Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-25

hesitate to turn over the soil to GOOD
depth at this season of the year. PEG
pie have an idea that the fresh soil
brought to the surface will not be .brok-
en- down sufficiently to serve the needs
of growing crops in 1918. In this they
are very much mistaken because 1t
only requires few freezes. to entirely
change the texture of the land. Bring
ing this fresh soil to the surface is i'm
portant from other points of view as
well because much of the plant food it
contains may not have been in. an avail
able form, whereas, upon exposure TO
air and rain and freezing weather
part of it may be unlocked and SO made.
serviceable to plants. Deepening the
soil is Important because it gives
greater area in which the roots sof crops
can grow and develop and search for
and gather and store plant food. More
over. a soil which is broken deeply will
absorb and hold more water than one
where shallow breaking has been prac-
! ticed.
The problem of every southern farm
er is to have a sufficient reserve of
moisture available to protect the crop
against the periodical droughts which
occur in all humid climates and to
which ours is no exception. In hun
dreds of instances the writer has seen
the corn crop greatly injured by two
weeks drought at a season OF the year
when the plants were sillling and tas'
selling One good rain at this perlod
/ would probably have increased the ylelo
| from ten to twenty bushels per acre
| If the land had contained sunclent
amount of vegetable matter or II II hao
been properly broken and handled, II
might in many instances have absorbed
l. and stored a sufficient amount of mols-
rure to tide over the short drought pc
Rod Hence, blowing becomes a vital
operation on every farm. though ire
! ouentIv it's benefits are not appreciated
as they should be- 1t is no wonder that
l. orr Yields of corn and cotton are low
/ in many instances. One could De GER
| tain that this would be the result 4
| they watched the breaking OF the soil
say in late April and sometimes IN ear
Ilv Nav with a little SOO-pound mule,
! and a Boy Dixie pillow. 1t is impossl-
bile to stir and cultivate the soil where
sncb methods are followed in salts
/ factory manner
| AZ a result. the crop never has
| chance from the day it is planted, and
so the farmer who operates this lana is
unable in the fall to pay his debts and
our whole business system suffers as
| q result of his neglect or miSmdhaSe-
Fment of the land he is cultlvat'hs.
Moreover, after working for several
months he and his family have nothlhs
| TO show for the effort put forth ana
tbav conclude that agriculture is an
unavoidable industry and that they
have not obtained a fair return 1or
! their labor Instead of capitallzing
brains and trying TO understand ana
appreciate nature and work with ner
intelligently. they have been buchng
Iagainst her with the result Indicated.
This VIII always be the case and we
will have a lot of people in this same
condition until they learn to reallze
! that the so-called science of agrfcul-
turer is really the practical under
standing and solution of the problems.
which the farmer has to meet.
The autumn is the time of the year
when subsoiling should be done. On
son,e types of soil this will not be nee
essary. but in all that great area OF
| the state known as the red land section
and characterized by soils of the cecil
CLAW type subsoiling occasionally VIII
be found highly beneficial. This is due
to the rather tenacious nature OF these
soils and their tendency to become com
| pact at a depth of ten to twelve lnches
below the surface because they are oft
| en- worked when too wet. Soils also
tend to become compact by reason OF
| the heavy rains which fall and on &C
count of cultivating them constantly
with teams and implements. There
| fore the deepening of the normal seed
bed from time to time is desirable. sun
tsoiling is not difficult operation. There
are many good types OF plows now
available to use for this purpose. In
the cool autumn and winter weather the
work does not prove unusually ex-
hausting to live stock. and at this sea-
son Of the wear other work on the farm
| is not of a pressing nature. Subsolllng
| the land simply means to better tortl-
| ~ At against drought and give the roots
i If the growing plants a chance to gain
er more food and moisture. bring new
areas of the soil as il were under the
plCw. and so help to make available
part of that store of the plant food
which nature has hidden away for con-
siderable depths in the soil and which
| is now not utilized as it should be by
reason of the shallow cultivation we So
| consistently practice.
i DO not he afraid. therefore, of rip
nino up the land to a gDod depth. Sub
| soil il when conditions are favorable.
Leave it in just as rough condition
/ as possible. Let nature and her phys
| fca1 forces aid YOU in filming and reduc-
| ling the particles of soil sufficiently TO
| favor the proper retention of moisture
land the setting free of the largest
amount of available plant food Let
nature be your ally this season. w
viii need her help because it is up t.
lrs 70 Droduce the largest crops ever
-rown in the history Of Georgia and the
south in order that we may do our ut
most to help win the war. Remember
| that there is as much in the intelii-
! cent handling and skillful breaking OF
| ;y, Of n = SSnCi-
ated with crop production. Above all
| things let rs not make the mistake of
waiting to prepare our lands until after
! the proper season for planting has ar
r.ved.
PEANUT VERSES COTTONSEED
! MEAL FOR COWS.
l. H. T.. Camilla. Ga. writes: Would
like To have YOUR opinion 10 whether
! reanrt meal is good for dairy cows as
rutt0nScpd meal.
In certain tests made here at the coll