Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Oct. 1, 1910, edition 1 / Page 1
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' -t r . , j mim ,w - tin I South Carolina, Virginia, Tennecces, and Georgia. Vol XXV. Ho. 39. .'. RALEIGH, H. C, OCTOBER 1, 1910. , : Wetidy: $1 a Yea. THIS-IS THE SEASON ,-FOR DEEP.PLOWING J? ALL plowing should, as a rule, be deep plowing. By this we mean that in practically all cases where the turning plow is used between now and next spring it should be put in just a little deeper than the land has mually been plowed be fore. Where subsoiling is done, this is the time to do it. We believe in deep plowing and have scant sympathy with the advocates of three- or four-inch breaking, but "deep" plowing is a very elastic term, arid the depth that is sufficient on one soil may be sadly insufficient on' another. Take the red-clay hill lands of the South, for example. Passing , through these regions one will see lope after slope gullied or galled, long lines or' glaring splotches of absolutely barren : soil, the results of a system '. of soil scratching and . humus depletion. These lands need deeper plowing. Instead of three or four inches, teven or eight should be the usual depth for -the turning plow torun; endjf whenrtjieubsailjsdry,jis,ub.-. soil plow can follow the turning plow, so m uchthe better. By such plowing, the growing of cover crops in winter and the t filling of the soil with ' vegetable , matter,-the necessity for . terracing these lands can be greatly , reduced, and washing On a level sandy soil, on the other hand, a man with a sub soil plow would be entirely out of place. ' If the soil is very sandy, five or six inches is probably deep enough for any breaking. . On the clay hillside there is a hard layer which should be broken up so that the water may soak down through it instead of rushing of f and carrying: the top soil with it; many of the sandy lands would be better, if there was a compact stratum at the depth of a few inches. Thus it will b& seen that the need for deep plowing may "vary greatly with differing conditions. As a general rule.' however, our soils are not broken deeply enough. We heed deeper seed beds, and a larger water-holding capacity in our soils. The little one-horse plows, scratching two or three inches deep, have helped to impoverish thousands of acres of land and to keep poor thousands of famers. .We need to double the depth of our plowing, on the average, and to' get rid of the little makeshift plows and tea ms that are incapable of do ing really oq( plowing. Of course, most farmers can't throw away fteir plows orTlet their work stock: go and get others all ot one neither can they double the depth of their cultivated soils Qll ct once.- They can, however, gradually get better implements 1 t - ill- - j ' ' '- ' :A :- ; " "; and better teams, and they can when they g i to bria k their tan d this fall or winter, put their plows down; an inch or so deeper than they have been running, and next year, and the next, do the same until they get a loose, friable soil eight or ten inches deep. When they, get such a depth of soil there will be less washing, less damage from drouth les s ; drowning out, and lar ger crops. ... '. y .- r - There is one thing to remember always, however: peeper plowing atone may give better crops for a year or two, but it cannot pet manently , improve the land. In fact, it is doubtful, ordinarily, whether deep plowing alone will add enough to tha crops to pay for the extra expense. Bat when the soil is gradu ally deepened and at the same time gradually fitted with vege table matter, and thus made-porous, retentive of moisture and x rife with bacterial activity, there will "inevitably be a decided increase in the crops it produces, and the profits it yields. So we would urge eve ry' reader who expects to break any v land between' now and next spring to do deeper plowing than has been his custom, to get down and work a little oft "the farm that lies below the one he has been working' but we would also ask him td remember that if he wouia geutne most from this deeper plowing, he must see to it that as he makes his soil deeper he also makes it better by the addition to it of larger quantities of vegetable matter. Deeper plow ing is In most cases a necessity in soil improvement, but more humus is equally necessary, often more so. A FEATURES OF; THIS ISSUE AMONG THE SUGAR PLANTERS OP HAWAII BREEDS OP OATTLE-i-I. . ... . ... . .... ... . . . . ... . . ... tQ 11 . 4 to CRIMSON CLOVER AND VETCH . . . ...i FARMLAND GARDEN WORK FOR OCTOBER HOW ABOUT YOUR WELL? . INDEX FOR LAST QUARTER : MORE GOOD ROADS TAMC . ; . . . . ... .... V. ... . 0 OCTOBER POULTRY WORK . ... ... .... ... . . . . ... . . 10 PREPARATION FOR TTOS WINTER GARDEN :. ......... 0 STORING VEGETABLES FOR WINTER . . . V. i . . . . . . 17 THE GOLDEN HOOP . . . . . . . . . . ...... . . ...... 4 V . la THE SURE WAY OF INCREASING SODL FERTILITY. . 0 TEN THINGS TO DO THW BIONTH T. . . . . . . . . . .i. . . . , . C . VPIAT, A FAm SHOULD BE ........................ 10 J 1 1 I , J" 3
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Oct. 1, 1910, edition 1
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