FIELD CROPS 417 



Merchants and manufacturers are so familiar with the methods or 

 machinery of their competitors that any time or labor saving system 

 or device adopted by one soon comes into general use. A similar 

 diligence and enterprise should be exercised by farmers. If every 

 corn grower could visit all the corn-producing States of the Union, 

 the general result would be the discarding of poor and the adopting 

 of improved methocls. No section excels in all respects, but almost 

 every section excels in some respect. 



Fall Plowing. Fall plowing can not be recommended for all 

 soils and localities, but should be more generally practiced than at 

 present. If a coyer crop or sod is turned under in the autumn, de- 

 composition will increase the amount of plant food available for the 

 crop next summer. This is true to some extent even though sod is 

 not turned under, inasmuch as the simple loosening of the soil admits 

 atmospheric oxygen and increases chemical action upon vegetable 

 and mineral matter. Fall and winter plowing is one of the best meth- 

 ods of combating grubworms, cutworms, and corn-root worms, which 

 are often destructive to corn. Because the surface of ground plowed 

 in the fall is drier at planting time in the spring than that of ground 

 not so treated, it does not necessarily follow that there is less moisture 

 in fall-plowed ground. The fall plowing has enabled the rainfall 

 better to penetrate the subsoil, thus relieving the surface of its excess 

 of moisture. In the spring, fall-plowed fields usually contain much 

 more moisture, but at the same time have a drier surface than fields 

 which remain unplowed until spring. In sections where there is 

 much rain during the winter it is better not to harrow the fall-plowed 

 land in the autumn. This is especially true of fine clay soils that run 

 together and pack readily. In comparative tests of fall and spring 

 plowing, preceding a dry summer, the fall-plowed fields have gen- 

 erally yielded better. The same is true of subsoiling. Deep spring 

 plowing and spring subsoiling are likely to result in diminished crops, 

 especially if done after the spring rains. The loosening of the soil 

 to great depths admits air and facilitates the loss of soil moisture ; it 

 also interrupts the capillarity, so that moisture is not as readily 

 drawn from greater depths, and during a dry summer there is not 

 enough available moisture to support a good crop. 



From the above it is plain why there has been so much contra- 

 dictory evidence regarding the best depths to plow for certain crops. 

 For a deep, rich soil deep plowing is best, providing it is done in the 

 fall or does not render the soil too loose and dry. For thin clay 

 soils subsoiling is better than very deep plowing, because it does not 

 turn the compact clay to the surface, yet at the same time loosens 

 the soil to a good depth. The plowing should not be at the same 

 depth from year to year, as by such a practice the soil is not mixed 

 well and a hard surface is left at the bottom of the furrows where the 

 horses walk and the plows drag. A little subsoil turned to the sur- 

 face occasionally allows the elements to act upon it, liberating plant 

 food, and as it becomes mingled with surface soil and vegetable 

 growth the soil depth will be increased. To accomplish these desired 

 results it is well to plow a little deeper each year for several successive 



