' ■ “•os- C'tTEcrr'tJNU Mmr
PREPARING GOOD SEED BED FOR WHEA1
REQUIRES MUCH TIME AND HARD WORK
This Man Is Doing Right-While the Tractor Plows the Mules Dc the Har.
rowing and Plow Out the Corners That the Tractor Cannot Reach.
(Prepared by the United Stales Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
A good prod bed for wheat can not
be made unless the work is begun
early, stud a good need bed is the most
important thing in growing wheat.
Many things are necessary in prepar
ing a good seed bed, but the first es
sential is time. It can not lie done in
h day nor yet in a week. There must
he many days of settling. There must
be some good, packing ruins. And
there ought to be frequent cultivation
of the soil.
Those things are necessary because
a good seed bed for wheat must bo firm
and it must lie moist. The upper 8
inches of soil mast be mellow and finely
divided, and the portion beneath must
be well compacted.
Plowing May Vary.
Essentials to successful wheat grow
ing vary widely In different sections
of tlse country, but the United States
department of agriculture regards
these things as basic essentials any
where that wheat is grown in the
Unit* <1 States. The wheat exp i ts of
the department may recommend one
type of plowing for one section and
other kinds of plowing for other
sections, and even no plowing
at all under some conditions, but a
finely pulverized top soil well packed
down and forming a perfect union
with the subsoil is urged for every
section.
Early plowing and thorough tillage of
the plowed soil results in retaining tin*
water that is in the soil and catching
and storing the water that fails after
cultivation is begun. A tinn seed bed
under this mulch enables the young
wheat plants t" make use of the subsoil
waters. Sufficient moisture Is thus as
sured for tin* germination of tin* seed
and for the early fall growth of the
seedlings—a much more Important
thing, the experts say, than many wheat
grower- consider it. It does not apply,
as some might think, just to the semi
arid regions.
“ff the importance of this thing were
generally recognized throughout tin* so
called humid ureas,” says one of the
wheat experts of the department of
agriculture, “there would be less fre
quent losses from drought and better
wheat crops would result. In this area,
the mistake is often made of thinking
that there will always be enough mois
ture present for a maximum crop of
wheat. The result is that poor crops
arc often harvested where a little more
attention to moisture preservation
would have assured good crops.”
Harrow Close After Plow.
If wheat is to be grown on stubble
land, the ground should in* plowed at
bast 7 Inches deep Immediately after
harvesting the crop of grain. The bar
row should closely follow the plow,
both operations being done the same
day ami as close together as possible.
After that, cultivation should be given
no often a- necessary- -which usually
means a - often as possible—until the
wheat is sown. The cultivation may be
with harrow or disk or drag or roller.
It accomplishes several desirable
thing It kills the weeds. It settles
the subsoil and makes it firm. It main
tains a soli mulch above. And none of
these things can be done If-the ground
is not plowed early.
Now . “early plowing” is an Indefinite
term. It may mean one thing to one
farmer and an entirely different thing
to another farmer. Hut it is a thing
for which exact dates can hardly he
set Julv plowing is certainly early
plowing for winter wheat. The first
half of August is early plowing. Later
than that is likely to be late plowing.
“As curly as possible” Is the safe rule.
As soon as the wheat or outs or clover
Is off, is the time to begin plowing.
Disking a Help.
Some makeshifts may help a good
deal If it Is absolutely Impossible to
begin plowing as soon as the ground is
clear of this year’s crop, double disking
should be restored to at once. That
chops up and at least partly pulverizes
the top soil—makes a passable mulch
and retains much of the moisture until
the plowing cun be done. Also, it kills
the weeds or, at least cripples them
enough to minimize the damage they
can do by sucking the moisture out of
the soil. ... . ,
If wheat U to follow a cultivated
crop, such as corn or soy beans, fre
quent cultivation given to that crop
will maintain a soil mulch and preserve
moisture. If level cultivation Is prac
ticed n good seed bed usually can be
prepared by disking and harrowing
after the crop Is removed. If weeds
!nr<‘ present, however, it may he ad
visable to go over the ground with a
disk harrow, plow shallow and disk ,
uguiD.
H wheat is to follow cotton, the
stalks should be plowed under as soon
ns picking can he finished and the
plowing should he deep enough to bury
ihe stalks completely—that by way of
destroying the boll weevil. Disking or
harrowing Is not advisable, as it nn
i earths the buried stalks. The land
should be tinned with a roller and the
wheat sown with a disk drill.
Late Plowing Should Be Shallow.
'1 here are said to he exceptions to all
general rules, and there may he one or i
two exceptions to this rule of early j
I plowing for wheat. If it rains a great j
| deal during July and early August, ear- j
i ly plowing can not be done. But, for
tunately, tlie exception appears to
come in just there. Early plowing is
not so essential in wet seasons. But it
may lie well to observe this caution: \
If you have to plow late, plow shallow j
w here there is danger of winter killing, d
Shallow plowing makes the firming of
the seed lied an easier matter and is a i
leisure of insurance against wlfeter j
killing.
TRACTOR USEFUL FOR
PLOWING WHEAT LAND
Larger Number of Farmers Using
Machines This Year.
Main Objects Sought Are High Qual
ity of Work and Economy of Time
—Greater Thought In Laying
Out Plans Needed.
(Prepare.! tv the United States Depart- '
inent of Agriculture.)
The tractor will be used for plowing
wheat land tills year by a larger num
ber of farmers than ever before per
haps. The former who Is using a
tractor for the first time will have to j
solve a great many problems. And
many farmers who have used tractors j
for one or more years have not yet j
found the best way of avoiding all '<
the difficulties of tractor plowing. i
The two main things to be eousid-!
ered in tractor plowing, as in any other 1
kind of plowing, are high quality of j
work and economy of time. They are j
somewhat harder to attain with tlie
tractor than with horse plows, or, to i
put it more accurately, greater care
In planning is necessary to attain
them.
The initial problem is to lay out the j
field in such a way as to attain a two- ;
fold result—a high-class job of plow- j
ing over the entire field with as little
use as possible of horse-drawn plows i
In starting and finishing, and to con
sume as little time as possible in turn- i
ing and in running with the plows out j
of the ground.
To lay out a field exactly right for I
tractor plowing is something of an on- |
gineering feat, but the United States j
department of agriculture has under- j
taken to simplify it as much as possi
ble. Bulletin 1045, Laying Out Fields
for Tractor Plowing, contains dia
grams of 13 ways of laying out fields.
Nine of these are methods In which j
the plows are lifted at the ends. The |
other four are methods In which the
plows are left in the ground in going
across the ends. They are designed
for both rectangular and irregwtwr
fields, and one or another of them will
he found adapted to practically any
piece of ground that Is to be plowed.
The bulletin Is free.
Grow alfalfa and provide an abun
dance of silage.
• • •
Sand vetch is a valuable crop to im
prove thin, sandy soil.
• * •
Weeds and water are two very im
j)ortant factors in the cornfield.
* • *
The best land on the farm should
be used for the first trial of alfalfa.
• • •
There nre two ways to can corn.
One is in cans and the other is In the
silo.
Government Should Handle Army Social
Work Through a Single Agency
By RAYMOND B. FOSDICK, Training Camp Commission
Social work in the army in any future emergency
should be handled by the government itself through a
single nonsectarian agency.
It seems to me that the lesson of the war in social
work involves perhaps three points: The elimination
of sectarian auspices; reduction in the number of agen
cies employed, and the transfer to the government itself
of much of the activity hitherto left to private initiative.
After eight months with the troops in France I
am convinced that the average woman worker attached
to a hut is worth four or five men workers. Certainly
her effect on the morale and spirit of the troops is extraordinary. An
“Honest to God American Girl,” as the soldiers call her, can do more to
keep the men cheerful and create an atmosphere of home than any other
factor ; and the work of our women in France—Y. M. C. A. girls, Salva
tion Army girls, Fed Cross girls, and the representatives of other agen
cies—has been in no small degree responsible for the unflagging devotion
and inexhaustible patience with which our troops carried forward their
high enterprise.
Our men have been glad to receive what the societies had for them
in the shape of service or supplies, and they have not cared two straws
whether it came from Protestant, Catholic or Jewish hands. Our boys
fought at Chateau Thierry and in the Argonnc as Americans. They did
not fight as Protestants, Catholics or Jews.
As a matter of fact there is no reason for sectarianism- The religious
interests of the army are wisely confined to the chaplains.
Child Labor Laws and Decisions of the
United States Supreme Court
Ey SENATOR W. S. KENYON, of Iowa
The Supreme court of the United States killed the law to exclude
child labor products from interstate commerce. So congress passed another
law to emancipate the child slaves by placing a heavy federal tax on tli#
products of their toil. A federal court in a notorious child-labor state
has declared this second law unconstitutional.
The Supreme court cannot kill the second child-labor law without
reversing its several opinions that the federal government has unquestion
able power to tax “without regard to motive.”
If it should annul the law, however, we have still another recourse.
Congress can and will enact a law to bar from the mails all matter con
cerning the products of children below a given age.
Child labor being deemed a menace to the national welfare, congress
is clearly performing its duty when it withdraws the postal service from
that sort of industry.
If the Supreme court should destroy this third hope of ending child
labor then we must carry the fight to the people and have them amend
the Constitution so specifically that there will be no question about the
will of the nation and the right of congress to abolish the evil.
How it Comes That Political Bosses
Control Public School Systems
By JACOB M. LOEB, Chicago Board of Education
To build political systems’ fortunes upon the school system is traf
ficking in children’s souls.
During more than five years of service as school trustee one sees much
of school boards, something of the public, and very little if any co-opera
tion between the two.
To appoint as school trustees men and women unknown and untried
is taking a gambler's chance. To commit the administration of a vast
business enterprise to those without experience or training is poor judg
ment. To confer upon hucksters the responsibility of preparing budgets,
of expending millions, or negotiating leases, of making real estate trans
fers, is signal improvidence.
The public is divided into three classes: The educated, who keep aloof
from public questions; the-class that can think but won’t, and, thirdly,
the class that cannot think for itself and accepts the ready-made judgment
of others. The latter class is led by various types—the parlor propa
gandist, the agitator and the political type and the boss type, more dan
gerous and controlling than the others.
So we have a public a part of which is thoughtful but inactive, a
part unthinking and directed by vicious leadership.
S
-
Constructive Salesmanship Is Largely to
Determine Progress of World
By GEORGE N. PEEK, Formerly of War Industries Board
No real salesman need have any misgivings as to his status after the
war. Spurious salesmanship, the black art of commercial demagoguery,
which has flourished in America in times past, will be swept away, along
with much other debris of an age of ruinous competition; but there will
be greater opportunities than ever for the salesman who has thoroughly
mastered his profession. The progress of the world for the next several
years will be largely determined by the constructive salesman.
One might sell a motorcycle to a savage after a bona fide demonstra
tion of what it can do; but if he did not educate the savage first it would
be wise not to return to that territory again. It is a crime against civili
zation to sell anything anywhere, even though the thing be sold at cost
or below, if the selling is not accompanied by actual service.
The great achievement of the war, next to destroying autocracy, was
the elimination of things useless from our industrial life. But this very
elimination necessitates the retention of all useful processes. Instead of
finding that his job has vanished the constructive salesman should know
that the things which have hindered him in the past are being swept away
ind tha* the world is inviting him to his greatest possible achievement
When One Frock Serves for Two
<£» Western Npv.^p.'per t m«~-n
The present styles in afternoon
gowns play into the hands of many
women who have learned to make one
frock serve for both afternoon and
evening. They managed very well in
tills same matter during the war, when
evening dress was taboo, and now
Paris lias dealt the cards so that the
game becomes easy. There is a vogue
for bare arms, or very abbreviated
sleeves, on French gowns, that is re
flected here in short sleeves made of
the sheerest fabrics that merely veil
the arms. It doesn’t take nn: h ma
neuvering on the part of a clever
woman to place an afternoon frock of
this kind in the class of evening gowns.
Tim addition of the right accessory—
the removal of a guimpe, the arrange
ment of the coiffure—and the trick is
turned.
An alluring frock for afternoon has
been presented by a famous Fifth
avenue house and is shown at tlie
right of the picture above. It is made
of cream-colored net and embroidered
in little beads in pale rose color. The
skirt is very cleverly draped and
there is a flat ribbon girdle about tha
waistline. One can imagine it with a
more brilliant girdle, evening slippers
and a high coiffure, more than holding
its own when compared with regula
tion evening gowns.
N'et and wide lace make the simpler
frock at the left, with four straight
panels of plaited net set in the over
dress. It is worn over a satin slip and
1ms a satin girdle. The bodice is very
full, cut low at the front, and worn
with a dainty vestee of narrow lace
and net. The very plain sleeves are a
little longer than elbow length but can
be gathered up In small plaits and
shortened for evening. This, and a
girdle of bright ribbon, fastened with
one of the big rhinestone buckles will
place this frock in the evening class.
I Or a brocaded girdle or one of cloth
I of silver will accomplish this mattet
RidingHabitsTrim and Flattering
The time has come to frankly glory
In perfect health and vigor, for the
up-to-date girl cannot be a good sports
woman without them. And the
healthy woman who is fond of sports
is an agreeable person to have about.
She has interests that will keep her
young, charms that will last and ac
tivities that will prevent her from get
ting disastrously fat. Costumers see
to it that she is clad becomingly for
whatever sports she elects to follow,
and they have made the riding habit,
of all sports clothes, the trimmest and
the most fluttering.
There are some special habits for
summer wear that are worn by enthu
siastic horsewomen who are devoted
to this sport all the year round. They
are made of heavy cotton basket
weaves and whipcords, and are int
erned after the habits of wool. White
china silk blouses are worn with them
and top boot* in black or hrovvu
leather.
A very ’hie outfit Is made up of
cotton whipcord breeches, china silk
blouse and sleeveless coat of black or
dark blue serge. The combination
looks as crisp and cool as snow. j
One of the smart new habits of oov*
ert cloth is shown above. It is the
offering of an experienced and en
thusiastic designer, and is an exam
; pie of beautiful tailoring in the best
! of cloths. The breeches are re-en
forced with Inserts of leather at the
knee, the coat lias a little less flare
below the waistline than last year’s
models, and is more straight-hanging.
This makes an opportunity for a belt
of the cloth. It fastens with a button
and button-hole at the front, and the
coat also buttons at the waistline,
leaving more of the blouse and tie
visible than is usual.
Puttees, over trim brown walking
shoes, are a left-over wartime style
which young women are loath to part
with, and a pretty, three-cornered hat,
with square crown and rolling brim, la
so convincingly becoming that it puts
the good taste of this outtlt above
question. C?
A failure Is but the slipping of •
wheel, Give It sand, and go on.