Putnam County herald. (Cookeville, Tenn.) 1903-1922, 1917-03-22

storing moisture for corn crop the
next year, it is advisable to begin
storing soil moisture as soon as the
preceding crop will permit. The ideal
seed bed for a good corn crop in semi
arid regions is one with loose.
coarse surface and subsoil well fill
ed with moisture to a depth of seve
raj feet.
PREPARING LAND FOR PLANTING
AS lack of moisture, more than any
thing else, limits corn yields in
droughty regions, the first question
regulating each operation should be,
What will be the effect upon the
soil moisture supply?"
| The authorities state that while
summer fallow frequently results in
greater yields of corn, the practice
has not proved practicable. They.
therefore, advise beginning the prep
aration of land to prevent loss of
moisture and to put the surface into
condition to receive moisture as soon
as the preceding crop will permit.
Cultivation after the removal of the
preceding crop is profitable if it stops
or prevents growth of weeds. But
if the growing season is past, dead
weeds may catch more snow than
would be caught by cultivated sur
face.
Fall disking, OF listing, is usually
beneficial in putting the land in better
condition to prevent the soil from
vent runoff The penetration of mois-
ture is slow, and when rains occur
evaporation is rapid from hard soil
surfaces, such as usually follow the
growing of small grain. The chances
of storing moisture are increased by
loosening such compact surfaces as
early as possible. Whether plowing
is necessary, however, depends very
much upon the type of soil. Most
heavy clay soils are best put in pro-
per condition by blowing. Sandy or
liSHt iOdlh oOllo ououiu DOl UC plOWCu
in the fall and left bare during the
winter in regions where soil blowing
is likely to occur. IF, however, it |
becomes advisable to plow such soils
in the fall, blowing of the plowed area
may be checked by top-dressing with
barryard manure. Deep plowing
should always be done in the fall or
very early in the snring to allow more
moisture to penetrate and the soil to
settle before planting time.
On sloping land the plowing. listing,
planting. and cultivating should follow
on level along the slopes or around
the hills. The moisture saved makes
this a profitable practice, and very
often the prevention of run-off is
necessary to avoid erosion, with the
loss of the richest portions of the soil
Alfalfa land to be prepared for
corn should be falIowed one year or
plowed early the previous summer.
Growing plants draw large quanti-
ties OF water from the soil and subsoil.
All growth of weeds and volunteer
grain on land to be planted to corn
should be prevented.
Deep plowing and subsoiling should
be done in the fall rather than at corn
planting time. Soil put in the right
condition to take in moisture to CON
siderable depth is also open to the
air and dries out rapidly. II neces-
sary to plow in the spring for corn,
the plowing should be done early and
should not be deep and the ground
should be packed Immediately. Plow-
ing under several inches of snow is
an effective and sometimes practic-
able way OF getting moisture into the
ground Y
You ant make the world any bfg-
ger, but you can make 1t better; and
you can do both for this town.