OCR Text |
Show TO CONSERVE THE MOISTURE Cultivation of Grain Lands After Har-vest Har-vest Is Custom Dry Farmer Must Think 8erlously Of. In this dry climate the cultivation of the grain land soon after harvest tends to conserve the moisture already stored In the soli and It U a custom we will have to take up more seriously serious-ly than In the past. The furrowed land Is In good condition to catch and store tho rain and the later cultivation cultiva-tion clears the surface of weeds and leaves a mellow soil mulch to conserve con-serve the moisture which has been stored In the subsoil. The early and continued cultivation of the soil ravors the action of the bacteria and tho development de-velopment of available plant food, says tho Denver Field and Kurm. Hy practicing this method tho farmer farm-er may cultivate a larger area early In the season when the soli is In good condition, whereas If It Is necessary to plow the whole field, some of the lind may become too dry to plow well. Likewise tho later plowing leaves the toll too loose nnd not in good seed bod condition, Ily several cultivations with a common harrow after the ridges have been workoi down with a disk sled, the soli may be well pulverized and firmed and put into good condition. In fact the larger part of tho seedbed seed-bed area has not been loosened deeply deep-ly nnd even with little or no rain tho subsurface soli remains firm and the seedbed is In ideal condition to germinate tho wheat. In the ideal system sys-tem of culture the purpose is to keep a mellow soli mulch on the surface of the Innd all of the time, not only during dur-ing the growth of the crop, but also In the Intorval between harvest and seeding time. Thus, after the crop Is planted, tho land Is kept cultivated with the weeder or barrow in order to break the surface crust and conserve the moisture. Following out the same ' principle, the harrowing or work with the weeder weed-er is continued after the grain is up and during tho growing period frequent fre-quent cultivation is required for intertilled inter-tilled crops. After harvest the tillage is not discontinued, but the surface Is loosened by cross-disking as soon as pouslble after tho crop is removed and thus tho soil is kept going continually con-tinually so as not only prevent the loss of water already stored In the soil, but also this same condition and mellow surface favors the absorption of rnln and largely prevents the loss of the water by surfaco drainage. A man in Prowers county brought through a good stand of alfalfa this year by turning under a fine top mulch so rs to tilace it at the bottom of a (en Inch furrow and In tils way he showed the neighbors a new object lesson in modern agriculture. |