40 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



surface soil is thus being stirred, its power to hold 

 moisture is also being increased. And even though 

 it be necessary to defer sowing the seed for a time, 

 in order to secure the requisites necessary to insure 

 a good seed bed, it is better to adopt such a course 

 than to sow the seed on ill-prepared land. 



As previously intimated, there is usually not 

 time to prepare the land thus, when sorghum is 

 grown as a catch crop, but some things can be done 

 that will tend to enhance the growth of the crop 

 when it is planted. As soon as the land is plowed 

 it should be rolled and harrowed to prevent the 

 escape of moisture. . But if there is already sufficient 

 moisture in the land, it is not necessary to use the 

 roller; and if the sowing of the seed can be deferred 

 for a time, without too much hazard, something can 

 be accomplished by way of cleaning the land on' or 

 near the surface. But more commonly it is necessary 

 to sow the seed as soon as the ground can be made 

 ready for it. 



While sorghum grows fairly well on land of 

 but medium fertility, since the roots gather much 

 food in the subsoil, the yields are usually propor- 

 tionate to the fertility in the land. Farmyard 

 manure, when it can be obtained, is one of the best 

 and cheapest fertilizers for sorghum. Commonly it 

 would be applied before the land is plowed, whether 

 used in the fresh or in the reduced form. In the 

 fresh form it may, with much propriety, be buried in 

 the autumn, thus giving it ample time to measurablv 

 decay before the crop begins to feed upon it. But 

 on leachy soils and in climates with much rainfall, 

 the aim should be to apply the manure only a short 



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