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Show Saving The Moisture And Increasing Grops " Written For Dry-Farming by Prof. H. M. Balncr, Agricul-turalDcmonstrator Agricul-turalDcmonstrator Santa Fc System, Amarilia, Texas. Sow that our molsturo conditions are favorablo it Is up to us. as fanners fann-ers to make crops this year. Wo know it Is not tho amount of rain that falls on a country that makes ffrhe crops, but rather tho araouut that e can storo and savo in tho soil for the use of tho crops. In tho first placo tho soil should be put in condition to receive all mols-turo mols-turo falling upon it instead of letting It run off. Deep fall plowing and early winter plowing Is most favorable to moisture storage. In making tho seed-bed seed-bed It is well to remember that no alter cultivation can make amends for poor preparation. Our poorest farmers aro thoso that plow tho least and shallowest. Again, tho depth of our farmers is tho depth wo plow, it i. nnt mlvlsablo to do deep plowing at this time of year for Immediate plant Ing unless tho soil can bo packed back mechanically. Soil that has not. been plowed yet must necessarily ho plowed shallow or clso must bo put in condition with disc harrow or lister at once. To savo tho moisture in land that Is to ho planted In row crops it is advisable ad-visable to disc tho land at once, or single list it. As soon as this is dono tho harrow should bo used on it enough to prevent any crusts from forming and also to keep tho weeds from starting. At no time should a crust bo nllow-cd nllow-cd to form on tho surface of a field that is being propared for a crop or that has a growing crop on it. Evaporation Evap-oration from tho soil la going on practically prac-tically all tho time. During tho tlmoa of evaporation, moisture is constantly carried from tho lower soil to tho surface by what is known as "capillary" "capil-lary" movements. This capillary movement brings tho moisture to the surface llko oil through n lamp wick, where it escapes into tho air. This constant drain soon Urlia out a soli. Moisture moves upward readily through a firm soil and slowly through a loose soil. Thus, by providing provid-ing a loose surfneo, or mulch, this process of evaporation is checked. k Tho mulch acta as a blanket or Insula---Ptlon, saving Uio moisture below It. We must not get tho soil mulch con-iused con-iused with tho so-called "dust mulch." A fine dust mulch is dangerous. dan-gerous. In tho first placo It is llablo to blow, and In tho Bccond placo moisture trom abovo does not pass through It readily. Wator will often flood off a dust mulch beforo It will pass through It. What is wanted in tho way of mulch is to keep n looso surface, hut to bo careful not to work It too fine. Small clods mixed with tho surfaco will prevent blowing; it holds the moisture bdlow, lets surface sur-face moisture pass through readily and answers every requirement. Tho shallow ono or two-inch mulch Is not deep enough for long, hot, dry spell, as it becomes heated through too easily and lets tho moisture dry out under it. Early in tho season tho shallow mulch is all right, hut later, as tho danger of hot, dry weather comes on, this depth must naturally Increase, and a three and four-Inch depth should bo reached by this time. The common peg-tooth harrow is the best implement for this work, especially es-pecially It consldorablo depth is not needed. On accouut of depth n dlHe harrow is often necessary. A float or drag very seldom does much good. As a rule it leaves tho mulch too fine and too shallow. There la no point on which moro criticism Is needed than on tho weed question. Maximum crops cannot ho expected when wo stop to consider that on tho majority of our farms tho weeds got moro of tho molsturo than tho crops. Moisture and humus is all that our soils lack to insure good crops all tho tlmo. Wo cannot afford to grow weeds to supply this humus, becauso they poison poi-son our soils and tako out tho "precious" "pre-cious" molsturo nocded by tho crops. Molsturo 1b our crop bank account; rfo weeds aro tho 'deadly mortgages. "" ' There is no better tlmo to kill weeds than whon they aro in tho germinating singes. If dono In time, thoro Is no bettor implement for tho work than tho common peg tooth harrow. har-row. "Like begots like," Inferior seed cannot and will not produco maximum crops. Tho best seed la nono too good for our conditions. There Is no question but that our whoat, oats, cotton, cot-ton, kaflr, malso and other crops can 1)0 Increased In yield and quality at least one-fourth by tho uso of the right kind of seed. Many low yields can bo traced directly di-rectly to too thick stand. To insure good yields overy plant must havo a chance. Our conditions do not re-qulro re-qulro over ono hnlf as much seed ns Is usually planted under humid and Irrigated Ir-rigated conditions. Our farmers can saVo seed and money, besides Insuring better yields by planting less seed per aero. In some sections wheat may bo considered con-sidered ns a good cash crop, whllo in other sections cotton is .best. Somo years theso crops may yield enough to practically pay for tho land, but other years they may not roturn tho seed. Failures in theso and other crops may cover from ono to threo years. Tho farmer who depends on theso crops for his cntlro Incomo is likely to fall also. Crops must bo planted every year that aro practically drouth resistant. Corn cannot bo depended upon with any degree of certainty. It is not "king of crops" under limited rainfall conditions. Tho farmer cannot afford to plant it only In small acreages. Cotton Is a reasonably suro crop under limited rainfall conditions providing pro-viding tho season is long enough. An early maturing variety of storm proof quafltles Is proferred. Kafir and mllo maize aro practically sure: Malzo la moro certain than tho kuflr. Instead of planting all knflr or maizes, it is best to divide tho acrengo nnd plant some of each. Sorghum la practically sure to make roughngo and makes excellent feed for dairy cows. Stock melons will tako the place ot pumpkins in furnishing n succulent suc-culent feed for cows nnd hogs. Spanish peanuts will stand a great deal of drouth. If tho crop gets well started it will' stand as much dry weather as mllo maize, whllo peanuts In general nro a warm country crop. Demonstrations tho past threo or four years, havo proven conclusively that tho Spanish variety, at loast, can bo depended on throughout practlcall.' all of Northwestern and West Texa3. Even tho so-called "Jumbos" produco verj'good crops In some Bcctlons. Tho Spnnlah peanut makes an excellent ex-cellent hog feed. D. II. Zachcry of Clarendon, Texas, makes tho following statement: "I havo been hero for 20 years and have nover seen peanuts fall. For hog feed they cannot bo beat. I had 21 acres of peanuts In 1911 that I planted for my SO hogs. I bellovo In peanuts strong enough thut I nm going to plant 20 acres In 11)12. For pork production, peanuts glvo mo far moro returns than any othor crop I know of." Every fnrmor In this section should plant somo kaflr, mllo maize, sorghum nnd poanuts. If theso aro handled proporly In connection with live stock, a good living will bo insured overy year. Practicnlly all row crops will do best if planted in furrows. Kafir plants should not bo closer than 20 Inches apart in tho row, nnd mllo mnlzo 15 to 18 Inches, nnd other crops proportionately thin. Do not bo in too big a hurry to plant. Better tpend a llttlo extra tlmo getting tho seed bed prepared. Walt until tho ground is warm. Plant kaflr from April 20 to May 1C; mllo malzo, May 10 to Juno 10; peanuts, pea-nuts, Mny 10 and later; cotton, May 1 to 10. |