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NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



[10:8— Nov., 1914 



Stored away in the plowed soil in part for a water supply for the 

 next summer; the freezing and thawing weather broke up the soil 

 particles into finer texture and killed also many insects that were 

 hiding away in the soil to be ready to damage our corn when the 

 warm summer sunshine brought them forth again ; the clover and 

 rock phosphate were decaying together, to be ready to supply our 

 com plant with a rich and ready food supply, and a loose, live soil 

 in which to grow. During his spare time in the winter Mr. Farmer 

 had also spread two tons per acre of ground limestone on the corn- 

 field-to-be, in order to sweeten the soil, and otherwise prepare it 



Fig. 3. Phosphate Spreader at Work 



for a future clover crop which would follow wheat in a rotation 

 after the com. 



As soon as the ground was dry enough to work up mellow and 

 loose, it was disced and harrowed in cross directions, and left in 

 excellent tilth for the planter, which dropped our story kernel as 

 described above. Very soon after our com plant appeared above 

 the ground, even before all the shoots appeared, Mr. Farmer 

 went over the land with a roller, firming the soil about the germi- 

 nating and growing com so that the moisture coming up from be- 

 low would travel easily by capillary attraction to the surface layer, 

 where it was needed by the young plant. 



For the next few days the weather was warm, the earth was 

 moist, the sun shone bright and clear, and our com plant made 



