Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1921-10-20
Transform Vernon Parish, Fertile
Fruitful Fields And Gardens

der heavy growth or weeds or corn
without leaving so much sticking out
that a harrow would not drag them
out; but that is not true to-day. About
five years ago man by the name OF
Spalding invented double disc pillow
called the Spalding Deep Filling Ma
chine, and it will pillow under con
three or four feet higher than the hor-
ses backs and between the rows high
thick crop of winter vetch or rye and
leave not leaf or tassel to show on
top, and the rolling motion of the
disc so pulverizes the soil that there
is no need to follow with a harrow.
This Deep Filling Machine will be
on exhibit at the Llano Colony exhib-
lit at the Vernon Parish Fair and there
will be a daily field trial during the
Fair, and the writer of this article ex-
poets to be on hand to explain its
working. He is also the West Louis
jana Agent of the manufacturers of
the machine. At the Llano Colony,
when the machine has been used, you
can call at the Colony and see what
effect it has upon the crops next spring
and summer. Deep tillage, upon the
soils we have here, would be an in
jury rather than benefit, unless lime,
phosphates, potash, and organic ma
terial were added. The surface soil
here is generally fine grey sand, I'M
derlaid at a depth of from six inches
to eighteen inches with tight clay that
has been closed up for from 10000
to 100000 years from the air; and,
to bring that up and mix it with the
surface soil, it would need two years
of aereation before it would recover,
for all the>soils here are sour, and we
are deficient in lime. phosphates, pot
ash, and humus. The farmers here are
almost unanimous in the opinion that
deep blowing will kill the SOIL and
they are right, and they plow general
ly from four to five inches only in
depth. But they are wrong in prac-
tice, because, if they supply lime to
sweeten the soil, phosphates, potash,
and humus, they can pillow as deeD as
they like, and benefit rather than dam
age will result.
The Louisiana Agricultural College
gave in their report on the soils of the
state over 80 analyses, and eight of
them were on samples from soils of
Vernon Parish. Four of them were
soils north, south, east, and west Of
Leesville. and these eight all gave a
great deficiency of lime, phosphates,
and potash, and therefore it is up to
the farmers here to supply these. But
there is another important fact we
must bear in mind, and that is that
our seed beds are in fine sand; but
if there is deep tillage and the clay
subsoiI is broken up and mixed with
the sand. we shall change entirely the
character of our soils so treated and,
instead of a sand seed bed, we shall
have clay loan. the very best char
acter of soil, and, instead of a sand
seed-bed that is from six inches to
eighteen inches in depth, we can have
clay loan seed-bed two feet deep,
as the Spalding Deep Tiller can pillow
two feet deep. When we use a gang
pillow, we pillow two horizontal burrows,
but the Spalding machine plows two
VERTICAL burrows, something entire
lily new in agricultural machines.
Again: The old style of pillow makes
a straight push against root; but the
revolving disc of the Spalding has a
shearing cut that will either cut the
root of ride over it. Then,too, the sta
tionary share has a heavy friction,
while the revolving disc has little or
no friction, and that is transferred to
the ball-bearings or axle of the disc,
and, except in the toughest of clay,
three mules will pillow two feet deep,
which cannot be done with the old
single plow, and if it could would take
six or eight mules to do the job.
In the black prairies of Illinois and
Iowa and the bottom lands of Indi-
ana, an average of sixty bushels of
corn was made, and in some places
IS and 80 bushels; but now the aver
age is less than 40 bushels. The rea.
son is soil robbery. The U. S. Agricul-
tural Dept, the State Depts., and lee
turers all teach and urge the use of
organic matter. but the effect upon
the farmers has been about as much
as if they had preached to their hogs
and cattle. Even when farmer, like
Nv. S. Smith. remakes worn-out farm
in neighborhood, he is generally
laughed at; and, although he has a
good balance in the bank oood crad;,