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Mulch Culture in Relation to Soil and Water Conservation and Corn Yields in Iowa
Author(s) -
Browning G. M.,
Norton R. A.,
Shedd C. K.
Publication year - 1944
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1944.036159950008000c0088x
Subject(s) - agriculture , soil conservation , agricultural experiment station , mulch , engineering , environmental science , agronomy , archaeology , geography , biology
P with the moldboard plow, which places the residue at the bottom of the furrow, has been the common practice as the initial step in the preparation of a seedbed. It has been recognized for some time that maintaining residue on the surface is very helpful in controlling wind erosion and in the conservation of soil and water in areas of limited rainfall (i, 2, 6, i2). Over a considerable portion of the Corn Belt it is the conventional practice to seed oats on cornstalk land by disking instead of plowing. The amount of residue remaining on the surface depends upon the condition of the disk and the number of operations, but in general the surface is reasonably well protected . by residue. The Missouri system of small grain and lespedeza (7), which has proved so popular in that state, is essentially a "trashy" system of farming, in that the seedbed is prepared with a disk or a field cultivator, leaving a considerable portion of the residue on the surface or mixed with the firSt few inches of surface soil. This practice has been shown to be effective in reducing the loss of soil and water (5). The possibilities of maintaining residues on the surface in the production of intertilled crops were shown by Duley and Russel (3) in studies started in 1939. Shedd, Davidson, and Collins (9) started similar studies in 1939. Some of the more recent results of these studies have been reported by Shedd and by Shedd and Norton (10). The important problems of farm machinery and soil conservation have been reviewed by Nichols and Gray (8).