44 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



but ordinarily should be so handled as to disturb but a slight 

 depth of soil. There are several reasons for this : 



1. The earth thus pulverized is for the time being out of 

 service as a source of plant food. 



2. The surface exposure of the relatively deeper and more 

 moist soil hastens evaporation, which it is an object of intertillage 

 to retard. 



3. Deep cultivation tears off the root hairs of growing crops 

 and thus gives the crop a setback. 



4. Deep cultivation takes more time and power than does 

 shallow culture. 



At the outset the tools may be run to advantage deeper and 

 more often than later, when the crop has got well under way and 

 root systems are established. Late in the season, when the crops 

 shade the ground, the mulch is protected from the sun and there 

 is less rapid drying out and loss. Frequent intertillage is of ad- 

 vantage in that whenever resorted to it rebreaks the connection 

 between the lower soil layer and the surface, forcing the capillary 

 water to seek new channels of escape, retarding its passage and 

 thus directing more to the roots. It also tends to increase the 

 available plant food in the stirred portion, which, while not of use 

 while in the dry mulch, will be of service later. 



Level culture is apt to be preferable to ridged culture if moist- 

 ure conservation is a factor. If the soil is likely to be overwet, 

 the reverse will hold. The more the surface exposure the greater 

 the evaporation. Local conditions, therefore, should suggest the 

 type of cultivation to be used. 



In conclusion, it should be remarked that it has not been 

 intended in this article to discuss tillage in an all-round way, but 

 more particularly its relation to moisture saving. Much more 

 might be said as to other phases which has been left, for the time 

 being at any rate, unsaid. 



