178 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



METHODS AXD EESULTS OF TILLAGE. 



BY M. W. FULTON. 



Bulletin 164. — Farm Department. 

 SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 



I. When the climatic conditions are normal, as in the fall, winter and spring of 

 1897-98, and oat ground is to be plowed before sowing, it is better, as far as the 

 yield of grain is concerned, that the plowing be done in the fall. In the experiments 

 I'eported in this bulletin there was a diffei-ence in yield of over nine bushels per 

 acre in favor of the plots plowed in the fall over those plowed in the spring. 



II. Rolling sandy loam for oats is indicated as good practice whether the rolling 

 be done before or after the oats are drilled, although the difference in yield, at- 

 tributable to variations in methods of preparation of the soil, was small. 



III. Frequent cultivation of corn keeps the land moist and increases the total 

 amount of water available to the crop. 



IV. Such cultivation concentrates the moisture near the surface, where it is more 

 readily secured by the plant. 



V. Plots cultivated frequently yielded 86.6 per cent more dry matter than un- 

 cultivated plots and 17.1 per cent more dry matter than plots cultivated in- 

 frequently. 



VI. Uncultivated corn not only gave a very small yield but the corn as cut up 

 for silage, was inferior in quality. 



VII. Plots cultivated three inches deep yielded on the average 8.3 per cent moa-e 

 than plots cultivated five inches deep. 



VIII. Frequent cultivation to a depth of three inches gave the best results in 

 these experiments and is recommended for general practice. 



IX. Wheat ground dries out very rapidly while the crop is ripening. The de- 

 crease in moisture in the upper three feet was found to be 16.27 per cent within one 

 week. Drying out does not cease when the wheat is cut. Later if the season be 

 dry a loss of more than 15 per cent of the moisture remaining when the wheat is 

 harvested may be expected. 



X. In the early spring unplowed land was found to contain more moisture than 

 fall plowed land adjacent. Later in the season the reverse was the case. 



XI. An important saving in soil moisture was effected by early spring plowing. 

 Early plowing with thorough preparation of the plowed land will do much to pre- 

 vent the loss of soil moisture. 



DETAILS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. 



The experiments reported in this bulletin are a continuation of a series begun 

 at this Station and partly reported in Bulletin 154, pages 267 to 272. The method 

 of taking, drying and weighing the soil samples was the same as there reported, 

 and the method of determining the per cent of moisture was also the same, the 

 weight of the dry soil being taken as the basis of calculation. All samples unless 

 otherwise noted were taken in foot sections to a depth of three feet. 



EXPERIMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF OAT GROUND. 



Fall VS. Spring Plowing.— This set of experiments compares, first, fall plowed 

 and spring plowed land; second, land not rolled with that rolled before drilling, 



