Mower County Transcript

Subsoiling.

According to a recent report from the Kansas state board of agriculture the theory and practice of subsoiling has been thoroughly and practically tested at Medicine Lodge, Kan., during the past summer by the United States government on grounds leased at that place for experiment purposes. About forty acres were plowed and subsoiled to a depth of eighteen inches and planted to cane. Another piece of ground was plowed the ordinary depth, but not subsoiled, and also planted to cane of the same variety. Both fields received the same care and cultivation. The grounds which were subsoiled yielded about eighteen tons of cane to the acre, while on the other ground, simply plowed, the best yield was only about ten tons.

Mr. Mohler, the secretary of the state board, recommends that farmers who intend to sow alfalfa should by all means subsoil. If the soil is upland it is all the more important. This plant sinks its roots down from five to ten or more feet into the subsoil, provided the hard and dry condition of the subsoil allows. It is this deep rooting which enables alfalfa to endure the severest drought, hot winds or any other calamitous thing that comes along. When a good stand of this plant is secured it will last for a generation or more, yielding valuable crops each year.