OCR Text |
Show small to produce crops. Where there is a hard, dry subsoil,, subsoil plowing is to jbe recommended. Where the subsoil is loose, ..gravelly, or sandy, subsoiling Is .probably unnecessary, or may even be injurious. injuri-ous. Do not subsoil when the soil is very wet,-either above or beneath, as there is great danger of puddling the soil, thus leaving it in worse condition than before. This is one of the reasons why it is better to subsoil in the fall than in the spring-If spring-If the ground be subsoiled in the fall, the winter and spring rains have ample opportunity to soak in, that being the 'season of greatest rainfall and least evaporation. Sub-soilling Sub-soilling in the spring may be a positive detriment if the subsoil be extremely dr) as in that case the rain water is partially removed from the young plant by the absorption of the bottom soil. If the spring rains were heavy, this would not be a disadvantage. Denver Field and Farm. mm m 1 A question of the greatest importance in regions -of deficient de-ficient rainfall or where irrigation is practiced is the storage capacity of the soil for water. When the soil is thoroughly loosened up, the amount of water which it will hold is greatly increased, and the rise of water to the surface and evapora-tion evapora-tion are checked. On this point the Nebraska station makes the following follow-ing suggestions: Subsoil plowing, although a means of conserving moisture, does not produce it, and is, therefore, not a substitute for j irrigation where the rainfall is too I |