PREPARATION OF SOIL. 11 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Wilcox — Mr. YouDgers, will you describe that float you use? 



Mr. Youngers — It is made of three planks twelve feet long, spiked 

 together. The teamster rides on it to weight it down. 



Question — Where you have a loose surface do you have any 

 trouble from the soil drifting? 



Mr. Youngers — We overcome that by ridging up with the culti- 

 vator over the seeds or whatever is planted. That will prevent the 

 soil from drifting. 



Mr. Wilcox — How long do those plow points last? Is there any 

 difference in the makes? 



Mr. Youngers — We used the Mapes plow four years and had two 

 points put on it in that time. 



Mr. Brown — A season like last fall the Mapes plow would wear 

 out on about thirty acres. 



Mr, Youngers — The new plow that we have been using this fall 

 is the plow manufactured at Topeka, the Ferine plow. It is made on 

 the same plan as the Grand Detour, but draws a whole lot easier. 



Professor Lyon — Have you made any tests of that ground 

 plowed with the Ferine plow to determine the amount of moisture in 

 it? 



Mr. Youngers — No, sir; we have only used it this last fall. We 

 plowed about forty acres with it and find it does good work and is 

 lighter draft than the old style plow. 



Question — Is it any lighter than a stirring plow? 



Mr. Youngers — There is not much difference in the draft, though 

 our teamsters would rather put their teams on the subsoiler than on 

 the stirring plow, for the reason that the horse walking in the furrow 

 has solid footing, while the furrow horse of the lead team has to walk 

 on soft ground. 



Question — Which have you found productive of the best results, 

 fall subsoiling or spring subsoiling? 



Mr. Youngers — We have tried both fall and spring, and I would 

 say fall for the reason that we then have a chance to pulverize the 

 surface and retain all the moisture that falls. 



Question — What do these plows cost? 



Mr. Youngers — About twelve dollars. 



