The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1922-05-12

eRIFFlTHs CREEK.

Perhaps 1t is that Dutch blood cour-
SEES through my veins and again 1t may
come from the fact that when / do
try to farm endeavor to produce
the most crop with the least draw
bar pull" namely EFFORT, have noted
and stored few facts that may be q
benefit to some one during the COM
ing season. Usual articles In mod
ern farm papers are all right in the
DRY but in practice are given out in
terms and in such gigantic ways as
to make mountain farmer feel In
reading them that he had been left
out in the cold but such Ia not always
the case, whether your crop be in the
mountains or in the big corn belt
there are few general rules II fol-
lowed, greatly increase your pile OF
corn or other crops. An old saying
that "a crop put in the ground right
was half raised" was not Ear from
right, Then again 1t Is much nicer to
prepare good seed bed in the balmy
days OF spring than to fight hostile
weeds in July and II Is sure fact
that II proper seed bed Is made and
crop is planted cultivation Is
much smaller item. Next to the seed
bed comes a dust mulch which should
be maintained throughout the grow
ing season. A dust mulch is nothing
more than thin blanket OF soft earth
two or more inches deep through
which the dampness stored up in old
mother earth cannot escape easy to
the air above. Lay a plank down on a
piece OF hard, dry ground and go back
In a couple OF days and YOU will find
the ground damp beneath and the dirt
loose. Why? Because the dampness
from the earth that was drawn to the
surface by the heat OF the sun could
not escape. A dust mulch OF course
does not do the job as thorough as q
plank but shallow and frequent culti-
walton to great extent does this very
thing. To let corn lay three weeks
and then use long plows enough TO
cover up weeds regardless Of the corn
roots that are running across the rows
is what goes long way to make our
mountain counties import counties
instead OF export ones. carried on
test OF shallow frequent cultivation
for three years, using nothing but a
garden plow for its cultivation. When
ears OF corn were ripened and hard
enough to shell from the cob the fod-
Ter was green to the ground. Thinking
was using too fertile ground for my
tests transferred my test plot to the
cornfield selecting Ave rows on upper
side OF field. This was all turned and
prepared together, except the cultiva-
ton which was done entirely with the
garden pillow and as the ground was
100 rolling to pillow both ways I used
a garden rake for tearing out weeds
between the hills, pulling with my
hands from hills, The third year test
was like the others. So much was the
difference in size and height that Il
looked like two different paintings.
Now am not advocating no garden
plow. hand rake farming, but only
used these tools that ! might know
absolutely that nothing but the mulch
was disturbed.
l have seen men who ought to know
better blowing corn for the third time
with as long pillow as they could get
mold OF, blowing within three inches
Of corn while multitudes OF fine corn
roots hang out In the air, broken in
two and then wonder why their corn
was so chaffy and the fodder fired"
so bad, saying II worked my com
good three times and haven't over a
half crop" when they should have said
| raised about half crop in spite of
what did to my corn.
While in another State a few years
ago noticed a peculiar state of con-
dition OF the soil. l asked the farmer
the cause. His reply was that II had
been an awful dry summer and after
four CIVILIZATIONS II was so dry that
ne, his three sons and the hired man
had taken the wheels off their two
moving machines and singled them
out and gone over their ITO acres
twice in this way dragging each wheel
with a horse. You might say this of
no use but his corn attested TO the
fact that he had increased his corn
ten bushels or more per acre. sH
Go under a river bank after high
water had receded and you VIII find a
crust first forms on muck land which
soon fills with cracks running in ev-
cry direction, through these the damp
ness of the ground beneath escapes to
the air above. keep lot of this crust
tore up few days and you will have
a quagmire under it when all the 9TH
er ground is thoroughly dried out.
Note corn field after rain aud
YOU will find the same conditions on a
smaller scale. Keep your corn land
stirred up frequently to- sufficient
depth to prevent this crust forming
and often enough to keep weeds from
getting start and you have done all
that Is necessary to raise prize crop.
Four civilizations with the same
draw bar pull' on old Dobbin as three
under old methods would increase by
many hundreds Of bushels the yearly
corn crop of old Lawrence. MUTT.