Crops and Methods for Soil Improvement

Alva Agee

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• Publié par: zupon
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 64
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Project Gutenberg's Crops and Methods for Soil Improvement, by Alva Agee This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Crops and Methods for Soil Improvement Author: Alva Agee Release Date: December 2, 2007 [EBook #23682] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROPS AND METHODS FOR SOIL *** Produced by Steven Giacomelli and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images produced by Core Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University) Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect spellings, contractions and discrepancies have been retained. CROPS AND METHODS FOR SOIL IMPROVEMENT THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO ALFALFA AND CORN IN INDIANA. C R O P S A N D M E T H O D S F O R I M P R O V E M E N By T ALVA AGEE, M.S. HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION ACTING DEAN AND DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE AND EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE ILLUSTRATED New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1912 All rights reserved COPYRIGHT , 1912, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1912. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In lieu of preface Natural strength of land Plant constituents Organic matter Drainage Lime Crop-rotation Fertilizers Tillage Control of soil moisture CHAPTER II THE N EED OF LIME The unproductive farm Soil acidity The rational use of lime Where clover is not wanted Determining lime requirement The litmus-paper test A practical test Duration of effect CHAPTER III APPLYING LIME Forms of lime Definitions The kind to apply The fineness of limestone Hydrated lime Stone-lime Ashes Marl Magnesian lime Amount per acre Time of application CHAPTER IV ORGANIC MATTER Office of organic matter The legumes Storing nitrogen The right bacteria 36-45 36 38 39 41 23-35 23 24 26 27 27 28 30 31 31 32 34 12-22 12 13 14 16 17 19 20 21 Pages 1-11 1 2 2 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 Soil inoculation Method of inoculation CHAPTER V THE C LOVERS Red clover Clover and acid soils Methods of seeding Fertility value Taking the crops off the land Physical benefit of the roots Used as a green manure When to turn down Mammoth clover Alsike clover Crimson clover CHAPTER VI ALFALFA Adaptation to eastern needs Fertility and feeding value Climate and soil Free use of lime Inoculation Fertilization A clean seed-bed Varieties Clean seed The seeding Seeding in August Subsequent treatment CHAPTER VII GRASS SODS Value of sods Prejudice against timothy Object of sods Seeding with small grain Seeding in rye Good soil conditions CHAPTER VIII GRASS SODS (Continued) Seeding in late summer Crops that may precede Preparation The weed seed Summer grasses Sowing the seed Deep covering Seed-mixtures 42 43 46-58 46 47 48 49 51 52 52 53 54 55 56 59-70 59 60 61 62 62 63 64 65 65 66 67 68 71-79 71 72 74 75 76 77 80-89 80 81 83 84 85 85 86 88 CHAPTER IX SODS FOR PASTURES Permanent pastures Seed-mixtures Blue-grass Timothy Red-top Orchard grass Other seeds Yields and composition of grasses Suggested mixtures for pastures Renewal of permanent pastures Destroying bushes Close grazing CHAPTER X THE C OWPEA A southern legume Characteristics Varieties Fertilizing value Affecting physical condition Planting Inoculation Fertilizers Harvesting with livestock The cowpea for hay As a catch crop CHAPTER XI OTHER LEGUMES AND C EREAL C ATCH C ROPS The soybean Fertility value Feeding value Varieties The planting Harvesting The Canada pea Vetch Sweet clover Rye as a cover crop When to plow down Buckwheat Oats CHAPTER XII STABLE MANURE Livestock farming The place for cattle Sales off the farm 120-128 120 121 122 108-119 108 109 109 110 111 112 113 113 115 116 117 118 119 98-107 98 99 99 100 101 101 103 103 104 104 106 90-97 90 91 91 92 92 93 93 93 94 96 96 97 The value of manure The content of manure Relative values Amount of manure Analysis of manure CHAPTER XIII C ARE OF STABLE MANURE Common source of losses Caring for liquid manure Use of preservatives Spreading as made The covered yard Harmless fermentation Rotted manure Composts Poultry manure CHAPTER XIV THE U SE OF STABLE MANURE Controlling factors Direct use for corn Effect upon moisture Manure on grass Manure on potatoes When to plow down Heavy applications Reënforcement with minerals Durability of manure CHAPTER XV C ROP-ROTATIONS The farm scheme Value of rotation Selection of crops An old succession of crops Corn two years The oat crop Two crops of wheat The clover and timothy Two legumes in the rotation Potatoes after corn A three-years' rotation Grain and clover Potatoes and crimson clover CHAPTER XVI THE N EED OF C OMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS Loss of plant-food Prejudice against commercial fertilizers Are fertilizers stimulants? 124 125 126 127 128 129-138 129 130 131 132 133 135 135 136 137 139-148 139 140 141 142 143 144 144 145 147 149-158 149 150 151 152 153 154 154 154 155 156 157 158 158 159-170 159 160 161 Soil analysis Physical analysis The use of nitrogen Phosphoric-acid requirements The need of potash Fertilizer tests Variation in soil CHAPTER XVII C OMMERCIAL SOURCES OF PLANT-FOOD Acquaintance with terms Nitrate of soda Sulphate of ammonia Dried blood Tankage Fish Animal bone Raw bone Steamed bone Rock-phosphate Acid phosphate Basic slag Muriate of potash Sulphate of potash Kainit Wood-ashes Other fertilizers Salt Coal-ashes Muck Sawdust CHAPTER XVIII PURCHASING PLANT-FOOD Necessity of purchase Fertilizer control Brand names Statement of analysis Valuation of fertilizers A bit of arithmetic High-grade fertilizers CHAPTER XIX H OME-MIXING OF FERTILIZERS The practice of home-mixing Effectiveness of home-mixing Criticisms of home-mixing The filler Ingredients in the mixture Materials that should not be combined Making a good mixture 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 171-187 171 171 178 173 174 175 175 177 178 178 180 183 184 185 185 185 186 186 187 187 187 188-197 188 189 191 191 193 194 196 198-208 198 198 199 202 203 207 207 Buying unmixed materials CHAPTER XX MIXTURES FOR C ROPS Composition of plant not a guide The multiplication of formulas A few combinations are safest Amount of application Similarity of requirements Maintaining fertility Fertilizer for grass All the nitrogen from clover Method of applying fertilizers An excess of nitrogen CHAPTER XXI TILLAGE Desirable physical condition of the soil The breaking-plow Types of plows Subsoiling Time of plowing Method of plowing The disk harrow Cultivation of plants Controlling root-growth Elimination of competition Length of cultivation CHAPTER XXII C ONTROL OF SOIL MOISTURE Value of water in the soil The soil a reservoir The land-roller The plank-drag The mulch Mulches of foreign material Plowing straw down The summer-fallow The modern fallow CHAPTER XXIII D RAINAGE Underdrainage Counting the cost Where returns are largest Material for the drains The outlet Locating main and branches The laterals Size of tile 208 209-219 209 209 210 211 213 215 216 218 218 219 220-229 220 221 221 223 223 224 225 227 227 228 229 230-236 230 231 232 233 233 234 235 235 236 237-246 237 238 239 239 240 240 241 241 Kind of tile The grade Establishing a grade Cutting the trenches Depth of trenches Connections Permanency desired 242 243 243 244 245 245 246 ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece Facing Page A Good Crop for a Poor Soil 4 Red Clover on Limed and Unlimed Land 20 Turning down Organic Matter with a Gang Plow 36 Red Clover on the Farm of P. S. Lewis & Son, Pt. Pleasant, W. Va. 51 Alfalfa on the Ohio State University Farm 61 Curing Alfalfa at the Pennsylvania Experiment Station 68 A Heavy Grass Sod in New York 73 Good Pasture Land in Chester County, Pa. 90 Sheep on a New York Farm 96 The Cowpea Seeded at the Last Cultivation of Corn in the Great Kanawha Valley, W. Va. 106 Texas Calves on an Ohio Farm 121 In the Fertile Miami Valley, Ohio 126 Concrete Stable Floors 131 Corn in the Ohio Valley 140 Penn's Valley, Pennsylvania 151 In the Shenandoah Valley 155 Plat Experiments 167 In the Lebanon Valley, Pennsylvania 189 On the Productive Farm of Dr. W. I. Chamberlain in Northwestern Ohio 210 Deep Tillage 222 Making an Earth Mulch in a New York Orchard 233 Drain Tile 239 The Lure of the Country 246 Alfalfa and Corn in Indiana CROPS AND METHODS FOR SOIL IMPROVEMENT CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In Lieu of Preface.—This book is not a technical treatise and is designed only to point out the plain, every-day facts in the natural scheme of making and keeping soils productive. It is concerned with the crops, methods, and fertilizers that favor the soil. The viewpoint, all the time, is that of the practical man who wants cash compensation for the intelligent care he gives to his land. The farming that leads into debt, and not in the opposite direction, is poor farming, no matter how well the soil may prosper under such treatment. The maintenance and increase of soil fertility go hand in hand with permanent income for the owner when the science that relates to farming is rightly used. Experiment stations and practical farmers have developed a dependable science within recent years, and there is no jarring of observed facts when we get hold of the simple philosophy of it all. Natural Strength of Land.—Nearly all profitable farming in this country is based upon the fundamental fact that our lands are storehouses of fertility, and that this reserve of power is essential to a successful agriculture. Most soils, no matter how unproductive their