Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation 145 



any elements from the air before rain comes? The above land is for 

 oat hay and beans next season. 



Roll down the tar-wced, if it is tall and likely to be troublesome, 

 and plow in at once so that decay may begin as soon as the land gets 

 moisture from the rain. It would be well to allow the land to lie in 

 that shape, and disc in the seed without disturbing the weeds wiiich 

 have been plowed under. If all this is done early, with plenty of rain 

 coming there is likely to be water enough to settle the soil, decay the 

 weeds, and grow the hay crop. Of course, such practice could not be 

 commenced much later in the season. The land gains practically noth- 

 ing from the atmosphere by lying in its present condition. If there 

 is any appreciable gain, it would be larger after breaking up as pro- 

 posed. In dry farming, harrowing or disking should be done immedi- 

 ately after plowing, not to produce a tine surface as for a seed bed, 

 but to settle the soil enough to prevent too free movement of dry air. 

 If your rainfall is ample, the land may be left looser for water-settling. 



For a Refractory Soil. 



What can I do to soil that dries out and crusts over so hard that it 

 won't permit vegetable growth? A liberal amount of stable manure has 

 been applied, and the land deeply plowed, harrozved and cultivated, but 

 as soon as water gets on it, it forms a deep crust on evaporation. Will 

 guano help, or is sodium nitrate or potash the thing? 



None of the things you mention are of any particular use for the 

 specific purpose you describe. Keep on working in stable manure or 

 rotten straw, or any other coarse vegetable matter, when the soil is 

 moist enough for its decay. Plow under all the weeds you can grow, 

 or green barley or rye, and later grow a crop of peas or vetches to 

 plow in green. Keep at this till the pesky stuflf gets mellow. If you 

 think the soil is alkaline, use gypsum freely; if not, dose it with lime 

 to the limit of your purse and patience, and put in all the tillage you 

 can whenever the soil breaks well. 



More Manure, Water and Cultivation Required. 



/ have a small place on a hillside, with broivn soil about one to two 

 feet deep to hardpan and I am getting rather discouraged, as so many 

 things fail to come up and others grow so very slowly after they art* 

 up. A neighbor planted some dahlia roots the same time I did. Only 

 one of mine came up and it is not in bloom yet, while several^ of his 

 have been blooming for some weeks and are ten times as large in mass 

 of foliage as mine zmth its lone stalk and one little bud on the top. Peas 

 came up and kept dying at the bottom zvith blossoms at the top tilt 

 they were four or Hve feet high, but I never could get enough peas for 

 a mess. Can you help me get this thing right? 



Use of stable manure and water freely. Your trouble probably 

 lies either in the lack of plant food or of moisture in the soil. This, 

 of course, is supposing that you cultivate well so that the moisture 

 you use shall not be evaporated and the ground hardened by the 



