American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-02-15


results IA turning the other side Up
seftine Il back where IL Vas before,
and even then the neid viii be In no
condition 60 raise a crop. when the
sod D. broken c few inches the mat Is
destroyed and nothing Is left 20 hold
down the point OF The pillow which re-
fuses 20 cut any deeper. and skids
along on the hardpan.
There Is only n profitable way OF
breaking the prairie. and that IL Z o
plow it a. deeply a. possible. work II
ap into a nut seed bed and raise a pro-
stable crop the nrst year Of planting
This not only couseryea the humus BY
mixing D, eith q large amount OF dirt.
bat ii reduces 10 a minimum the subse-
queut losses BY tllage. for less OF II
- exposed 10 the atmosphere during
culussilon than would be the ease
sere the ground pioWed shall0wer and
Tess snl incorporated with II.
Another argument for creating "A
good sod seed bed az time OF breaking
is that by this means moisture may
a. once be conserved in the bed and
The sabsoil On the prairie the pre-
cipiiafion seldom goes in more than
a foot or is inches. sometimes two
feet with a very heavy precipitation.
and Nheu the sod 10 broken Two inch
~ deep q may not 20 In much more
but sith deep breaking Il is possible
% conserve aeregal feet In a single
Inter. To reduce plOwed sOd TO a
respectable seed bed requires lots OF
WORN in the way OF alternate disking
and narrowing and In some cases roll
ing but half the crop witch IL usually
a good "a viii more than pay for L.
while the crop ON tWo-inch breaking
sonid not probably provide feed for
the horaes.
Packing the seed Bed.
We have been told by some writer's
that packing tho seed bod VIII cause
water 20 rise by cnpiliarity from the
auhaoil 20 The roots OF crops. 20 that
There Is NO particular reason for deep
blowing The writer proved some
years aso by soil anger tests that
tHefe vas nothing in this but lmagina-
ton and tho professors who tested
me matter out also came to tho same
conclusion Professor Kozer explains
this Ia Bulletin iOf)
The idea came aH usual from the
humid states where the normal con.
diiion of tho subsoll Is wet. not dry
ar a o. Ia the dry farming
Our subsoils take tho water up from
ihc seed bed almost as fast as Il falls
and Ia a very short time after pre-
cipiiation the free water has all been
abaorbed into the subsoil and becomes
MIN water. II we thon test the seed
he'd and the subsoll We viii lind them
holding about 10 10 ~ per cent. which
Ia the normal amount OF moisture
which our soils hold after all the free
water has been drawn into the dry
subaoil below by gravity and caplllar-
iy and becomes hlm water. This
hlm water remains Ia the subsoil IN
an the roots OF plants get down into
q and use Il Nv. Evaporation at that
depth Is 70 slight a. 10 be- a negligible
quantity.
The moisture We notice In the neld
after blowing aud narrowing Is appar
ent only when free water Is present
In the top six inches usually In the
spring Of the year and Is not from the
auhsoil but simply the top inch rob
bing tho secon and third. As soon
az tho free water has had time to be
absorbed by the suhsoil this action
censes n moisture Is found by auger
tests 20 be rising into the seed bed in
drt weather from the auhsoil Il h a
sure sign OF au~birrigation from seep-
$50 ct some kind or OF a rise OF free
aatcr from "a water table under tho
teld Tho best wethod OF securing
%compaction Ia tho seed bed Is to pillow
Dc ahead Of time SO that IL can settle
and pack itself By this means IL be-
comes packed from the bottom up.
while Ia artificial packing Il packs
from the top down Packers and roll
ers all work on the surface. so does
che disk. but this latter exorts more
lateral pressure and for that reason
ls the best
II The top two or three inches of
The seed bed Is too solid. Il prevents
quick absorption and much water may
nt lost by evaporation or run off On
account of the water being held near
the surface the crop results from an
~oYorpacked seed bed are usually. un-
less the season Is "a very wet one. Il
good start but a poor nnish.
May Become OVerpacked.
When tho seed bed IA ploWed ia the
TAN ior spring planting Il may easily
become oyerpackcd by heavy precipi.
tation FOR such crops as corn. and
sorghum. etc. which do not require
a. much oompaction aa small grain
crops In this ease the seed should
b. listed In across the blowing which
sufficiently loosens up the soil. and