G BULLETIN 528, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



There is a growing opinion among farmers in the part of Chester 

 County where these records were taken that midsummer plowing 

 should not be done, but the preparation for wheat, for alfalfa, and 

 for timothy and clover seeded in August should be with disk and sur- 

 face harrows only. This opinion is backed up by demonstrations 

 from a number of farmers. They reason (1) that it is very hard to 

 compact the soil after plowing at this season of the year so as to obtain 

 good moisture conditions for seeding; and (2) that by plowing the 

 farmer turns under roots, stubble, and other humus material and 

 brings up soil containing less humus, which makes the field more apt 

 to wash badly during the winter and early spring season. If disk 

 harrowing is done at the proper time there is very little difficulty in 

 working under stubble or manure and obtaining a firm, fine seed bed. 

 There is little difference, however, between the two systems in the 

 amount of labor required. 



When fertilizer is applied for corn it is distributed broadcast more 

 often than in the planter; on the other hand, fertilizer for potatoes 

 is seldom broadcasted, but applied in the row at the time of planting. 



The practice of applying lime once during the rotation is increasing. 

 Years ago farmers used burned lime freely, and many farms in the 

 county still show abandoned lime kilns. Then the practice of using 

 commercial fertilizers gradually replaced the general custom of apply- 

 ing lime until the soils got into such a condition that the practice of 

 liming the soil had to be resumed. The application of caustic lime 

 in the form of burned stone lime, slaked, and applied by hand is 

 gradually being superseded by the use of ground stone lime, prepared 

 hydrated lime, or finely ground limestone. This is undoubtedly due 

 to the fact that burned or stone lime must be slaked before applying 

 while the pulverized forms of lime or limestone can be handled more 

 conveniently by a distributor. In fact, it was impossible to obtain 

 sufficient labor data for handling lime by hand, as the lime spreader 

 is generally used. Lime is usually applied at the time of preparation 

 for wheat, for clover and timothy, or for alfalfa in order to obtain a 

 good stand of these legumes. 



While these farmers grow from 1 to 5 acres of potatoes, or an 

 average of about 4 acres, this crop, as a rule, has not given profit- 

 able yields; the average yield on the farms visited was only 84 bushels 

 per acre. The cause of this low yield is not easily determined, and it 

 might well be made the subject of investigation and experimental 

 work. Very little spraying is done for blight; what spraying is done 

 is usually to apply poison for the potato beetle. The potato planter is 

 generally used among the larger growers, but digging is more often 

 done by the potato plow type of implement than by the elevator type 

 of machine. 



