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night cultivation experiment



   Thinking about the recent request for info 
about night cultivation, it occurred to me that
it would be easy to test the efficacy of the 
method on one's own farm, without spending
hundreds of dollars on night vision goggles.  
It's too late to try it here, because little 
germination is happening as winter approaches, 
but farmers in warmer places could still try it. 
    Prior to a dark night, cloudy and/or no moon,
prepare the cultivation equipment and have it
ready to go at the edge of a field that needs
cultivation. Once there is no trace of light,
have someone hold a flashlight on the far side of 
the field and drive the cultivation equipment
(with *all* lights off)
towards it across the field, making one or more
passes (more than one could get complicated).
Better yet, aim towards a distant light to avoid
introducing even a trace on extra light.  (The
advantage of a flashlight holder would be having
someone to wave frantically before you tore out
the far fence). ;-)
Next morning, stake the cultivated portion with
flagging, and cultivate the rest of the field. 
    I would think that any improvement in weed
control large enough to justify the extra trouble
of night cultivation would show up as a visible
qualitative difference.  Someone with resources
could do some quantitative sampling.   
   If there are farmers on the list who have
fields in the appropriate state, we could have
some interesting anecdotal information within
a month.  (And what is data but a large
collection of anecdotal information) ;-)
   If there are farmers interested in trying it
I'd be interested in hearing the results. Please
send a copy to me directly, as I'll be signing of
sanet shortly for a few weeks. 



Jim Wright
Box 129
Lougheed Alberta Canada
T0B 2V0
403 386-2479



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