Show RAW PRAIRIE LANDS Wiso to Give Full Season to the Storage of Moisture Consistent Practicer of Scientific Soil Culture c Sometime Threshes 60 Bushels to the Acre and Rarely Rare-ly Less Than 40 Cn raw prairie lands which In some localities arc so hard and compact that it is probable that they have not been dampened to a depth of two feet for centuries It is wise to give a full season to tho storage of moisture moist-ure summer tilling tho land to get It into the proper physical condition If winter wheat is to bo tho crop the sod should be broken in the fall or winter whenever convenient Mr Campbell recommends breaking to a depth of three to four inches and then rolling the sod as fiat as possible pos-sible to hasten decomposition Then It should be disked or harrowed to loosen the soil particles as thoroughly as possible in order that tho moisture of rains or melting snows may sink Into the ground Instead of draining Unblessly off tho surface After every rain the ground must bo thoroughly harrowed creating the soil mulch that holds the moisture In the subsoil Instead of permitting capillary attraction attrac-tion to draw it to tho top to bo lost In the dry air If the soil mulch is properly maintained it will bo found that by August the sod and tho subsoil sub-soil beneath to a depth of two or three Inches will bo well decomposed The ground should be plowed again to a depth of two and a half or three Inches bolow the first plowing If a subsurface packer Is available it should then bo used to compact the subsoil after which the land must bo thoroughly harrowed to place the all important soilmulch in proper condition condi-tion to fulfill Its double office of facilitating facil-itating tho percolation to the subsoil of future rains and of preventing the loss of moisture by capillarity and evaporation This method gives ample time for tho storage of moisture and for the placing of the seedbed and subsoil Into the best possible physical condition condi-tion for the development of the plant roots After tho plowing and preparation prepara-tion of the soil mulch has been completed com-pleted If any rains come before seeding seed-ing the soil mulch must be restored Just as soon as the ground is dry enough to permit It to bo harrowed without adhering to the teeth of the harrow Otherwise the surface will become hard and compact capillary attraction will draw the storedup moisture to the top and the labor of A Disk Harrow months will be lost All this may seem like a vast amount of labor It is true that there is much moro labor la-bor in it than In tho ordinary hltand i miss trust to luck methods of farm I Ing But while tho wheat crop of the whole United States averages less than 14 bushels to the acre the consistent con-sistent practicer of scientific soil culture cul-ture sometimes threshes more than 60 bushels to the acre and rarely less than 40 bushels Really it Is time that tIle American farmer should wake up The Gorman farmer obtains an average aver-age of 276 bushels of wheat per acre the British farmer 322 bushels tho Dutch and Danish moro than 30 bushels but the American farmer with a superior soil Is content with 136 bushels per acre The difference In yield is due simply to the difference in methods It Is not for more work that scientific soil culture stands but for work that will bo more productive pro-ductive not for harder labor but for more intelligent labor An illustrntalon Is given above of a disk harrow an almost indispensable implement on any dry farm |