Show WHAT A G GOOD SEED BED MEANS TO PLANT GROWTH lly fly ca V k I 1 acon ot 0 the I 1 it C ei ic Illi leau tl TI ere lias has been bf en no BO muth written and sald said about plant growth that tin avenge mind wonders Aoi idels how much ito 10 lilieno lili eio and how much to disbelieve believe 0 v scientist tries a series f that alove piove successful tit in one locality lo calit the farmer tries thom them in another and meets with dds mai tho the farmer discredits the llo ile puts his exper experience lence against 11 the experimenter and goes lot on farming fanning in ilia his own way there are arc houe Nei it number of principles come tile tho germination of seeds that are not open ope n to differences of opinion if are known and followed better crops will lio bo the ill ie lid seeds must of necea j alty it liae have ater air and a certain amount lit or of heat the rapidity of depends entirely enter ay iy on oil how these I 1 ments ale aie provided ded it naturally follows fu llos from this thu thit the seed must be planted plan tj at the right depth tu to helem tho the conditions necessary for germination ermi ermin nation atlon the soil Is m warmer armer ar ir r lit lif gurvace than it Is deeper tit it is 1 hlo ano drier this being a I 1 tit it dundei ordin ordinate aty conditions the cl t pi ye i flit eed ced Is planted tho the ion alonsi ba it laith to isor minate if the farmer pic par s his hij decd bed in ili the manner ii 11 tit hi lioret majority of farmers 10 lo jo h lit must filist planting take it on ider the amount of mot tui tin that lie he lias has in the soil the A i its hs isei mcd d bed has hae been prepared tit nil I 1 j I 1 aph y to lo a greater or lesser stilt ali nt the amount of the season bijl have hane this of pio piet i dair Is at heat best I 1 lie do manner lit in which the seed bed la is its ins everything to d do with ith ali cioper germination a and lid i ath tit of tile the plant suppose the in all talks lie aie left standing lit in the i all atilid fetock ancl ale aie turned into the field to ju ili tile tho spring the ii ouid li is covered oNer cd with coin stalks 11 II life lie t iliae iti t a ae c farm lit la Is followed lit hi torn stalks are woken doen an am plowed under then the ground Is liar bar roved with a peg tooth harrow once or twice and the seed planted illustration no 1 la Is a seed bed which has been prepared in this manner the Thel leader teader will think of the pile of corn stalks that was aas left by the min ni in who ilio harrowed the field han he cledie cl a of tile the tiari oiN the air spice left at the bottom of the turro by the corn stalks and coin stalk roots also the wheat plant at and the hill of corn ile he will also notice that the wheat plant la Is in tile the ground more than half the depth of the plow furrow and that lie corn Is almost on the bottom I 1 row how many times have we gone into tile the field and noticed that one hill of corn will he be up nicely while others will be hardy broken through the ground the same thing Is true of small there are a number of conditions ons responsible for this but tile hobt important one Is the prop prep nation of the file seed bed in illustration no I 1 the drill was wag used in plan ing the grain and the corn planter in planting the corn the illustration shows that the corn planter and the ahoe achoe of the drill left the ground around the seed but did not prevent the seed from dropping too deep in the ground the reason for this Is that the bottom of the eed bed being full of air spaces the runners rin iners either broke through the clods or pushed them to one side aide this allo allowed Nied the seeds to drop fur in the ground than they should the next hill would probably be planted at the right depth but in a lose proximity to the pile of corn stallis which would retard its early ind growth in other places in the field the seed would woul d be deposited at the right depth and gio into a healthy plant 1 I 1 ut Is nothing sure about it tills this is one reabon why a stand of corn is so uneven on seed beds beda pr I 1 abed al ed lit in this manner of course the are arc reasons why this difference will appear tile the one next to the irregular Irre gulai depth of planting Is that tile the torn orn stalks and trash are the est st places in ili the world for the hatching of insects which entirely eat at awa nw t the plant ol 01 injure it the brills hinder cultivation and are of small value as fertilizers when left tit in this condition this much is true in ili the period of germination and adiv plant growth if the season happens to be dry these air spaces will prevent proper cabill capillary aay connection with the subsurface the corn stalks and roots hulled bulled in ili the ground will be harboring places for insects that are to any locality it means chat jut at the time when the plants need moisture to mature the grain they will not liot get it and as a con si ccuen e titer there e will be a poor crop suppose the is late as it ly is in localities this year the farmr thinks lie he must plow his ground hurriedly hur bur ridly lit in order to get his cro crop in does he gain anything ani thing by this athla method assume that he is i planting corn when the ground is plo clovd fad in this manner it is cold and cloddy lie has to plant his corn deeper than lie he wants to in order to get the planter to cover it since the ground becomes increasingly colder the farther it Is from the surface it takes the coin longer to germinate and longer to break through the ground than it would it ff the farmer had prepared his ground better when it cornes comes to cult cultivation hatlon he be loses time pulls up a great deal of corn and has an uneven stand to 0 OIL lie he has hurriedly prepared his seed bei bed and planted his corn but waits for it to grow has trouble all through the cultivation and raises a poor crop because he was as in a big hurry to plant his corn it is a matter of history lii story in corn growing districts that nature always brov provides ides a season long enough to raise a crop of corn consequently the scare caused by a late pring does irreparable harm the farmer had much better spend the extra time that he Is waiting tor for the coin to groi groft lit in tabo further preparation of the seed bed tho time spent in working tho ground filver the ho stin and air a chance to warm it and malze mare a more compact seed oed cod this lt no cessar it the seed Is weak and li it I 1 reat help to strong seed take it ton on tho the corn stalk gionne which was plowed disked ani and han canoed oed with a smoothing harrow white while this leaves tile tho ground in tt a little better condition on the surf suffice Itco the same trouble at the bottom of th seed bed will le be experienced as that which exists when the seed bed is prepared as shown in it sti atlon no I 1 the same corn stalks are thorn there to give trouble the main difference Is that a deeper mulch has been bee n pro I r 0 1 pared on the surface and auch sue i 1 eee bed will ill probably pio bably stand tho dinuth bomea somewhat hat botter better one of the great troubles wit with 11 a seed bed of this kind particularly with reference to the smaller grains is that germination being slower a greater length of time Is required for or the stem to reach the surface and then when it gets to the proper stage for growth a now new act of roots forms at the place where air moisture and heat aie present in tho the right proportions this Is the point where the complete system of roots Is formed tho the lower roots which started from tile the seed wither and die time Is required for this change to take place and it happens hap pelis before the plant can grow all this shows the great im Aorta ortance lice of planting the seed the right depth planting the seed tho light depth depends upon a seed bed prepared la in the light manner what happens on stubble ground plowed in the and hastily by disking and bar I 1 lowling naturally this ground compacts more readily than the corn stalk ground it does not have the arsh to interfere with cultivation noi loos does it bleed insect posts pesta but the battle bamo trouble at tho the bottom of the seed bed exists here as aa it doo does s in the corn stalk ground in tile the case of a corn stalk field disked and cross disked before plowing and then harrowed this ground compacts readily and easily making a warm molet moist firm ser sed d bed for any kind of a crop with the bottom of tho the bed prepared prop properly pirly the farmer can an plant his hi seed at the right depth and feel extra cure that it la is being deposited in tho the ground just where it ought to be lie he can figure more nearly on what tha season will bring forth because tha tit seed bed Is in the proper condition to resist excessive brouth or rains in this seed bed the stalks havu have been exit cut into small pieces they do not interfere with the compactness pac pact ness of the seed bed capillarity nor cultivation there will be no danger of a second set got of roots forming if the seed is planted at the right depth germination will take place in the quickest time and the shoot will develop into a healthy plant just how the farmer should go about to put his seed bed in this condition lie ho can best judge no he can readily see sea the difference in the bottoms of the seed beds and no MEL cliften cah him how to prepare boat best his particular ground ile he must deide decide dec c the matter for himself the important thing to do Is to got get the bolto boito it n of the seed bed compact so that good connections are made with th tb sub |