall plowed ground causes in the
spring very serious loss Of mois-
ture on account of failure TO disk
early the following spring. Evap-
Grafton must be prevented by keep
ing mulch.
The ground should be narrowed
several times before planting. Fall
plowed ground properly cared for
in the spring may be expected TO
mature a crop OF corn a little ear
lier than will the spring blowing and
in case of dry season il will ma
ture where other corn in the neigh
bOrhood will be burned out.
where the land is TO be plowed
for wheat, we recommend that the
blowing be done as early as pos
sible," says A. T. Winancko, Chief
in Soils and Crops, Lafayette, Ind.
in some OF our rotations wheat fol-
lows oats and we usually pillow just
as soon after we get the oats Off
the ground as possible and then
harrow the land at intervals until
we give il its final preparation for
wheat seeding. This gives oppOr-
tunity for the soil TO be well COM
pacted before the wheat is drilled
and this is a good thing because the
wheat should have a firm subsur-
face.
I'VE recommend fall blowing for
spring crops only where there is
no great amount Of damage done by
winter rains and washing OF the
soil. In northern Indiana generally
and in central Indiana on the more
level areas, we consider late fall
blowing good practice, but in
southern Indiana fall blowing may
do more harm than good on the
level areas on account OF the large
amount OF winter rains which pud-
dies the soil and ON more billy
areas the amount OF washing dur
ing the winter may be very inJur-
i0us."