10 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



lected with a view to the experiment. Sample No. 1 was taken from 



prairie sod, No. 2 from land plowed eight inches deep, and No. 3 from 



laud subsoiled sixteen inches deep in the fall of 1894. The average 



amount of moisture in each kind of soil fur each mouth during the 



growing season was as follows : 



No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. 



May 12.41 14.09 16.41 



June 15.80 16.10 20.41 



July 14.46 12.98 17.45 



August 11.29 11.19 17.24 



September (first 13 days) 10.82 12.35 14.37 



Now using the land under ordinary cultivation as a basis, it will be 

 seeu from the foregoing table that the increase of moisture in the sub- 

 soiled land over that in the land under ordinary cultivation during 

 the month of May was 16.18 per cent; June, 26.77; July, 34.43; 

 and for August, 54.06, or more than half as much again. This is 

 certainly a remarkable showing in favor of deej) stirring of the soil, 

 and I firmly believe that a large percentage of the failures in orchard 

 and garden work are due to the neglect of planters in this respect. 



For the past nine years we have used the subsoil plow and tree 

 digger to loosen up the soil. Our method is to follow the ordinary 

 stirring plow set to run eight inches deep, with a subsoil plow also 

 running eight inches deep. This plow does not throw the earth to the 

 surface, but merely loosens it up in the bottom of the furrow. The 

 next furrow of the stirring plow covers up the subsoiled land, and in 

 this manner the rich surface soil is always retained on top. Every 

 evening we harrow or plank down the ground plowed during the <lay, 

 as it works down much better when harrowed before it dries out. 

 Should the soil be dry and hard, so as to plow up in large lumps, we 

 put on a disc harrow to pulverize the lumps and fill up the crevices, 

 otherwise the wind and sun would soon dry out the ground almost as 

 deep as plowed. After we have firmed the ground in this manner, 

 we harrow it with a smoothing harrow and plank it, if necessary, to 

 get it in good condition. After we have the reservoir ready to receive 

 the moisture, the next thing is to keep the surface loose by frequent 

 stirring, and success will crown the efforts of the orchardist and gar- 

 dener. 



