Show To Get Bigger Better Crops Farmers Should Toss Their Plows PI Ts on oil Says days Ex Expert e t I By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Released by Western Newspaper Union HOMAS GRAY the famous THOMAS JL English poet has made immortal immortal immortal im im- im- im mortal the plowman who homeward home ward vard plods his weary way and for two centuries the plowman and his plow plo have been the theme of song and story building building building build build- ing up the idea that they are the benefactors of mankind In fact Venerate the plow was the motto engraved upon the medals offered by the Agricultural Agricultural tural Society of Philadelphia early in the Nineteenth century to stimulate agricultural experimentation experimentation experimentation and more than a dozen dozen dozen doz doz- en of our states have the plow as one of the symbols in their great I seals In the face of this tradition it may come as a shock to most Americans to be told that instead instead instead in in- stead of venerating the plow we ve should look upon it as an enemy enemy enemy en en- emy of agriculture and the tool that is responsible for all of the erosion the sour soils the mounting floods the lowering water vater table the vanishing wild wildlife wildlife life the compact and impervious ous soil surface which have bedevilled bedevilled be be- devilled the American farmer in recent years Yet that is exactly exactly exactly ex ex- ex- ex what an agricultural expert expert expert ex ex- ex- ex pert tells us in a new book He is Edward H. H Faulkner and his revolutionary idea is developed in the book Folly published published pub pub- recently by the University of Oklahoma Press And lest it be bethought bethought bethought thought that he is only a theorist a visionary and a book farmer let it be added immediately that he heis heis heis is the son of a successful farmer that he was trained in agriculture at Williamsburg Baptist institute now Cumberland college and at atthe atthe atthe the University of Kentucky that he has been a county agent in Kentucky and Ohio a Smith-Hughes Smith teacher of agriculture and a soil and crop investigator in private employment Moreover he has carried on his experiments experiments experiments ex ex- ex- ex in garden plot and on a farm scale on land which he owns in Ohio and by his crop yields has translated theory into solid fact At the beginning of Folly Mr Faulkner says that his book sets out to show that the moldboard moldboard moldboard mold- mold board plow which is in use on farms throughout t th the civilized world is the e least satisfactory implement for lor me the preparation of land for the production production production tion of crops This sounds like a paradox perhaps in view of the fact that for nearly a century there has been a science of agriculture and that agricultural scientists almost to toa toa toa a man have used and approved the use of the moldboard plow Nevertheless Nevertheless Nevertheless Never Never- the statement made above is true and capable of proof Much of the proof as a matter of fact has come in left-handed left manner from scientists themselves The truth is that no one has ever advanced advanced- a scientific reason for plowing He then proceeds to examine all the reasons that are given for plowing plowing plowing plow plow- ing and points out their inconsistencies inconsistencies cies and even absurdities Assuming Assuming Assuming Assum ing plowed land to be better for plant growth we should find grass growing more freely on plowed land than on similar unplowed land near nearby nearby nearby by he points out Weeds too should show preference for plowed land Volunteer growth should take takeover takeover takeover over and develop more rankly after land had been plowed than before Is this so Observation is that until until until un un- til plowed land has subsided again to its former state of firmness plants develop in it quite tardily if at all When dry weather follows the plowing plowing plowing plow plow- ing it may be weeks or even months before either natural vegetation or a planted crop will make normal growth The fact is that bare land which notably erodes worse than soil in any other condition consists al almost almost almost al- al most wholly of land that has been disturbed recently by plow or fv im I omen t Th Th 1 1 H th g p ij iiii-ij e on o er b. b me o U y V bare bare- land is that which has been denuded of top op soil by erosion or other forces There is significance in the fact that erosion and runoff are worse on bare land and that bare land is defined above bove The effect which plowing has upon this top soil is the principal reason reas n. n why the author of Folly Folly Folly Fol Fol- ly considers this instrument an enemy enemy enemy en en- emy rather than a benefactor of ol agriculture In fact the principal thesis of the book is that it is wrong to plow ploy natural fertilizers deep into the soil and that this natural l fertilizer er crop er-crop crop residue and green manure crops should crops should be incorporated into the top soil which as everybody This pretty girl seems to lo be heeding the ancient an nn- dent injunction Venerate Venerate Ven en erate crate the plow as she T examines what has vas been preserved of one of the first three plows made by John Deere r h the Yankee blacksmith sF who invented the first Jt y successful steel plow low in 1837 1537 Yb 1 1 i i I 1 4 i t N w. w 11 recognizes is the really good soil just as Mother Nature does it in a forest or a meadow Disk Harrow Better We have developed some useless theories in that field declares Mr Faulkner Men have come to feel for example that centuries are necessary necessary necessary essary for the development of a productive productive productive pro pro- soil The satisfying truth is that man with a team or a tractor and a good disk harrow can mix into the soil in a matter of hours sufficient organic material to accomplish accomplish accomplish ac ac- ac- ac results equal to what is accomplished by nature in decades In n fact it is the disk harrow rather than han the plow which should be the farmers farmer's principal instrument in producing producing producing pro pro- more and better crops Here is why The organic matter disked into the top of the soil not only decomposes and adds to the fertility of the soil but Dut acts as a sponge to hold moisture where it is needed Faulkner believes believes be- be ieves there is a capillary movement of water upward from the subsoil When the surface of the soil contains organic matter this top layer not only holds water but is able to receive receive receive re re- re- re it from below Conversely when the soil has been plowed the loose layer at the surface loses its capillarity while the layer of green manure plowed under actually insulates insulates lates ates the upper surface of soil from the subsoil I This blotter is often the reason why a crop shows lack of moisture when there is moisture in the sub sub- soil The crop has used all the moisture tue in the loose layer laler of f top soil sou but DUI DUt can get gei no more from irom below DelOW until the organic matter plowed under under under un un- un- un der has become completely decomposed decomposed decomposed posed and packed Although the author a of Plow mans man's Folly believes that the disk harrow is the farm tool which should more and more replace the plow he admits that it does have its limita limita- It is difficult to handle on onside onside onside side hills and it wont won't work so well wellon on stony soil Nor is it the complete answer to the question of how to get rid of weeds He concedes that there is no such thing as completely weed- weed less farming but he does believe that the system of farming which he advocates advocates advocates ad ad- tends to get rid of weeds while the plow tends to encourage them For every time land is plowed seeds are buried for future sprouting Then when it is plowed again some of the seeds are brought to the surface for growth while more seeds are turned under to await their turn to sprout and so on ad in- in Under Faulkner's plan of using the disk harrow rather than the plow the weeds are mixed up into the top top- topsoil soil and their seeds are never very far below the surface When such seed grows into a plant and the plant is cut then there is no reservoir of seed far under the L surface to 10 lO take its us place place Gradually a field may get rid of weeds entirely if they are cut before they mature although of course there will always always always al al- al- al ways be some weeds grown from seed that is blown or carried into the fields Not a New Idea But the problem of weed control is after all of lesser importance than the problem Of if preparing the soil so that it will be more tive In advocating his plan Faulkner Faulk Faulk- ner does not claim that it is new No new technical discoveries are areto areto areto to be aired here he says in hi his first chapter The discussion is concerned concerned concerned con con- wholly with reducing to practical practical practical terms employable in any body's backyard or on any farm the scientific information possessed for decades but hitherto not put to any extensive use Moreover he does not just advocate advocate advocate cate a theory but he cites his awn experience to prove that his theory is practicable For example there was the way he demonstrated its validity with the tomatoes which he transplanted even though he shocked some of his neighbors with what they considered his careless methods First he harrowed down a crop of rye that had grown three feet tall mixing rye and soil until l hardly a trace of vegetation remained Then he marked the land off in rows using an instrument he designed himself to pack the worked soil of the rows firmly This was done to patch the soil back together so natures nature's capillary action carried action carried on by the plant root system system could could keep on elevating moisture to the surface for his tomatoes He cleaned all the dirt from the roots of his tomato plants and laid them along the rows rowson rowson rowson on the surface He covered the roots with rich soil and packed it down by foot By late afternoon every plant set setin setin setin in the forenoon was pointing toward the sky and by the following morning morning morning morn morn- ing every plant without exception was standing upright No water was used in transplanting and that was sufficient evidence that natures nature's own watering system was at work Prize Tomatoes Not only did the tomatoes live but his neighbors who had been dubious dubious dubious du du- du- du bious of his careless methods had to admit that his was the finest field of tomatoes in the neighbor neighbor- hood There was further proof of the fact when he sold his tomatoes for he received as much as 25 cents a peck peek above the top price in the Cleveland market One reason for this was the exceptional weight of my packed pecks Mr Faulkner ex ex- plains Fifteen pounds is the standard standard standard stand stand- ard weight of a peck of tomatoes It was not unusual for a peck of my tomatoes to weigh 16 pounds and many weighed 17 Most local tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes to to- matoes that year weighed from 10 to 14 pounds to the peck What the author of Folly did with tomatoes he also did with sweet potatoes cucumbers cucumbers cucumbers bers and beans And lest it be bethought bethought bethought thought that his methods apply only to garden truck let it be recorded that they apply also to field grain Several years ago he began nudging nudging ing the United States department of agriculture to experiment with his theory of surface in surface incorporation corpora tion Finally one of the leading mi s c t t f th d A I n o UA UL a set sei up a 3 demonstration tion Perhaps the intent was to disprove disprove dis dis- prove my theories Writes Mr Faulkner On the contrary the outcome of the tests completely confirmed confirmed con con- firmed them The results of this official experiment proved that by working organic matter into the surface instead of plowing it in the resulting grain yield could be beas beas beas as much as 50 per cent greater The very first year of this trial showed such a result And these are only a few of the Illuminating illuminating il il- il facts to be found in the pages of Folly But they all lend emphasis to its authors author's contention that the sooner we make ancient history of many of our present present present pres pres- ent farm practices the earlier we will realize that the Garden of Eden almost literally lies under our feet feel almost anywhere on the earth we care to step We have not begun to tap the actual potentialities of the soil fo for producing crops |