Show HANDLING RUNDOWN RUN DOWN SOIL IN CORN BELT 4 aj ak t 7 k V rt gig 41 1 ita 1 a ajr t of A field of oats and cowpeas Cow peas by 1 Aela tnt stafe tary of 0 agriculture the beet best and shortest cut to profit ble yields on a rundown run down farm in the corn rn belt generally ie Is to be found rough through legumes and lire live block stock says farmers bulletin of tho the united states department of at agriculture this bulletin Is the work ot at carl vrooman the assistant secretary of the depart ment its it purpose la is to suggest to the corn belt farmer of at the middle west dome way ways oc of applying agriculture to the practical business ot of fanning farming it ie le intended especially for the fanner farmer whose eoll soil has been run down by continuous grain famine the early portion of at the bulletin there fore tore contains a number ot at fundament fun damen damOn tal tat rules for handling the boll 11 theeo these are in part as an follows 1 put humus into the soil soll that Is the first move toward building up a rundown run down tana ta ft na n humus la Is tho the stuff with which nature fertilizes bated bolli soils the rotted remains ol 01 dead leaves and grass of weed stalks roots and the like without humus tho the would be merely minerra matter just rock more or dr leis less finely ground and decomposed organic matter increases tho the water holding ot of the soli soil and as it rota rote down to form humus it furnishes organic plant food for bacteria and plants and bv action in creates creases the available supply ot of MIU mineral plant food that cornea comes from tho the one fine rock parti particle clesi in the eoll tc te get humus plow under all the rasto vegetable matter you can obtain all stable manure straw corn cornstalk stalks stubble ie lem ea weds woods Q ana green ma auro aura crops buch such as an clover 1 anything thing vegetable that will rot la in the ground makes humus il when hen it baa his decayed legumes should be used for green manure crops aheu possible because they add more nitrogen nitrogenous noun plaat plant food to the soil whereas other green ma nure aura crops merely make tho the plant food ion hand moro available never burn matraw or cornstalks corne aike unless its like burning money spread your straw upon the field fold next to ba be plowed or better still aaa it first for teed feed or bedding or aa as a match mulch tor for ome some carp liko like pota potatoes and plow it under later ne as etayle manure or with the refuse tt the crop 2 establish a sound end and regular ro ct of 0 crops crop cropsie sIt it ie Is difficult to make a general rule its a to crop rota eions because rotations tory with local but there are same rules in this regard that hold anywhere A two year rotation euch such aa as corn a and rid oate oats la Is entirely inadequate every rotation should include at least one crop the rotation sheild ba bo planned the aid of your county egl t or your state agricultural college collego to fit at the individual farm and local condition conditions 3 your crops to suit your SOIL somo farms arme have grown crops that have depleted ia a humus and oll adli shed the productivity of the eoll soil until it is to longer possible to grow pr vatable crop crops ot of corn oats and timothy yet euch such eoll moll will often produce lod add crops of some annual legume wh much as mol leslie or cowpea cowpeas where cadro grow sweet clover you can cart crow grow tweet clorer clover too and sud alter after you have plowed under a crap ot at that rank growth you har a good start OB OR thi twi to twi fertility tinty REaca bur there theres a legume crop tor for almont almost every mail oil and that no rotation in complete without it legua try to find the legume bet best suited to your toll soil and condition conditions dit di tion ions and then make it the basis ot of your relation rotation 4 ce via drain tile freely artificial drainage Is I 1 a facto of greatest Erea leit alnee tn in oil moll improvement often uie the fact acts ot of greatest in en ell ables us to trow crow potatoes pot atoe or online etere nature can grow rw only cat tall tails tt it insures the even dis tribu tion of both the water waiter and the air that oar our cultivated crops denland where the land lack lacks natural drainage every thing die else depends on how thoroughly tho th soil oil li Is ditched or tiled 5 hull hutt your plowing to your koil soil aia rule the harder border the oil soil li Is to braak break r Cs rt t deeper and the more thor it nuat must be broken op up to let air ia in to do its it work 6 manure ilan ure as rf as you hari heri vest Teat stable manon ie in the beet best tona form of 0 fertilizer became because it not only add adds available plant food but also Un unproven tho the physical texture ot at tho the coll boll it tends to lighten heavy soft oll and to make bandy soil hold more water stable contains easily avail able plant food both organic and mineral and aa an it t decay decays la in tho the eoll boll hastens the liberation of other plant food green manure la Is an excellent substitute for table stable manure and la Is essential to good farming where little or no live stock la Is kept where stable manure li Is not available green manure must be used to get got results not merely stubble but the entire green crop must be plowed under to make a green manure crop a good substitute for stable manure 1 in the case ol 01 a legume manure crop the seed should be saved but all the rest of at the crop abound be returned to the land for nr aller details on soils see farmable Far mora marle bulletin bulletins 25 and 7 correct soil acidity alth with lime lima lime Is the one thine thing moat most needed by the average rundown run down soil it Is per haps safe to say that more poor cr crops lop are due to our sour boll soil than to lack ot at plant food certainly moet most ot at the fall urea ures ot of clover end and other legumes are duo to boll soil acidity on our hlll polls lime la lei needed to neutralize the acid uld it your sod fields show allow p patybea a t c b ot t re red a orrol sorrel moos poverty grass g r a e and the like scanty or our sour tasting vegetation and it your legume crops fall to re pond spond readily to application of staale stable manure try lime 8 uee use phosphate phosphates when n qed phosphorus rua next to lime Is to the mineral plant tood probably mot most aelerd by the average unproductive rill there are three forms ot at phosphorus in common use finely ground lock phosphate floats boats acid phosphate and steamed bone meal when eoll soil contains an ample supply ot of organic matter and the woo t in buying phosphorus Is I 1 to increase In creaso the supply ot of this element in the soil boll at lowest possible cost this can bo be dono done by purchasing finely ground rock phosphate on tho the other bund band if the supply ot at organic matter in tho the soil 11 ts in limited or you aro anxious tn oi at quick returns from the phosphorus it Is advisable to purchase pur chaee either acid or steamed bono bone meal ai As a ton ot at rock phosphate cont alna atno gen brally about pounds ot at phosphorus when eold sold aiho at the average market price tho the in it will coat cost tho the fanner farmer about three cente cents a pound add acid phosphate generally Retae gete rally contains about pounds of phosphorus to the ton and steamed bono bone meal about 2 points to tho the ton and when sold at the average price tho the phosphorus in cither either of these forma fortne generally costs from ten to twelve cents a pound |