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Show "Bp"M1MBMMIMaaaaaaaaaMaaMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBaa, DEPTH FOR PLOWING Methods of Tillage May Be Looked Look-ed Into With Profit. 8ome of Western Experiment Stations Rtachrd Conclusion That Excessively Exces-sively Deep Plowing Not Always Profitable. In thee dry year farmers In the humid belt may with prollt look Into the methods of soli lillane or the dry farmers. There was a time when the dry farmer talked about shallow plow-Ink plow-Ink and surface cultivation, rlelminic thnt stlrrltiK the soil deeply left it looHe and open and resulted in a Iohh of moisture. This was before subsurface subsur-face packers and other dry farmliiK machinery came Into use. When the big traction engines came Into tine and plows, dines, and other tillage machinery machin-ery could be hauled by means of mechanical me-chanical iower. exerlmentliiK in deep plowing. subsollliiK. subsequent disi liif? and sub-surface packing became common com-mon and before long ilwp plowing became be-came the rule. It Is not uncommon for dry farmers to plow to a de pth of 15 Inches, and eight to ten Inches Is now the usual depth, says the Farmer and Hreeder. They are plowing to that depth with horses, usually using from five to six on a gang plow. Naturally some of tho western experiment ex-periment stations have been studying soil tillage questions under arid conditions condi-tions and they have come to the conclusion con-clusion that excessively deep plowing Is not profitable, but that a depth of eight to ten Inches, as a rule, gives the most remunerative results. For a period of five years, on four different fields, the Vtah experiment station has obtained the following average results re-sults with wheat: Yield p-r rr Ipth of J'lowing. Hu S Inches 10 Inches 16 Inchea 13 10 Inrtira, Including plowing and sub-soiling sub-soiling is On one of the fields Included In the four fields referred to In the above table, plowing to a depth of 10 Inches gave the highest ield-23.4 buBhels per acre. On the other three nelds plowing over 10 Inches In depth gave the highest yields, yet the difference was not sufficiently large to offset the extra cost of the deer plowing and subsoillng. On two other fields, during 1907 and 1908. the following average yields were obtained from different depths of plowing: Tliid pur acre Soli reparation. IUiH-cd, but not plowed 2" Plowed I Inchea deep 1 t Plowed 12 Inches deep 27. 7 Plowed and subaolled 1 Inches dwp..J7.4 In 1909 this work was again repeated repeat-ed on another farm with the following results: Yield per a r Holl Treatment. Hu. flowed ft Inches deep 10 flowed 10 Inches deep. 13 Plowed and subaolled 16 Inches deep. ..IS Plowed and subaolled IS Inches deep. ..14 Summarizing these results. Prof. L. K. Merrill, In a recent bulletin, reporting report-ing seven years' Investigations in dry farming methods, says: "The writer's opinion Is that on deep, heavy clay toils, plowing to a depth of ten Inches will Insure as good and possibly better results than plowing to a greater depth, but that on lighter soils an occasional oc-casional plowing to a depth or IHtcen to eighteen Inches Is advisable." While the results above mentioned are not applicable to all sections, and we would not, of course, recommend plowing the land to a depth of ten Inches regardless ot local conditions, we believe they are of value In calling call-ing the attention of our readers to the fact that the average farmer Is not plowing his land deep enough. Those who are plowing their stubble lands this fall In anticipation of droughty conditions next year should plow their land from one to two Inches deeiT than they have teen doing In the past. Those who have been plowing six or leven inches deep will undoubtedly Improve the producing power of their Isad by plowing seven or eight Inches this fall, while those who have been In the habit of plowing only four or live Inches In depth may well plow two Inches deeper. This, of course. Is only a general statement, and each person must determine for himself what he may reasonably expect from deeper plowing. However, as a general proportion propo-rtion there Is no question but that we have reached the stage when we niust work our land deeper and give It more surface cultivation. If deeir plowing conserves mere moisture In the arid belt, there Is no rs.on why It should not io do the some In the humid belt. No one knows, of course, whether next year will be a dry one or not, but even If we should have a normal rainfall our sil will Kill be short of moisture. We never have what Is ordinsrily railed a wet year following a ry year. Jt us pre I'fre for a rhortrifr-- of mohture text var: It will m money In our oi'ets to do so. |
