VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 43 



HARROWING, ETC. 



The sundry secondary operations, of discing, harrowing, roll- 

 ing, etc., are means to the same end as plowing, having in view 

 the fineing of the soil, the development of available plant food, 

 the conservation of soil moisture, etc. The implements commonly 

 used to this end are harrows and rollers. Each of the four types 

 of harrows, the spike and spring tooth, the coulter and disc forms, 

 has its place in soil preparation. No one of them is suited to all 

 classes of work or to all sorts of soils. Their main function is 

 more to prepare the seed bed mechanically than to alter its water 

 relations. Yet they are of great service in that connection. Early 

 spring surface tillage tends to warm, to dry, to aerate the soil, 

 to lessen the loss of the deeper water by evaporation, and to 

 hasten weed seed development so that when they sprout they may 

 the earlier, the more surely and the more easily be destroyed. It 

 conserves soil moisture by means of the mulch it makes, which 

 usually should be established by as prompt a passage of the har- 

 row over the piece as is practicable after spring plowing, unless 

 the soil is overwet. 



The roller is not as commonly used in this State as it is in 

 localities where the topography is less uneven. It is an imple- 

 ment which must be used with judgment lest it do more harm than 

 good. Its main service is as a clod crusher, a surface soil com- 

 pressor, an inciter of capillarity. In this connection its power to 

 promote the conduction of water from the lower levels towards 

 and to the surface, where it will be of service to the new seedlings 

 which need ultra good conditions for germination, is to be noted 

 as its chief reason for use. It should be remembered, however, 

 that the water thus raised rapidly evaporates, more so from a 

 smooth than from a rough surface, since the temperature is higher 

 and the wind velocity greater over smooth than over rough sur- 

 faces. Hence he who uses a roller should as a rule run a bush, 

 a weeder, a light running harrow, or something of the sort after 

 or behind it in order to make a shallow mulch and save moisture. 

 Its service is usually better on light sandy soils than on the 

 heavier ones, which are already sufficiently compact ; and it is 

 obviously just such open soils which can least spare the water 

 which the use of the roller brings to the surface. 



INTKRTILLAGE. 



The sundry cultivators, weeders, hand tools and the like are 

 used after the crop has started for weed killing, soil pulveriza- 

 tion and moisture conservation. Several types of tools are used 

 to this end. They may stir the soil deeply or may be run shallow. 



