Show HOLD SPRING MOISTURE question of vital importance to fehmers in dry areas adyth ng that can be done to pre vent loss ought to be done local conditions cond eions largely I 1 determine the method by PROFESSOR THOMAS SHAW the question of 0 holding spring moisture ts Is one ot of vital importance to those boss who farm in dry areas every particle of 0 moisture that Is lost from the soil at that season is lost so tar far at the expense 0 of the crop anything that can be done therefore to prevent such loss ought to be done provid pr ovidii li 9 it does not involve too much loss what can be done to effect this end the answer to this question will de pend upon many conditions it the ground has been plowed in the autumn on very many any western soils minute fissures will be notice able on the surface as soon as the ground begins to dry out these fis are in some instances quite large and the openings penetrate the soil more deeply into these fissures the air penetrates as they are formed it Is drier and warmer thun the soil and because of this it aids in the re moval boval of moisture the process of moisture removal Is further hastened by the climb ng up of the subsoil mole mot ture from below how stall shall this re moval boval of moisture be lessened 9 it anty m ay iy be lessened by any method of stirring the surface soil that w 11 remove the cracks or fissures on and near the surface jhb u barrow harrow Is the most eff lelent implement to accod this purpose but when the aroun ground d is r somewhat ome what impacted it may be wise to use the disk f first and to follow the same with the harrow in jet other instances the plan may be good which sows seed first by drilling it in and then running the harrow across the drill marks to stir the whole surface of the soil this may be done sometimes with addan t ge as when spring wheat la Is sown as this Is a kind ot of grain that may be sown quite early such sowing before bar harrowing rowing can only te done with a ai i vantage on comparatively smooth sur faces as on those tl ti at have been har rowed towed the previous autumn one dis advantage of course follows such har bar L rowing namely that it does not hold the snow a well as ground that la is f left when thus treated the escape of moisture is in a great beai we vre prevented ted from the opening of spring the effect upon crop prodoc tion will in most instances be quite YAM material 00 though buch such autumn plowed lands are not planted until late as in the case of corn or beans such stirring of the surface soil as soon as it can be done is of great importance it checks the escape of moisture and the har bar rowing of the soil subsequently once or twice before these crops are plant ed not only aids in preventing the eh u cape of moisture but it may mate bially aid also in the destruction of weeds that may germinate near the il f surface in the interval between the opening of spring and the sowing ot of the seed in the case of stubble the treatment called for will depend upon the use that Is to be made of the land and on the condition of the land should the land be of that nature that calls for the aid of the harrow to close the ili bures it will pay to defer the planting of the land or the plowing of it as the case may be until the land has been first harrowed or disked if the land is to be drilled in with ite some Bome kind of grain as wheat it will mally ally pay to deter defer the drilling of the wheat until the land la is gone over with the harrow such drilling without plowing la is mes in order as in the case ot of drilling cpr ng wheat into flax ilax ground that has been broken from eod sod the grevous ous spring should the stubble land be wanted for some such crop as fodder corn it would probably pay to first disk the stubble in the early dearly spring to plow it a little later and to pack it with a disk or face packer after it Is plowed land that Is broken in tha early spring and that Is to to be devoted to the growing of crop the same season should of course be compressed as qs soon as it is broken with some kind A of a packer it should then be har bar rowed at once and the crop should be planted in season on such land the packing and harrowing cannot be given too soon after the plowing pro viding the plowing ts is not done at a I 1 time before the land has become clentry dry to be plowed in season it is of course true that some soils do not thus form fissures in the early spring this is true of sandy soils soil these may call for a different kind of treatment harrowing them thus early may aid in their blowing much judg ir ment is called lor for in all the operations of the farm |