American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1916-11-30

and deep blowing from 9 to II inches
which could be depended upon to pro-
duce a full and profitable yield was
not much more than so cents an acre
in labor The difference in production
may be more than ten dollars.
Reasons for Deep Tillage.
In our semi-arid sections of the con
tinent the precipitation may come at
any time and in any quantity, and
unless the ground is prepared to re-
ceive it, it will remain on the surface
In puddles until it veaporates or else
runs off into the nearest draw which
conveys 1t into a creek where it con-
tributes to the creating of the fresh
cts which destroy property. On shall
vol plowed land the water runs off,
for the simple season that there is
nothing to hold it. On deeply plowed
land we have a soil sponge which will
hold several inches of rain until it has
time 20 soak down into the subsoil
where the roots go after it any dis
stance from 4 to 10 feet.
In winter time deeply plowed land
cannot freeze solid because of the
air spaces; it Is too loose. Therefore
all the snow goes in as it melts, as it
often does a little at a time. On shall
low plowed lane the subsoil freezes
easily because there is not enough
plowed topsoil to protect it, and this
holds the moisture on the surface
while it thaws and freezes and finally
evaporates into the atmosphere. These
points are so we'll understood by rail-
road graders that when s%craping a
grade they always pillow the last thing
at night to prevent freezing the sub
soil which would atop the work and
by this means are enabled to work all
winter.
At the conventions of the Dry Farm
ing Congress we have seen the roots
of winter wheat and other grain from
4 to 6 feet long and of corn from 4 to
10 feet, the depth to which they had
penetrated the soil. 1t Is this deep
roofing in a moist subsoil which rem
ders our crops practically drouth
proof; but in order to obtain this de-
sirable condition it is necessary to re-
tain a certain amount of water in the
subsoil or the roots will not go into
II and 1t can only be done in one way
by deep blowing.
SubsOil Becomes Hard.
Under shallow blowing, the subsoil
being without the necessary protec-
ton, becomes hard and dry under the
pillow pan and the roots very often
never penetrate it, in which case we
have a crop which needs -four or five
feet of soil trying to grow on five
inches.
Deep blowing conserves the fertility
of the soil for the reason that the best
OF the humus from decaying sod Is
found on the top six Inches. This
humus IL plowed under deep. and
mixed with a large amour of soil,
will maintain the fertility of the land
for years. but when the land is worked
! shallow a large proportion of 1t is per-
petually exposed to the atmosphere
and burned up by the oxygen.
In a properly prepared deep seed
bed the roots of the plants strike
downwards after planting. and in a
week or so are working their way
into a cool. moist subsoil and become
drouth proof. In a shallow seed bed
the roots have only a few inches be-
fore they strike the hard pan, and un-
less 1t rains just at the right minute
1t is impossible for them to get away
from the surface heat and drouth. The
shallow breading OF sod, much of
which Is done every year. is even more
disastrous to the farmer than the shall
low blowing of old land.
In the early nineties there was a
large influx of settlers into the dry
farming country. especially eastern
Colorado. These men brought their
methods with them. They broke the
sod from > to 3 inches, intending to
backset it the mex season and get
down an inch or two deeper; but un-
fortunately '93 and "a were not wet
years, and the sod, having been cut,
there was nothing to hold the pillow
point down, and a very few were able
to make a seed bed which would raise
anything. Many returned 10 where
they anne from, and a few struggled
through on ccoun of their breaking
their sod a little deeper than the 9TH
ers m thereby being enabled to raise
enough for a COW or two and some
chickens.
Nowadays we do not have to break
sod and sit on the fence until 1t rots.
We go after il with modern imple-
ments. tear II all to pieces. mix it
with s or 10 inches of dirt and raise
a bumper crop the first season of
planting-Western Farm Life.