Types Of Plows
Categories: TILLAGEThe kind and condition of the soil, and the character
of the crop, determine the type of plow to be used. A plow with a short
and quite straight moldboard does not bury manure and turf in the
bottom of the furrow so completely as is the case with a long, curved
moldboard. The organic matter should be distributed throughout all the
soil. On the other hand, it is essential to some plants that they have
a fine seed-bed, a
long moldboard is preferred in breaking a sod for corn. Its use in
plowing for all crops is more general than it should be, the gain in
pulverization of the furrow-slice, due to the curve, and the neatness
in appearance of the plowed land, inducing its use.
The disk plow has been used chiefly in soils not requiring deep
plowing. It pulverizes better than a moldboard plow, and buries trash
more easily.
The device for using two disks to turn a single furrow-slice rests upon
a sound principle. This plow may be set to run deeper than moldboard
plows go, and it mixes well all the soil that it turns. The disks are
so hung that the mixing of all the soil to a depth of twelve or fifteen
inches is admirable. The deep-tilling plow does not bury the organic
matter in the bottom of the furrow, and thereby permits the deepening
of the soil without bringing an undue amount of subsoil to the surface.
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Too Much Chicken Manure For Young Trees
I have peach trees and apple trees, 3 to 6 years old, that are very thrifty but grow only wood. The soil was poor when planting, and I have put on plenty of sweepings from the chicken-yards. I suppose that is the cause of the trouble. Undoubt... Too Much Pruning
Same peach trees entering the third year were pruned early in the winter very severely. The pruner merely left the trunk and the three or four main laterals, the latter about one foot in length. A large proportion of these trees have not sproute... Top Grafting
In grafting over apple and pear trees to some other variety, is it advisable to cut off and graft the entire tree the first year where the trees are from 7 to 15 years old, or would it be better to cut off only a part of the top the first year a... Top-grafting Apples
Can I graft over a few Ben Davis apple trees 25 years old or thereabouts, but thrifty and vigorous? It is certainly possible, by the old top-grafting method which has been used everywhere with apples for centuries. Graft during the winter. Wor... Topping Grape Vines
Is topping grape vines desirable? Topping of vines is in all cases more or less weakening. The more foliage that is removed, the more weakening it is. Vines, therefore, which are making a weak growth from any cause whatever can only be injure... Topping Mangel Wurzels
Does it harm the mangel wurzels if their tops ore cut off once a month? Removing leaves will decrease the size and harden the tissues of the beet root. If you wish to grow the plant for the top, the root will continue to put out leaves for you... Training Cherry Grafts
I have grafted a lot of seedling cherries, leaving two or three buds on each piece of grafted wood. In planting these out, shall I put the union under ground (they are grafted at the crown of the root) and shall I loosen the cloth a little later... Transplanting Lettuce
I have lettuce plants that have been transplanted to head. Occasionally I find a head that has withered away and upon examining it find it rotted away at the stem. Can you suggest a remedy for it? Your lettuce plants are destroyed by the "damp... Transplanting Old Trees
Can I transplant fruit trees 2 to 3 inches through the butt, about one foot from the ground? Varieties are oranges, lemons, pears, apples and English walnuts nearly 4 inches through the butt. I wish to move them nearly a mile. What is the best w... Transplanting Orange Trees
Can you transplant trees two years old with safety to another location in same grove, same soil; etc.? Yes; and you can move them a greater distance, if you like. Take up the trees with a good ball of earth, transplanting in the spring when th... Treatment For Caked Bag
I have a cow whose udder is caked hard and has been swollen from the udder to the forelegs. This latter swelling has gone down by applying equal mixture of turpentine and lard, but the udder itself still remains hard. When first noticed, one tea... Treatment For Horse's Feet
The soles of the fore feet of a fine 4-year-old horse, weight 1350, are rather spongy and grow down faster than the hoof, sometimes causing slight lameness. He is not on soft pasture, but is stabled all the time. Now have bar shoes on him. What ... Treatment For Nail Puncture
Our horse got a nail in his foot. It was a wire nail, rusty, entering about one inch from the point of the frog, and just puncturing far enough to reach a sensitive part of the hoof. It occurred six days ago; the nail was pulled at once, the hoo... Treatment Of Alkali
I am advised that in some cases alkali may be drained and that in others it is treated with gypsum. Gypsum is not a cure for alkali, but simply a means of transforming black alkali into white, which is less corrosive and therefore less destru... Treatment Of Dry-plowed Land
We are plowing a piece of light sandy mesa land, dry, which has considerable tarweed and other weeds growing before plowing. Which would be best, to leave the land as it is until the rains come and then harrow, or harrow now? Would the land left... Treatment Of Fig Suckers
A few young fig trees are not growing from the tops, but are sending out suckers, in some cases above and others below the point of grafting. Had I better let these suckers grow and see what comes from them or plant new trees? Graft near the ... Tree Planting On Coast Sands
I wish to plant fruit trees on a sandy mesa well protected from winds about a mile from the coast. The soil is a light sandy loam. I intend to dig the holes for the trees this fall, each hole the shape of an inverted cone, about 4 feet deep and ... Trees Over A Gravel Streak
I have an apricot orchard seven years old. Most of the land is a fairly heavy clay with a strip of gravel in the middle running nearly north and south. The trees on the clay bear good crops, but those on the gravel are usually much lighter in be... Trees Over High-water
Which are the best fruit trees to plant on black adobe soil with water table between 3 and 4 feet from surface? The soil is very rich and productive. The land is leveled for alfalfa also; will the alfalfa disturb the growth of trees? ... Trees Over Underflow
I have planted fruit trees near the creek, where they do not have to be irrigated as the ground there holds sufficient moisture for them, but a neighbor tells me that on account of the moisture being so near the surface the trees will not bear f... Trespassing Live Stock
Is there a fence law in this State? In other words, do I have to fence against my neighbors' stock, or does the law require him to care for his stock and keep it off my property? The old "no-fence law" which was enacted during the troubles bet... Trimming Up Olives
Limbs are shooting out too low on my olive trees. Would it be right to trim them up while dormant this winter, or should I let them grow another year before doing so? I think I want the first limbs to start at ... Two Crops Of Wheat
A common practice has been to grow two crops of wheat, seeding first in the corn stubble-land, and plowing the ground for the second wheat crop, making a smooth surface for mowing. This method ceased to pay well when wheat became low in price. It has ... Two Legumes In A Year
I have land on which I wish to plant to fruits, and I wish to build up the soil all I can, by planting cover crops and plowing under. What would be the best to plant this fall, to be plowed under next spring, and to plant again next spring to pl... Two Legumes In The Rotation
If all the crops of this five years' rotation, excepting wheat, were fed on the farm, and if all the manure were saved and rightly applied, there would be little or no difficulty in maintaining fertility, provided the soil were friendly to clover. Th... Types Of Plows
The kind and condition of the soil, and the character of the crop, determine the type of plow to be used. A plow with a short and quite straight moldboard does not bury manure and turf in the bottom of the furrow so completely as is the case with a lo... Under-pruning Of Orange Trees
My Washington Navels have a very heavy crop on the lower limbs, as is usual. These branches are so low down that many of the oranges lie on the ground, and it takes a good deal of time to prop them up so that they will not touch the ground. What... Underdrainage
There are great swamps, and small ones, whose water should be carried off by open ditches. Our present interest is in the wet fields of the farm,--the cold, wet soil of an entire field, the swale lying between areas of well-drained land, the side of a... Underground Irrigation
How extensively used and with what results is the underground tile system for irrigation used, and what especial character of soil is it best suited for? Not extensively at all; in fact, if there is an acre of it which has been for three year... Unirrigated Alfalfa
In what part of the State does alfalfa grow best without irrigation? Obviously the parts which have the greatest rainfall in connection with retentive soil and plenty of summer heat. Alfalfa grows best without irrigation on "sub-irrigated" lan... Up To A Week Ago The Chickens Had Been Exceptionally Well In Every Way
Now they seem to have a cold and a running at the nose and with it a bad odor. It was suggested that this might be the beginning of roup, but I see no swell-head. The distinguishing characteristic of roup is not so-called "swell head" or other form... Use Leather Tar And Okum And A Dish-shoe
... Use Of Preservatives
The use of land-plaster in stables helps to prevent loss of the nitrogen-content through fermentation. Its value does not lie chiefly in physical action as an absorbent, but the beneficial results come through chemical action. The volatile part of th... Used As A Green Manure
Where dependence must be placed upon clover as a fertilizer, little or no manure being returned to the land, at least one of the two clover crops within the year should be left on the land. The maximum benefit from clover, when left on the land, can b... Using Gypsum For Alkali
Is it better, to kill the black alkali in the soil with gypsum, just to scatter it over an alkalied spot or to plow the soil first and then use the gypsum? I am going to sow alfalfa. Use the gypsum after plowing, for it will wet down more quic... Valuation Of Fertilizers
The manufacturer of a mixed fertilizer must make use of the unmixed materials he finds upon the market. The prices of the various plant constituents in the different unmixed materials can be determined by averaging quotations in leading markets for a ... Value Of Animals In Manure
In the operation of our fruit and dairy ranch we have the manure from some forty head of horses and cattle, which is distributed over the place. We cut our alfalfa and feed it and do very little pasturing. In order to give our dairy the proper credi... Value Of Fresh And Dry Manure
What is the relative value of the weekly or semi-weekly corral scrapings which are tramped fine and air-dried; and of the fresh, wet manure from the stable? I do not understand that the latter has appreciable water added, and the amount of sand ... Value Of Rotation
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The character of the sods is a faithful index of the condition of the soil in any region adapted to grass. The value of heavy sods to a soil cannot be overestimated. They not only give to a farm a prosperous appearance, but our country's agriculture w... Value Of Water In The Soil
The amount of water in the soil each day of the growing season determines in large measure the possibility of securing a profitable crop from land. Observant farmers have noticed oftentimes that the differences in yields on the farms of a region are ... Variation In Russian Sunflowers
In an acre of mammoth Russian sunflowers there seems to be three varieties, some of the plants bear but one large flower; others bear a flower at the top with many other smaller ones circling it, while others have long stalks just above the leaf... Variation In Soil
The difficulty in determining the character of fertilizer for a field, due to variation in the soil, is overestimated. Very often a land-owner says, "I have a dozen kinds of soil in every field." This is true in a way, it may be, but if all the field ... Varieties
There is only one variety of alfalfa in common use in this country, and the western-grown seed sold upon the market is known simply as alfalfa. Bound up in this one so-called variety are many strains differing in habit of growth, and their differentia... Varieties
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There are many varieties of the soybean, and their characteristics are modified by climatic conditions. Each region will find the varieties best suited to its purposes by tests. When hay is wanted, the variety should have fine stems and a leafy habit ... Vegetables In A Cold Dark Draft
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A variety of vetch known as winter, sand, or hairy vetch is coming into great usefulness as a catch crop. It is a winter annual, and being a legume, it has special value as a fertilizing crop. It is more hardy than crimson clover, and is grown as far ... Vetch For Horses
Does vetch make good feed for horses? Will vetch produce a heavier crop than grain? When is the best time to sow vetch for hay, and what is the best variety? ... Vetch Makes Excellent Stock Feed Whether Used As Hay Or As Pasturage
Vetch falls to the ground so badly that it is very difficult to cut hay from it unless some grain is planted to hold it up. Oats make an excellent hold-up crop and is more generally used. A half a bushel of vetch seed is mixed with a bushel of oats an...