VOL. T.XTTI
AFK /U 1908
—
INDIANAPOLIS,   APRIL 11, 1908.
NO. 15
Subsoil and Subsoiling.
By Walter S. Smith.
(Answering the request of J. H. H.)
There are two ways of dealing with the
subsoil; and. in former times, both received attention. The first, and most generally defended, was that a subsoil coulter
Ite sent down in to loosen it, allowing it to
remain thus, disturbed beneath the planted
soil. The other was that it be raised to
the surface, subjected to the heat, air
r.nd light, and thus converted into soil
proper.
Tho first of these has been proved to
possess but little merit; and, as the second
is very difficult and expensive, it has never
come into general favor. So subsoiling
is practically abandoned. Indeed, there
are men who believe in very shallow
breaking, and who stoutly insist that the
subsoil should never be disturbed.
But many have observed a ranker
growth along banks of ditches, levees and
railroad and canal grades, that cannot be
overlooked. An old german of my ac-
auaintance, told me this:
"When the railroad company made that
cat in my field, they dragged out the red
day and left it io an ugly ridge on my
ground. I was mad, aud intended to
make them remove it, but before I reached the case my men planted the field, and
100 or more hills of my corn fell upon
that ridge. I supposed it to be all useless and scolded them for wasting the
time and the seed.
But the corn grew, and I was surprised to find the heaviest and best corn ih
the field right there."
Au old man whose lease of life was at
hand called his sons to him and said:
"Sons, there is a valuable treasure under
the ground in our vineyard. I leave you
to dig it out. It is not more than two
feet from the surface."
"Where, father?" said the sons. "In
what plaoe in the vineyard?"
"Dig, and you will find it," said the old
man; and before he could be more explicit,
he died.
His sons had never Known him to make
an untrue statement; and so agreed to begin at the wall on one side and dig till they
found it. They ceased not to dig till
every part of the vineyard was dug over,
preserving only the roots of the grape
vines, which they disturbed as little as
possible. Failing to find the treasure,
they decided that for once the father had
erred,—possibly through an infirmity of
the mind. Leveling up the surface, they
iroceeded to care as formerly for the
vines, and the father's flighty utterance
was forgotten.
When, however, the fruit proved to be
far better and more abundant than ever
before, they decided that the increased
fertility was the "treasure" to which their
father alluded.
Now the doctriue is as tenable as any
other scientific matter. There are reasons, both philosophical and chemical in
favor of subsoiling; and the fact of its
general abandonment is not enough to condemn it.       it is abandoned, first, because
is difficult; and, second, because of
meager results. The results are meager.because it is not rightly done.
ne more agitation of the under strata
wi    be 0f ijttIe account UD]ess tne portion
irred is relieved of saturation.      If ai
der-draining must accompany or
precede the subsoiling.
The surface soil, especially black soil, is
a peaty formation; and it is greatly improved by a mixture of the heavier soil
beneath it. The iron in clay is the best
element for holding ammonia; and there
are large quantities of this element in all
colored clay that lies loose at the surface.
Ammonia is the chief source of nitrogen
in the soil, and nitrogen is essential to
some important organs of animal bodies;
the muscles, the cuticle, and the hoofs and
horns, for instance; and wheat and corn
the next year, six the next, and so gradually, to the full depth of the plow's capacity. Then when this ground becomes "old," let the sub-coulter be put into
the furrow behind the plow.
Subsoiling is certainly valuable in some
soils,    if not in all.
Arlington, lnd.
Smaller  Farmers.
Edltora Indiana  Farmer:
There is now a perceptible change in
conditions and methods of farming apparent all  about us which  we think augurs
■owed
tf> be saturated with water,    it will
one year go back to its former eondi-
English  Bull Dogs,  in  charge of their masters, the two sons of J. P. Hodges,
Morgan   County.
end rye and barley have been rated in
price, somewhat according to the quantity
of nitrogen they possess.
Land thnt fails therefore on account of
a want of nitrogen might be improved by
bringing up and mixing with it the bed soil
on whicli the lighter surface soil rests.
And there is nitrogen combined in salt
peter, in the subsoil where it lies. Clover,
by its deep-rooting, is a fruitful source of
this element; for it brings it up and renders it available. Clover is indeed a
sort of subsoiler.
The philosophical advantage is in the
fact that subsoiling breaks up the hard-
pan and makes it porous. Porous soil admits the atmosphere, and the atmosphere
is always charged with vapor of water.
This is condensed by the coolness of the
soil, and great quantities of moisture are
thus introduced. Nothing is so good for
a dry season as a well-maintained porosity
of the soil.
Moreover, there is always some decay
going on in soil, and this sets free carbonic acid gas. This gas is readily absorbed in moisture (i. e. in water) and the
root fibers take it in with the universal
elements, which the water holds in solution.
As wood-fiber, starch and sugar are almost pure carbon, carbon is a very important element; and it enters the vegetable both by tbe roots and by the leaves.
It might be questioned whether deep
subsoiling should all be done at once.
gome argue that a greater depth may be
attained at each successive plowing. Say
four inches when the ground is new, five
well for the future of farming. The ten
dency is tosvard smaller farms, and consequently better farming. Several causes
have worked together to bring about this
change. In the first place the undeveloped territory of the country was becoming
quite limited and the young farmer as
well as the immigrant, could no longer
go to the great west and select a new
home at nominal cost, the setting out of
a few acres of timber or the making out
of a certain number of acres of wild
prairie land. lt is true that vast sections
of country are being developed by the various irrigation projects that are being de-
^els>p(vl, but this is only a drop in the
bucket compared with the increasing demand for lauds to farm all over the country. Attention is once more turned toward the rcclammation of the abandoned
fcrms in the eastern states, but this
does not supply the demand, and it can
only be done by binding up the larger holdings of farmers in the better parts of the
country.
For several decades past farmers were
land  mad. Every  surplus  dollar  that
could be raked and scraped up was invested in more land, for the investment
was Ma anil promised good returns. But
latterly the scarcity .-mil high price of
labor to work these large holdings have
.■ut down the profits and caused many
farmers to change iheir places and as far
a possible farm within their own means,
lhat is with as little hired help as possible.
When this was tried it was found that
fewer acres, well tilled, would bring in as
large profits as larger acres they cared for,
or left to the management of a renter.
It is generally believed that stock farms
must be large. This is a relic of the
old idea that stock ean most profitably be
kept on pasture and hay and on very
cheap land. This is no longer true, if
it ever was. Corn and the fodder it produces, whether used as ensilage or in the
dry state, are cheaper as compared with
their effectiveness than pasture or hay
can be, except on land that costs nothing,
like the old time western range.
One advantage which the farmer of the
middle west has is that his land is where
it will pay more to improve it than is tbe
land in the western states. And wIismi
we get our improved waterways, which
must come in the near future, we will have
the cheapest possible transportation to foreign markets possible, and will be in position to compete with the world on all tlic
farm products we produce.
Many stock breeders cramp themselves
financially by holding too large farms on
which to operate. A large farm is by no
means necessary. lf the stock is first
class it will always pay to buy a large
part of the grain with which to feed. This
is most true when the stock farm is s,>
located that its increase of fertility will
be worth most. By giving the coarsest
fodder at home and purchasing grain to
feed with it, a large amount of mannre is
made every year, which will in a few
5ears build up the fertility of the land and
make it more valuable. This, can, of
course, be done anywhere, but when the
location is away from good markets the
land will not be worth so much and the
farmer's gain will be proportionately less.
In our own vicinity we know of a number of large farms, which under present
management are not paying much more
than taxes and cost of keeping place in
repair. If this were divided up, say into
eighty-acre farms that one man couhl cultivate and manage mostly within his own
resources the profits from the land would
double and treble in a few years. Any,
man who is a land owner just for the sake
of having it said that he is a large farmer,
when in tact he is not realizing anything
like a fair profit on his investment should
see his mistake and sell a good part of his
holdings to enterprising young men who
are looking for homes, and who will, by
their energy and thrift, make one acre
count for more than six under the methods
it careless, indifferent farming practiced
by too many. W. W. S.
Salem.
The two essentials in sowing grass seed
are, to get the seed covered so that it has
sufficient moisture to start germination,
and to make sure that it is not deep enough
to smother. When there is plenty of
moisture the seed may be sown broadcast
and harrowed in, but with a dry seeding
time, I should put the seed thru the
drill spouts and give it the same covering
as you do the grain. Clover and grass
seeds are small and one is more apt to get
them in too deep than not deep enough.
 4   m.   a	
A neat and little 25c pocket memorandum book has been received from Laird
and I.ee, the publishers, Chicago. It contains, calendars, maps, tables of useful
information, populations of cities and
States, etc. etc., with diary memorandum
and account.
The growth of public sprit in China is
evidenced by the great number of newspapers which have sprung up since the
close of the war with Japan.