Arizona republican., 1922-01-01

come to notice in the last few years
have been almost without exception
raised on land that was plowed or
10 inches deep by the rule measure,
which would ordinarily be u inch
blowing when measured by the eye.
II is assumed also that good plow-
ing presupposes that all trash, stalks,
etc. be well cut up and thoroughly
covered. II the land is inclined to
turn up roughly and in chunks, in
order that the lower part of the break
ing may be fine and without large
interstices. 1t is not infrequent that
on land with large air spaces, as
well as on extra loose soil, the drying
out of the surface is more rapid than
the penetration of roots of very young
plants. with a resultant killing of
large number Of the little plants.
Irrigation of Crop
One point of much Importance
which is often lost sight of is through
irrigation prior to planting. In many
cases it is advisable to irrigate be-
fore blowing and again after. Often
il is wise to follow the first irriga-
tion Immediately with second. At
anv rate, the soil should be given all
the water it will hold within the root
zone of plants before the crop is
planted. 1t is usually best to irri-
gate the rough plowed ground for in
this condition water penetration Is
more rapid, If after working the
moist, rough ground into a seed bed
It Is found that the land is too much
out of level to irrigate perfectly, 1t
should be leveled. This is sure to
save a good deal of trouble later on
when one part of the field dries out
quicker than another the grower is
confronted with some plants which
are suffering because of insufficient
water, while at the same time others
will be materially injured If an irri-
cation is given. At any rate the sur
face Of the ground should be worked
down with a disk and harrow for
planting when it is uniformly as
moist as can be worked, and If 1t is
not so it should be irrigated again.
Two methods of planting are in
vogue. planting flat and on ridges.
Much can be said of either method,
the latter being particularly adVan-
tageous when cotton is to be planted
on land that is likely to bake badly.
II cotton is to be planted on ridges,
the rough plowed land should be
deeply furrowed with a middle break
er or some such tool, a disking pre-
ceding ridging on some soils. The
irrigation should then be in burrows,
the rule beaing small head in each
furrow. run for as long time as
possible. without unduly wasting wa
ter. Then, as quickly as may be, the
tops of the ridges should be dragged
down with a plank dray or narrow
until the coarser material from the
tops OF the ridges nearly fills the
burrows. A fine, moist surface Is
thus exposed on top of the ridges, and
planting should take place as soon as
possible.
The Second Irrigation
| Probably the most important sin
gle step after planting is the proper
| time and amount of the next irriga-
ton. Irrigation should be withheld
and FREQUENT civilizations given IN
| order to prevent as much surface
evaporation as possible. 1t is at this
point that the grower begins to farm
| that point of his land which is out
of sight, and he who grows crops
| from a five foot depth of soil Is
! farming twice as much productive
area in most of the arid regions o1
! the west as he who only farms the
top one and one-half or two feet
| Roots are bound to grow where
there Is moisture to supply them, anc
it is desired to force Arizona Egyp'
tian cotton to root as deeply as pos
sible. The top foot or so may ge
so dry as to have no available mois
ture but as long as the plant Il