190 THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



immediately after gathering the corn, roll them 

 down flat to the ground, then drive out of the gate 

 in the fence surrounding them, lock the gate se- 

 curely with padlock, lose the key and forget where 

 you placed the hammer or ax until time for spring 

 plowing. 



If in this method of treatment you but add the 

 proper cover crop planted or sown among these 

 cornstalks at the proper season of the year, then 

 you will indeed be upon the right road leading to 

 soil conservation. 



Of course the covetous and greedy farmer, with- 

 out capacity for looking ahead or solving the prob- 

 lem of the soil's fertility will look over the fence 

 and say in his heart, "Oh, what a waste of feed." 

 And in the spring time, the farmer set in the ways 

 of farming of his ancesters will be impatient to 

 tear down the gate and get into the field that he 

 may rake up and destroy with fire that precious 

 wealth of organic matter and fertility contained 

 in those stalks. But that farmer who farms with 

 his brains, as well as with his hands, seeing the 

 soil's need and its requirements, will find the lost 

 key, unlock the gate at a time when the soil is in 

 the right condition for plowing, and with sufficient 

 power hitched to a properly equipped plow, will 

 drive into the field, and in a scientific and busi- 

 nesslike manner proceed to plow under a sufficient 

 depth those cornstalks and cover crop, which have 

 been covering the soil during the winter months 

 conserving soil fertility, thus incorporating them 

 with the soil so that the soil bacteria will be able 

 to attack them and work them up into plant food, 

 and into those other elements that contribute to 



