R. M. KELLOGG'S GREAT CROPS OF 
rains come the plants are drowned out and during 
a drouth can get no water from the subsoil, all of 
which is remedied by subsoiling. 
Some soils are injured by subsoiling, as a waxy 
clay or gumbo soil, which, when very wet will run 
together in a solid mass. Earth worms tunnel 
such soils and keep them porous and it is better 
not to disturb them. A loose gravel or light sand 
is already as loose as it shouM be to secure capil- 
lary action and will be injured by making it 
looser. 
A composition of sand gravel and clay or what 
is called "hard-pan" or any soil so dense you can- 
not dig it with the hands would be very greatly 
benefitted by breaking it up. I urge subsoiling 
wherever the conditions permit it. It should al- 
ways be done very early in the spring so the rains 
will fill the "reservoir" before the drouth sets in. 
WHY WE CULTIVATE. 
We cultivate to destroy weeds, prevent the 
ground from drying out and to admit the air to 
the soil so as to keep the plant food soluble. Hav- 
ing properly prepared the ground in the spring 
the air will find its way through the soil if you 
prevent a crust from forming on the surface. We 
want plenty of root pasturage for the plants and 
m 
I 
< i'DEPTH PLOWED' 
lO INCHES 
V.SUB-SOIL: 
.• lO INCHES-; 
One inch culllvated soil so loose water will not raise by capil- 
lary ttttrattlnn. Ten inches plowed and firmed so water will raise. 
Ten inches of reservoir in subsoil. 
SO we must not stir the ground more than two 
inches deep to break the crust and keep the sur- 
face covered with the loose earth mulch, so the 
water cannot rise to the surface to be carried off 
by the sun and wind. CULTIVATION DOES 
NOT AJ>/) any water to the soil but prevents 
that already there from getting away. 
Water Is moved In the soli by two forces. Grav- 
itation pulls it ilown into the ground and capillary 
attraction draws it up to the surface again. Cap- 
illary means a hair-like tube or passage. The ir- 
regular shaped soil grains have a minute passage 
around them and the molecular force causes the 
water to come up through these hair-like openings 
just as the oil flows up through the wick of a lamp. 
The water will not rise in this way unless the soil 
grains are very close together. Now when we cul- 
tivate about two inches deep we make the surface 
so loose that while water draws up above the roots 
Haverland 
which are in the firmer soil it must stop as soon as 
it reaches the loose earth, because capillarity is 
overcome by gravitation and the water must stay 
below for the use of the plants. 
When the lower strata of the soil is quite wet as 
it generally is in the early spring, the water will 
draw up fast and the soil gradually settle down by 
having the soil particles slip around and adjust 
themselves close together and the water draws up 
to the surface so the hot sun and wind will carry 
it off just as the flame of a lamp burns the oil as 
fast as it rises in the wick, and for this reason we 
nmst cultivate more frequently wh6n the lower 
strata is wet thaii later in the season when it is dry. 
It is a great mistake to suppose we must not culti- 
vate until Ihe ground gets dry. We cultivate every 
week to prevent the soil from getting dry, and al- 
ways after every rain 
We do not need Irrigation to produce the finest 
fruit. Grow your berries in hedge row or in hills 
and maintain the dust mulch the first season and 
mulch in the fall with straw and let it remain on 
in the spring to keep the berries clean and to hold 
the water down until after the berries are picked 
and then burn it off and cultivate as described on 
another page. We cultivate in the fall every ten 
days until the ground freezes. Fall cultivation 
aids greatly in perfecting fruit buds. In the spring 
we cultivate every week and oftener during a 
drouth on spring set plants. 
SELECTING A SITE. 
I do not care to spend much time on this sub- 
ject. Everybody knows good land when he sees 
it. How would it do for a garden ? Hard flinty 
clay or light, drifting sand are bad. A li^ht clay 
or sandy loam are best. Stony land is good 
if it does not iuterefere with cultivation. Cold, 
springy land is bad. High land, that is, land 
which is higher than any in the immediate 
vacinity, is best. Cold air runs off the hills onto 
low land precisely the same as water, so that a 
low piece of ground wilh high land all around 
it should not be selected. Level land with 
no high hills near it will do. A south incline 
matures fruit early and a north incline makes the 
same variety later. 
14 
