The Oliver plow book : a treatise on plows and plowing

Preface

HE treatment of any farmer's soil is entirely within his hands.

Success is measured by his knowledge and the diligence with which he applies those laws of Nature which are related to crop growing.

These laws are universal. A farmer can apply them to meet his own particular need better than acting upon the advice anyone can give him, because he understands his soil conditions. Other people do not.

The purpose of this book is to set forth these laws and explain the causes and effects.

The Oliver Chilled Plow Works has a desire to be of practical value to farmers. Our long experience in building plows and kindred implements for use all over the world has given u$ ai& opportunity to observe a great many facts in connection with plows and plowing which should be common knowledge among farmers.

OLIVER CHILLED PLOW WORKS.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. Functions of the Plant Organs 5

II. Influence of Water 14

CHAPTER I Functions of the Plant Organs

THERE is a vast difference between operating a farm and a factory. The process of manufacture from the receiving of the crude materials to the finished product is entirely in the hands of the manufacturer. That is, he can control every step in any process from start to finish. It is not so with the farmer. The farmer can control only the operation of the machinery. He has to have a partner to enable him to successfully grow crops. That partner is mother Earth. He has to depend upon her for everything except the labor, which is his part of the contract.

Obviously the farmer who succeeds best must understand Nature. It is a hopeless task to learn all the whims and caprices of Nature, but it is possible to learn how to treat mother Earth so that she can use these whims and caprices of Nature to bring forth bountifully.

The first step in this process is plowing. Many important historical events offer the strongest evidence that from the time man first began to till the soil he discovered the necessity for stirring it in some manner before any kind of a crop could be grown. Even the greatest authors of antiquity, medieval and modern times, speak of plowing. We have Benjamin Franklin in our own colonial times who advised farmers "to plow deep while sluggards sleep and you will have corn to sell and keep." Pliny spoke in his treatise on agriculture, of the importance of having the ground properly prepared, and even in the New Testament, in the book of St. Luke, the parable of the sower forcibly illustrates that Christ was a keen observer of the laws of Nature as related to crop growing.

"A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit a hundredfold."

This quality to observe conditions as they are is just as fundamental to the business success of any man as it is for his religious welfare. There is not such a tremendous amount of difference.

Evidently farmers in Christ's time believed that it was necessary to kill the thorns and to conserve moisture, and they believed still more that it was necessary to have the ground "good." This word "good" involves a great deal. Our modern soil phycisists tell us that we plow to kill weeds, conserve moisture, and to put the ground in a good condition of tilth. By tilth they mean that the land is in shape to be cultivated easily and in such condition as to bring forth abundantly.

Before one can put ground in condition to meet plant growth requirements he must have a thorough understanding of the habits and characteristics of plants he desires to grow, the kind of food that plants require and

FUNCTIONS OF PLANT ORGANS

FRUIT

LEAVES

A fully matured corn plant showing the parts that have to do with the growth of the plant.

Observe the short root system compared with the network of roots of the four hills of growing corn illustrated on page eleven.

STEM

/ Wa

ROOTS the soil conditions necessary for the manufacture, maintenance and proper distribution of that food to the plants as they need it.

Botanists tell us that every part of the plant has functions which it performs for its own development. The functioning of the various organs of the plant is naturally very different from that of the animal, nevertheless, these organs are just as important to the plant as the digestive and breathing organs are to the animal. The greatest of care is exercised in feeding the stock. The proper amount of food and water is given to the animals at the right time. In the summer the green pastures supply the great percentage of food for cows. In the winter they are given foods which produce milk and flesh. If horses are being used in the field they are fed the kind of food that keeps them strong and healthy. The same rule holds true of the entire animal family. No two types of animals ever receive the same kind of food nor even the same portion; that has to be given according to their kind. The same feeding law holds true of plants.

Plant life is different from animal life. The animal is either fed by human hands or goes about searching its own food. The plant is stationary. It, therefore, must subsist upon the food contained in the air and soil within reach of its organs.

All crop producing plants have roots, stems, leaves, and flowers, or the fruit. The farmer is concerned as to the quality and quantity of fruit produced. The quality and quantity of fruit are determined by the growth of the leaf and stem, and also the plant's ability to withstand the evil influences of wind, drouth and excessive rainfall.

FUNCTIONS OF PLANT ORGANS

The seed of any plant is supposed to contain enough nourishment for growth until the roots are large enough to drink in their nourishment from the surrounding soil, and the stem to break through the top of the ground to breathe in the required air.

The roots are the organs that search out into every particle and recess of the soil within reach for plant food, and carry it to the stem.

The most important part of the crop growing operation consists in bringing about a soil condition whereby the seed can germinate according to its natural inclination and the plant produce a root system necessary for vigorous growth and flowering.

The little kernels in the wheat illustration were sprouted to show how little and tender are the roots of germinating seeds.

Four kernels of sprouted wheat. The two outside kernels would sustain the plant until the roots and stems could feed themselves. The two inside plants were weak seeds. The seeds are entirely consumed, and the young plants are not large enough to support themselves.

It is important that a seed bed be in a well pulverized, compact condition for the sprouting of seeds and growing of plants. The little kernels of wheat must sprout and grow, but before they can do it the plant food must be in the soil in available form for the little tender roots to feed upon. Observe the sprouts running up and the little roots going downward. One pinch of the root with the fingers would kill it, yet, it is supposed to grow and produce tenfold times. There is food enough within the kernel, if it is good seed, to nourish the growing plant for a short time, but after that it must reach out into the soil to find sustenance, and if that plant grows rapidly it must have the food within convenient reach just when it needs it. This is the great reason why the preparation of the seed bed is the most important part of the crop growing operation. It matters not how good the seed, if the soil is not in the right condition to make plant food available to nourish the starting plant, growth will be stunted. Pulverizing the ground when plowing is the first and most vital step to accomplish this end.

There is another reason why a compact seed bed is necessary. After the seed has sprouted, and the plant has acquired its growth, more food is necessary for the flowering of the grain. The roots are searching through the ground by means of their continued growth to find this food. The better pulverized the seed bed is, the more available food the roots find. They form a network of food seekers entirely occupying the ground from one plant to another.

The corn field illustration, in which the rain has washed away the earth from the roots, shows the interweaving of the root system of corn. Each of the little hair

FUNCTIONS OF PLANT ORGANS 1 1

roots drinks in its share of food for the plants. When we consider that plants are soup eaters, that is, all the food the roots absorb is taken in liquid form, the importance of having the best possible seed bed from top to bottom is obvious.

When the rain washed away the earth it generously left the corn roots in much the same position as they would be found if it were possible to look into the earth.

A study of this illustration shows how easy it is to break these roots by cultivation. Recognizing that roots are necessary for absorbing the food contained in the soil, the importance of protecting this root system and giving it every opportunity becomes apparent.

The stems are the conveyors of this food to the leaves and the flowers and also serve the important purpose of holding up the flowers and leaves from the ground to give them an opportunity to do their work.

The leaf has four principal functions to perform. It has to do with the starch making properties of the plant, the assimilation, the excretion of water, and breathing. The functions of the leaves in these four processes involve a very complicated chemical process which is not very thoroughly understood and does not need to be from a practical standpoint.

The only thing necessary to know is that a plant, to flower and produce the proper grain, must have an abundance of moisture in order that the sunlight and air may supply the proper gases and heat necessary to bring about these chemical changes. The task of the farmer is to see that air, water and the proper plant food elements are properly proportioned in the soil. He need not worry about the part that surface air plays in the growing of the plants because it is beyond his control. Nature always supplies it abundantly on and above the earth's surface. To be of the utmost value air must be permitted to permeate every particle of the seed bed.

The tiller of the soil must see that the proper amount of plant food is supplied during the plant's life so that the entire plant can perform its functions. He must not forget also that a plant, even as any animal, can gorge itself so that one part of it will grow to the detriment of another.

The plant may be considered in part as its own food manufacturing establishment; that is, certain of the food elements coming from the soil are mingled with the gases which come through the leaves in such a way as to form the starchy substances of the plants. It is vitally necessary, therefore, that both the soil and air supply the proper elements for these processes to take place in the plant.

The amount of plant food contained in water is very small, hence, the plant must consume an immense

FUNCTIONS OF PLANT ORGANS 13

amount of water to derive the sustenance necessary. A grass plant has been found, to give off its own weight in water every twenty-four hours in hot, dry summer weather. This would make about 6J/2 tons of water per acre for every twenty-four hours in ordinary grain fields. This proves that moisture is one of the most essential items for producing plant growth and must be properly provided.

Botanists maintain that 95 to 97 per cent, of all the materials from which Nature builds the tissues of her plants are taken from the air. It is important, then, that we know by what process the materials from the air are transformed into plant food, particularly that part of the process which Nature depends upon tillage and the soil to perform.

Nature furnishes the moisture, air, light and soil. She expects us to till the soil in order that she may use the moisture, air, light and soil to the best advantage in transforming materials into plant food for growing crops. She rewards bountifully those who work with her, and she recompenses poorly those who do not.

Working with Nature means a knowledge of the effect of moisture, air, light and heat upon the soil and applying that knowledge in a practical manner.

Chapter II

WATER is the greatest single factor in plant growth. It seldom rains at just exactly the right time for its use. The task is to keep this moisture where it can be utilized by the growing plants just as rapidly as they need it. Before this can be done successfully one must have a knowledge of the characteristics of the different types of soils, their capacity for holding moisture and the rapidity with which it percolates and evaporates, also the things that are necessary to permit moisture to sink into the ground and keep it from escaping.

Water is the solvent of mineral elements in the soil which nourish the plant, and since plants can absorb mineral salts only in solution, water is absolutely necessary to enable the plant to take nourishment from the soil.

Water is the means whereby plant food elements are transformed into plant food because without it there can be no chemical action or reaction to transform the elements into plant food. Water also holds in solution food for the plant, carries it from the hair roots to the stem, and from the stem to the places where growth is taking place, transports plant food from one place to another in the soil, and is a temperature regulator for the soil.

From 75% to 90% of the fresh substance in crops is water, thus water in itself is plant food and essential to plant life. The greater part of this per cent, enters the plants through the roots.

The 75% to 90% of water making the fresh substance of plants is water in plant composition, and can only be taken from the plants by excessive heat. However, this water in composition is dependent upon the, amount of moisture contained in the soil and the humidity of the atmosphere because the growth of the plant is retarded or advanced as the amount of moisture in the soil is available. This moisture in turn is controlled more by the soil than the atmospheric temperature. Hence, it is necessary to have moisture in the ground in the right proportion for regulating the heat to retard the process of evaporation as well as to promote the development of plant food.

It is impossible to definitely define what amount of moisture is required for the growth of a plant because a great many conditions enter. A crop may require 300 tons of water for growth to maturity. It may be necessary for the soil to furnish 350 tons on account of varying conditions. Some the farmer can control, others he cannot. Water that must be supplied for the growing crops includes that which is constantly evaporating from the ground and also that which the leaf and stem of the plant are giving off.

The amount of plant food in water is very small; that is, the solution is in a very diluted form. For this reason a plant consumes many times its weight in water to get the necessary food.

The principal factor which determines the water requirements of a plant is the humidity of the atmosphere. In climates where the atmosphere is moist the water requirements for the plants are much less than those in dry climates. The reason for this is the amount of evaporation from the leaves and stems. The more humid the atmosphere the less moisture it takes from the plants, the dryer the atmosphere the more moisture it draws from the plants. If the atmosphere were thoroughly saturated at all times the water requirements for the plants would be very small because of the light transpiration of water from the soil.

Another peculiar fact in connection with the water required is shade. Shade increases the amount of water required for plant growth. It retards the process by which the plant constructs its tissues because the rays of sunlight necessary for this process are diminished.

Soil fertility has a great deal to do with the amount of moisture required to grow a crop. A poor soil requires more water than a rich soil for the simple reason that the more fertility there is in the soil the stronger the water holding content. A soil may be fertile in all the elements but one. The lack of this one causes the soil to require more moisture because growth is retarded when a plant fails to get any one of the elements necessary. The plant keeps on using and giving off water exactly the same as though all the elements were in the soil.

The great problem is to catch and save as much of the rainfall as possible. The ground below the seed bed must act as a reservoir to hold enough water for it to come upward by capillary attraction to the root bed and not escape into the air.

Capillary water is that which adheres or clings to the surface of the soil grains and to the roots of plants in films thick enough to allow surface tension to move it from place to place. It is Nature's means of keeping a constant supply where plants can use it. Capillary water is the chief source from which plants derive their supply. So important is capillary water that crops grown on moderately fertile plots where water was supplied as fast as plants could utilize it, produced more than four times as much as the same crop grown in an adjacent field under ordinary conditions. The reason for this is simply that during all the growing period rains do not come at the right times. This naturally prevents the plant food from becoming available every day as the growing plants demand. It is like stuffing a boy one day and expecting him not to get hungry for a week. Feed the boy what he needs each day, and he grows into a strong man. So it is with plants.

A BCD

The picture (A) of the tube filled with fine soil particles with the clods in the center illustrates very common conditions in plowed ground. The clods in the center prevent capillarity between the upper and lower portion of finely pulverized soil. Consequently, the moisture from below cannot reach the pulverized soil above the clods any faster than the rays of light and heat evaporate from above. This is plainly noticeable in the views showing the water at different heights in the tubes.

In illustration B observe that the water has traveled upward in the tube to a level much higher than the water in the pan, showing the force of capillary action. Also observe the firmly compact condition of the earth as far as the water has traveled.

m:

This is the way plowing is generally done. The large air spaces at the bottom of the first furrow slice and the smaller one in the bottom of the third are often found in fields that have been harrowed and are supposed to be ready for planting. These air spaces interfere with the upward trend of capillarity just exactly as is shown in the tubes on page seventeen.

The sectional view of plowed ground in the illustration above shows very much the same condition as shown in the tube.

In illustration C the water has reached the bottom of the cloddy portion. The uneven edge shows that where the soil particles are compact the water climbs upward, thus illustrating an important characteristic of capillarity. Too many air spaces in the cloddy ground break up the capillarity so that water will not climb as rapidly or as effectively and abundantly as it does in soil finely compacted. Two hours were required for the water to rise from the bottom of the tube to the cloddy portion.

Illustration D is the same tube photographed 22 hours later. Observe that the soil is thoroughly permeated with water up to the cloddy portion, that the moisture in the cloddy part and the pulverized part above the clods is very slight, and that on top no moisture is to be discerned. This shows that moisture does not rise to the surface of the ground any faster than it is evaporated. If this tube contained a plant above the cloddy part it would be plainly evident that the amount of moisture the roots could secure would not be enough to promote the healthy growth of the plant. Therefore, it is very important that this cloddy condition does not exist at the bottom of the seed bed as much on account of moisture as heat and air.

Film water displays itself only upon the surface of the soil grain. That is why it is called film water. It forms a film around the grain. Anyone can easily satisfy himself as to the truth of this, by taking a marble and immersing it in a glass of water, then withdrawing it. All the water required to form the film will cling to the marble and the rest will drop off. Suppose that marble is one inch in diameter. It will fill a cube one inch square — that is, six points on the surface of the marble will touch six points of the cube and all the rest of the space between the cube and the surface of the marble is air space. The area of the surface of the marble is found by multiplying the diameter squared by 3.1416, making 3.1416 square inches of film surface for the water. This is the amount of the film surface displayed.

A cube one inch square will hold 1 ,000 marbles one-tenth of an inch in diameter. The square inch of surface of each marble one-tenth of an inch in diameter is one hundredth of what it is on the large marble, or .031416 of an inch. This multiplied by 1 ,000, the number of marbles of this diameter required to fill the cube, makes 31.416 square inches of film surface, in contrast with the 3.1416 displayed in the one marble. Thus, if you take the 1 ,000 marbles in the cube immersing them in water, and withdrawing them as you would the large marble, you would have 31.4 4 - square inches of surface holding water, against 3.1+ square inches on the large marble. This means that the air spaces have been diminished in size and the water holding content of the soil increased, proving that the finer the soil is broken up, the greater water-holding capacity it has, consequently, the breaking of the soil into fine particles is necessary to improve it for water holding content. For this reason the ground should be well pulverized when plowing.

It is further evident, from the marble illustration, that the size of the soil particles has everything to do with the water holding content. As an illustration of the capacities of different soils, for capillary attraction and for holding water, samples of clay, clay loam, loam, sandy loam, and loamy sand were placed in the tubes under the names, small clods being placed on top of the

Dipping a marble into a glass of water as shown in this illustration will convince anyone that surplus water will not cling to the marble when it is removed.

Enough water should be supplied in the soil so that a film of water surrounds the soil grains.

The six points of contact leave large air spaces which retard capillary attraction and permit an excessive amount of air and heat to evaporate what little moisture may be in cloddy ground.

*A j i >i j>i ./a > a >y

77ie thousand marbles make six thousand points of contact thus showing how much easier it is for moisture to travel upward by capillarity, the increased surface for holding film water and diminished air spaces.

finely pulverized soil. Clay has the smallest soil particles; clay loam the next larger, loam larger than clay loam; sandy loam larger than loam; and loamy sand larger than sandy loam. This pan was filled with water, giving it an opportunity to rise in the tubes by capillarity.

■ Piig ii Eg

The five samples of soil in these tubes were ta\en from the same farm. They are shown on pages 39, 41 , 43, 45 and 47. At the top of each tube is a granular mulch. The particles of earth are much coarser than those of the finely compacted earth below. These tubes are eight inches high and two inches in diameter. The earth was packed in each tube to bring about an ideal condition for capillary attraction to act. The soil was also placed in an ideal condition for germination of the seed and the growth of the plant. The surface was not. Do not fail to observe the effect jif this granular mulch in the illustration on page twenty-four.

The illustration at the top of page twenty-three shows the water is almost halfway to the top of the finely pulverized earth in the tube of the loamy sand; has a good start in the sandy loam; is just beginning in the loam; is hardly perceptible in the clay loam, and not at all in the clay. Thus, we observe that up to this period capillary attraction is faster in the sandy soils than the clay, and that the loam is about midway between.

The second illustration on page twenty-three shows the water in the tube filled with clay has just started iOA.\n

SAND while that in the loamy sand tube has almost reached the top. The clay loam, loam, and sandy loam are still drawing water in about the same proportion as shown in the previous illustration.

The illustration on page twenty-four shows the water in the tube filled with loamy sand has reached the cloddy portion, while that in the clay tube has gone about one-fifth of the way to the top of the tube. The water in the other three is still climbing in the same proportion, thus showing conclusively that the finer the soil particles are, the slower the water rises.

HI

Another feature that must be taken into serious consideration is that soils, in which water rises rapidly, dry out equally fast, thus the sandy soils dry out much quicker than the clay soils, all of which goes to show that the finer the soil particles are, the stronger the attraction to hold the water.

Compare the water in the loamy sand and clay tubes illustrated on page twenty-three with those illustrated above. The granular mulch on top the tube of loamy sand stopped the upward trend of moisture as the distance the water in the clay tube has travelled upward shows. The moisture in the loamy sand tube has climbed from a point just below the Wire to the granular mulch while the water in the clay tube travelled twice as far as it had, thus showing that the granular mulch stopped the upward trend of moisture. This illustration serves to show the importance of peeping the soil particles on the surface in an entirely different arrangement from those below in order that capillary attraction may be permitted to act up to this point and then stopped, thus keeping the moisture in the ground.

Observe further the soil at the top of the tube filled with loamy sand; that the water has not penetrated the clods to any appreciable extent. Bearing in mind the illustration of the tube with the clods in the center, it will be observed that a granular surface on top is better to prevent moisture from escaping into the air than the finely pulverized soil. The reason for this is simply that capillarity has been broken up between the compact sub-surface and the granulated top. For this reason it is better to have the lower portion of the soil compact and the layer on the surface coarse and granular than to have it all finely pulverized.

When a farmer desires to plant a field infested with cutworms, grubworms, wireworms, or some other pest which can be eradicated by plowing, he wants to know whether it is best to plow for the express purpose of killing the insects, for the conservation of moisture, or at a time of the year when plowing can be easier done. He must decide which is the most important and plow accordingly. The number of times that one would run into difficulty with moisture when plowing to kill insect pests would be very few because the ideal time to plow to kill insect pests is during their larva state, which for the most part is in the fall of the year.