VOL. LXI
PUBLIC LIBRARY
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 28, 1906.
NO. 30
SOILS AND QRUN CROPS.
With Some Soils Everything Depends on
Oiven Rain Pall.
Conserving Moisture  in Dry Seasons on
Clay Subsoils.
Moisture in Production.
The following . hows the proportion
of water to dry matter, grain aiid straw,
in producing the crops named.
1.   W heat 400 lbs. water to   1 lb of
dry matter.
Oats 500 lbs. water to  lib. of dry
matter.
Corn 300 lbs water to 1 lb. of dry
matter.
Timothy and clover   require I he same
proportion of water  to dry matter that
wheat does to produce them.
2.
3.
Scientific investigations have settled
many primary considerations in crop
trowing, and especially as regards grain
crops. It is well to keep these well-settled facts in mind, as they relate to seasons, and soils and rainfall. When the
season brings the normal rainfall and it !
is well distributed through the growing
months of the cropping year, there is little or no uncertainty of crop-growing results on any of our soils. But when- the
rainfall is below 28 to 30 inches a year,
and not well distributed through the
growing season, there is little help for
the growing crops on the soils having sand
and gravel beneath them, for upon such
the moisture quickly leaches away and the
plant is left helpless. With clay subsoils in such seasons it is different. Deep
plowing leaves below it a reservoir which
holds the moisture to be used by capillary
action at the roots of the growing plants.
The first mentioned soil formation, with
porous conditions below, are found in several parts of Indiana, including a considerable area of Bartholomew county, but
not so much in Johnson and other counties. The top soils of these counties
and parts of others like them, are very
fertile and productive, and in seasons of
normal rainfall and distribution never fail
to  produce  well. It is  different  with
clay loams and clay subsoils. With a
proper underdrainage of these soils and
with the right kind of cultivation, the
moisture in seasons of short rainfall may
be retained in the subsoil for use during
tbe growing seasons.
Scientific investigations have shown
that for each pound of dry matter produced in growing wheat 400 pounds of water
are required, and in corn 300 pounds of
water is necessary for each pound of dry
matter produced. These facts have beeu
verified by experience as well as by scientific analysis. This season we have just
now before us these facts verified by observation, the results of the dry conditions in May, and which support the
facts of scientific analysis as to oats, that
for every dry pound of matter in the production- of oats 500 pounds of water is required to mature a normal crop. As already stated, when the season has a normal rainfall, well distributed in the seasons of growth, all of our fertile soils produce well, because the grain crops are
supplied with a due proportion of moisture
to dry matter.
The wheat plant requires its moisture
in early fall and during the spring months,
•ind as a rule nature affords such supply,
for these are the months of greatest rain-
with moisture, which is an important factor in plant growth.
The two classes of soils mentioned, that
with sand and gravel below, and that with
a clay subsoil, are shown in the illustration on this page, which more fully illustrates the facts stated.
Farm Home of J. L. Hewitt, Randolph County.
fall, and even on porous subsoils the
moisture is not leached away till the plant
is well supplied. And no damage to
wheat really comes from over dry seasons,
unless at times in the fall, to start growth
well before winter. It is not always so
with oats, which requires the greatest
quantity of water, for that crop is not
seeded till March or April, and as we see
this season, both April and May failed
to afford the 500 pounds of water to the
one pound of dry matter for a good crop.
These facts as they apply to timothy and
clover meadows are much the same as
with wheat,   both as they relate to the ra
the proper surface manipulation of the
soil to hold it. From what has already
been stated it must be obvious that for
all the grain crops it is well to break the
surface soils dee, that are underlaid with
clay subsoils, both for the purpose of
avoiding stagnant water in contact with
plants iu excessive wet seasons, and to
utilize the moisture by capillary action in
dry seasons. Wheat and oats do not root
deep, but the moisture below, held by
deep breaking, is valuable in dry seasons
to these crops. The corn plant, however, is most benefited by holding the
moisture iu this subsoil reservoir, for as
TUX
Figure 1.    Shows dense character of clay sub-soil. Figure 2. Porous nature ofsand
and gravel under the soil.
tio of water to dry matter and to the distribution of rainfall in growing seasons.
But with corn it is different. It requires 300 pounds of water to one of dry
matter to produce it and the growth of
corn occurs from May to August nearly inclusive, or the 90 to 100 days of the season of least rainfall. It is readily seen
why in dry seasons, the corn crop is short,
or fails in soils with sand and gravel below, for with such there can be no preservation of moisture as in clay subsoils, to
be held and used by capillary action with
already stated corn is grown during the
months of least rainfall, and by the surface cultivation aud the dust mulch the
moisture below is held for use of the
plant.
The economy of tile drainage is that of
leaching the extra water through the surface soil aud thus sifting out and holding
the fertility, and of removing the extra
rainfall from the soil so as to prevent the
stagnation which overcomes fertility in the
growth of plants, and also for the purpose
of admitting the aeration of the soil laden
OUK NEIGHBORS.
Editors Indiana   Fsr__er:
The older we grow the more are we convinced that we cannot get along vry well
without friends and neighbors. We are
dependent In many ways upon those about
us and to a greater extent than most of
us are willing to acknowledge. The social
side of farm life is one that we cannot afford to neglect although at times our daily
routine of labor seems to detract from this
phase of our existence.
Some oue has said when a farmer moves
into a new community, if he is the right
sort of a man ht* carries his neighbors
with him. His own acts aud attitude to-
wnnl others mark him as one in whom
confident can or cannot be placed. If he
is considerate his deeds are reflected by
his neighbors and he soon becomes a well
thought of and worthy member of the
neighborhood.
It doesn't always pay for neighbors to
bo too confidential and chummy. Intimacy soon destroys the neighborly friendliness, because the whole thing is overdone,
and in- the end, tlie erstwhile friends become enemies. It is a pretty serious thing
when two near neighbors are not on
speaking terms. When they pass on the
road or meet elsewhere aud do not exchange greetings, both feel uncomfortable
aud down deep in their hearts they wish
it were otherwise.
We can't afford to be without neighbors
often it is better to overlook the petty annoyances and harsh sayings of a thoughtless neighbor than to quarrel with him
aud lose him altogether, for no one is so
iudependeut but what at times he must
sock aid or beg a favor of another.
The agricultural communities of our
country is where we find the home of true
Anglo Saxon democracy. It is fostered
by the neighborly spirit which everywhere
characterises this race. It makes ,for the
best iu our American citizenship, and on
this account the neighborly phase of our
day  sliould not be neglected.
Of course some of our neighbors may
not be up to the standard. There is the
man who is always seeking the best side
of a bargain and the one who is shiftless
and is eternally borrowing from you, be
it farming tools, or maybe grain to feed
his half starved horses or cattle. Then
there is the busy body who always knows
a great deal about other people's affairs
and tells more than he knows. Again is
found in the neighborhood, the man who
tries to keep his cattle and other live stock
in fields with rickety, ill kept fences and
whose animals are always giving you
trouble in some form or other, and so it
tfm's. The man who can keep on good
terms with neighbors like these is certain-
!;■ worthy of a hero's decoration.
The best way to get on with some people is to have little or no dealing with the
first; discourage the second at every good
opportunity but in a diplomatic way; don't
listen to the gpssip of the third and manage in some way either kindly or otherwise to have the fourth build good fences
and keep li!3 stock within proper bounds.
The farmer who deals squarely with his
neighbors in every way never has lack of
friends in the hour of need.    H. S. C.