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Show CRUST UNDER MULCH Does Not Form Upon Land That is Summer Fallowed. Thii Hard Layer Can Be Rendered Partially Harmless by Right Kind of Plowing and Soil Treatment. Treat-ment. Farmers In dry regions have become familiar with the fact that a crust often forms beneath the soil mulch, jt is very difficult to prevent this formation for-mation If the dry period lasts for any considerable time. It also causes a great deal of trouble In that It does not permit the growth of plants. The sub-soil becomes so hard that It Is almost impossible for the roots to penetrate pen-etrate it. This mulch does not form upon land that is summer fallowed but upon that which Is growing a crop. The crust begins to form at) Inch underneath the loose surface and becomes thicker each suoceeding day. If there is no crop upon the land this hard layer can be easily removed but it is impossible to break up the crust without destroying the crop. However, this hard layer can be rendered partially harmless by the right kind of plowing and soil treatment, treat-ment, says the Denver Field and Farm. Its formation depends upon two factors fac-tors the drouth above and the moisture mois-ture conditions below. The moisture In dry soils falls upon the surface and Is carried to the lower strata by gravity grav-ity and by capillary attraction. Upon very dry soils this moisture does not go to any considerable depth because there is not a sufficient quantity to thoroughly saturate all of the particles. par-ticles. For this reason we oftentimes find a dry layer beneath the moist stratum By keping a dust mulch on the surface we are able to prevent the rapid evaporation of this "moisture. Some people believe that after the moisture has gone down to a considerable consid-erable depth It is with difficulty that the plants obtain the use of it. This soil moisture does not rise to the surface sur-face at a very rapid rate and if the best results are obtained we must plant crops that go down after the moisture or handle the soil in such a way that the moisture is brought to the surface. Good results will be obtained ob-tained by plowing deeply, not only lix cr seven inches, but eight or nine, o: ten or twelve inches and only the other day we saw a man who was cutting eleven inches and it was Indeed In-deed a charming sight to see. If we plow six or seven inches deep and then keep a three inch mulch over the surface and then If a two inch crust forms but little space left in which the roots could develop. Land handled in this way can not produce a profitable crop. It is sure to dry out before the season is over. On the other hand, if we plow from ten to twelve inches deep we will have at least six inches of the soil left for the crop before we come To the hard layer below. Rolling the soil Increases the conductivity but recces re-cces the moisture holding capacity of the land and promotes the formation forma-tion of a crust in heavy clay or gumbo soils. However, these heavy compact soils dry out slowly and it sometimes requires five or six months to dry out six or seven inches. Therefore, if, we have plowed ten or twelve inches in-ches deep the roots can obtain sufficient suffi-cient moisture from the lower part of the plowed land. , |