110 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



1st. It gives us the benefit of late summer pasture, and in case of 

 clover a second crop for seed or for turning under to enrich the ground. 



2nd. It is the best possible place to spread the barnyard manure, 

 as there is least danger of washing or leaching. 



3rd. The ground can be much better prepared and with less work 

 than when plowed in the spring. 



4th. There is much less danger of damage from cutworm and 

 other insects. 



It may sometimes be advisable to leave some ground for spread- 

 ing manure during the winter. In this case it better be the clover sod 

 rather than the timothy or the bluegrass. 



Where clover is seeding with the oats or barley for fertilizing pur- 

 poses or where rape is sown in the oats for fall feed it will of course 

 be necessary to plow late in the fall. 



BETTER ATTENTION TO FALL PLOWED GROUND. 



The fall plowed ground is generally neglected in the spring and left 

 to dry out and the weeds are left to get a good start, robbing the ground 

 of moisture and food. Not only should the fall plowing be disced as 

 soon as the oat seeding is over, but the corn stalk ground as well. When 

 corn stalk ground is disced early in the spring the moisture is saved, the 

 stubs and stalks are cut up and mixed with the soil and as a consequence 

 bother less during the cultivation, and a better seed bed is secured. If 

 not disced, the surface is turned to the bottom of the furrow in a lumpy 

 condition, where neither the harrow, disc or cultivator can reach it. 



SPRING PLOWING. 



We often abuse our spring plowing by turning it up to the sun and 

 dry winds to bake and dry out, depending on a shower to mellow up the 

 ground at planting time. 



It is a good rule never to leave the field either at noon or at night 

 without first harrowing the ground that has been plowed. In my esti- 

 mation no ground can be properly prepared, giving a good seed bed 

 foi- corn without the use of the disc. A half prepared seed bed means a 

 poor stand and an imeven growth and the corn will suffer more from 

 drouth and from insects. 



DEPTH TO PLOW. 



What is known as deep plowing is generally not advisable in the 

 corn belt, although the loose soils and bottom lands may be plowed much 

 deeper than the black prairie soils with less danger of bad results. There 



