Gardes.
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VOL. LXII
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY   11,   1907.
NO. 19
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CONSERVATION   OF   MOISTURE.
Keep up tbe Fertility.
1st Premium.—In order to be successful
in farming, as well as in any other business, it is necessary for us to study and
become posted, and there is no better
way for us to get information than to read
the good farm papers thfi.t we have; and
not only rend but practice what we read.
The old hap-hazard way of farming that
our forefathers practiced, when the land
was new and all things favorable for rais-
ing good crops, will not do today. We
must use our brains, where they used
strength. Little did they know in early
days about conserving moisture. They
thought that the deeper they cultivated
their corn the better, and especially the
List time, as a rule using a large single
shovel plow, whieh would have the field
very rough. But by reading and study
and practice we know that this kind of
farming now will not do at all. In these
days we make it a study how to conserve
the moisture on land that is in a good
and to determine the proper rotation of
crops.
In the first place, it Is easier to conserve
tiie moisture on land that is n a good
state of fertility than on land that is In
a  run down  condition. Hence  the im
portance of keeping plenty of stock on the
farm. Make plenty of manure. Use
a spreader and get the manure on nice and
even. Tlow the ground in good time,
so as to have plenty of time to harrow,
for next to doing a good job of plowing
it is very important to harrow the ground
well. If the spring be dry, as last spring
was, it will pay to roll the ground after
harrowing, for we cannot conserve the
moisture if we plant among the clods. If
it is stubble ground, it is a splendid idea
to disk before plowing, as this leaves a
loose mulch and will mash all clods that
otherwise would be in the bottom of the
furrow. Use a jointer to turn this fine
mulch under, which is splendid for conserving the moisture. If it be sod,
I plow a little earlier, then disk, or use a
springtooth harrow and a plank float, until I have it firm but fine and smooth on
the surface. A nice firm seed bed that
is mellow on top is what we want.
Plant with a check rower, so the corn
can be plowed both ways, for that is
the way to thoroughly cultivate. Do not
allow a crust* to form on ground after
planting, for any length of time, but
just before the corn comes through give
it a good harrowing, going the opposite
way from the way we checked, making it
nice and level. Then just as soon as
the porn is up, so we can see the rows,
go in with a cultivator, with 3 or more
shovels on a side, going slow so as to get
close to corn, and plowing pretty deep
the first and second time; after that shallower plowing. Pretty deep the first
time leaves the soil loose to a greater
depth and invites the air, which has a
tendency to form a loose mulch on the
top which conserves moisture. Then
as the corn gets larger the cultivation
must be shallow and not so close, so as
not to interfere with the corn roots, more
especially if it is very dry. If possible cultivate after each rain. The dryer
the season the more necessary to use the
cultivator to form a dust mulch to conserve moisture; but if we stay out of
our corn in haying and harvest and it
sets in dry and the ground is crusted over
anel solid on the top and the weeds have
got the start of us, then it is very risky
to plow and as a rule we will do more
damage than we will do good.
B.
Make a Dust Mulch.
2d Premium.—There was a time when
we heard but little about how to cultivate
a crop to best conserve the moisture.
When the soil was new and rich.good
crops   were   raised without much eultiva-
this reason it is important that the grouud
be thoroughly tilled, that its particles
may be broken up and the producing properties released. This cannot be done if
the ;ground is plowed either too wet or
too dry, as it will then be hard and
cloddy.
Moisture escapes from the soil not only through the plants but by consistant
evaporation. It is constantly coming to
the surface and being taken up into the
air, and it is our aim, especially during
dry seasons, to prevent this as much as
possible. At one time it was the custom
lo use cultivators witli large shovels and
to stir the ground up deep. If the soil
is rich and there is plenty of moisture,
there is no great objection to this, but it
gest then that to best conserve the mois-
Uire the fertility of the soil should be kept
up; that it be kept supplied with humus,
or decayed vegetation; that subsoiling be
practiced; and that the crop be given frequent and shallow cultivation.        J. K.
Gathering Oranges at     Kedlamls, California.
tion. New ground was sometimes
scratched over and planted to corn, and
often with but a single cultivation a good
crop was harvested. The soil was rich
in plant food, and being light and porous
it readily absorbed the moisture. But
as the humus in the soil became exhausted
it grew heavier and more dense, and the
crops grew less rapidly and were more affected by dry weather. New conditons
then arose which were not understood and
in the solution of which there has been
much experimentation. While great progress has been made towards solving that
question, without doubt there is still
much to be learned, and much of what
has already been learned remains yet to be
put into general practice. Many farmers
practiced shallow plowing for years, until
they became convinced that new methods
must be instituted or farming would cease
to be profitable. With a shallow soil not
much moisture could be absorbed and retained, and as a consequence much of
water the soil thirsted for ran off and
became unavailable. It was then learned that deeper plowing and a consequent
deeper soil, gives muoh better results, especially with corn, potatoes and kindred
crops. It makes a better root bed and
gives a better opportunity for the moisture
to rise from below. And as the soil grew
heavier it was learned that it was very
damaging to plow it when wet; neither
could best results be obtained by plowing
too dry. Stirring and pulverizing the
soil adds much to its productiveness. For
has been learned that this method aids
evaporation. To best conserve the moistures shallow cultivated should be practiced, and it should be frequent. By
shallow cultivation we do not mean that
the ground be merely scratched over, but
that the surface be thoroughly stirred.
There is a difference of opinion as to the
kind of cultivator that should be used.
Some prefer the spring-tooth, while others
think the shovels better. It is my opinion that much depends on the kind of crop,
the stage of its growth, and the soil. The
Spring-tooth cultivator was quite extensively used in this locality a few years
ago but has been generally discarded.
FdY our upland soil I prefer the shovels,
while on the muck the spring-tooth is
preferred.
If a crop is cultivated when the weeds
are just coming through the ground, shallow cultivation proves as effectual in their
destruction as deeper plowing. It is
very important that the weeds be not permitted to get the start. And the ground
being kept level is one of the chief factors in retaining the moisture. As soon
after as the ground is in conditon to be
stirred, the crop should be cultivated.
This frequent stirring of the surface
forms a sort of mulch which not only prevents evaporation hut catches and absorbs
the moisture. If a hole is dug in the
road, or other place where there is a coating of dust, it will be found that there the
moisture is much nearer the surface thau
where no such covering exists.    We sug-
Underdrainage Helps.
3d Premum.—I consider it of the first
importance to have your ground thoroly
undenlrained, either for wet or dry seasons. Should you live in a locality where
dry seasons are common, break your
ground as early as you can, then harrow.
drag eer disk, every week or ten days, so
as te> pulverize the soil and keep the weeds
down till about time for planting, which
will depend on the kind of crop to be
planted and the locality. As the time for
planting draws nigh, replow the land and
get it in the very best condition possible
for future cultivation.
Now all of us know that you must get
the groundiu fine condition if it is to stand
dry weather, but a great many do not
know why it does so. We are told that,
as the surface of the land becomes dry,
the moisture rises, by what is known as
capillary attraction, like the'oil in a lamp-
wick and the object of cultivation is to
hold this moisture where the growing crop
can get it.
Some years ngo it was thought necessary to cultivate deep, but observation and
experience have proven that surface or
shallow cultivation gives best results. The
reason of this is, first, it keeps the capillary pores closed near the surface and so
prevents the escape of the moisture, which
will find its way out if the ground is not
stirred   often. Secondly,   deep  culture
breaks the roots and also closes the pores
lower down, thus keeping the moisture
from coming near the surface where it is
most needed.
I lived in Oregon for 11 years, where,
June, July and August are usually without rain, and I have seen crops taken
through all this under the above treatment, the prime conditoins being a finely and deeply pulverized seed bed with
very shallow culture. Cultivation may
be with disk harrow, or good results may
be had with a heavy drag.
C. M.
Topics for future numbers:
No. 584, May 18.—Give experience with
buckwheat. Under what circumstances
is it a profitable crop?
No. 585, May 25.—How will you feed
and care for the pullets so they will lay in
the late fall and winter?
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and 50 centa
are given for the best, second and third
best articles for the Experiment Department each week. Manuscript shonld be
seut direct to the Indiana Farmer Company and should be sent one week before
date of publication.
An extensive corn grower asks whether
we would advise planting seed corn two
years old, and which now germinates &4
per cent. By all means, yes. It is safer
to risk that two-year-old seed than seed of
1906, which might show a germination of
98 per cent. The old seed will be more
vigorous, but it will require more moisture
to  start germination.
With the prospect of a short hay crop,
put away some sheaf oats, when harvest
comes along. They make fine feed; in
fact, if they nre put up before the straw
becomes too ripe, there is nothing better.