Campbell's 1902 Soil Culture Manual. 



21 



we had secured a very favorable physical condition. At the time of seed- 

 ing, October 8th, 9th, and 10th, there was a fine loose mulch on the sur- 

 face two and one-half inches deep. The soil immediately beneath was 

 very fine, firm, and moist. The wheat was put in with a shoe-drill, less 

 than one-half bushel of seed to the acre, from one-half to one inch into 

 this fine moist soil, just beneath the mulch. Germination and develop- 

 ment was rapid. The fourth day, as regular as the days came after seed- 

 ing, the little green spears could be seen the entire length of the row. On 

 the seventh day these leaves measured from three to four inches high. 

 Thus, in seven days, the hard, dry seeds had become moistened, burst 

 their shells, and sent up the little stalks, and laterally the little rootlets, 

 and had grown to a height of five or six inches from the seed. This is not 

 all. On the 16th of November this wheat was taller and thicker than a 

 field sown on the 16th of September, with one and one-quarter bushels of 

 seed. This phenomenal difference is directly due to two conditions, 

 namely: First, the very fine, firm seed and root bed; second, the loose 

 surface, which prevented the evaporation. 



We can cite many instances where the value of firming the under 

 portion of the furrow slice has been shown to be very great. In the spring 

 of 1899 a large amount of winter wheat in the semi-arid belt was 

 found to have been killed. We drove over many fields that spring to inves- 

 tigate and study the cause as far as possible. One fact was invariably 

 perceptible — where the soil was light and loose to a considerable depth the 

 wheat was entirely dead. In the more compact portions or spots in the 

 fields the condition of the wheat was found better. For instance, along 

 the sides of the dead furrows almost all of the wheat was found to be in a 

 perfectly healthy condition, while on the back furrows it was usually all 

 dead. Again, at the corners of fields where lands were plowed around, 

 and the horses in turning had tramped and compacted the plowed ground, 

 the wheat was found to be in fairly good condition. The horse-foot and 

 wheel tracks invariably had a favorable effect. This is a condition and 

 result that is corroborated by all investigators, that if there is plenty of 

 moisture in the ground there is little or no danger of freezing or winter 

 killing, while if the soil conditions become too dry serious results 

 follow. The same was fully shown in the quotation from the Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural College Bulletin, portions of which we quote under the head- 

 ing of " Raising Trees."' These conditions bear out all observation, both 

 with reference to the fact that compacting the soil will increase the water 

 contents of the packed portions, and the further fact, as stated by the Illi- 

 nois Bulletin, that if there be plenty of moisture about the roots there is 

 practically no injury from freezing. 



One point which we have tried to impress upon our readers at sev- 

 eral different points is the difl&culty and danger that may arise in even a 

 short time when the roots may be just a little short of the necessary 



