36 



grown with cogon and other coarse grasses is difficult on account of the 

 very dense root system which they develop in the surface layers of the 

 soil. In order to thoroughly break up these roots, it is necessary to have 

 very strong plows, fitted with some device for cutting through the grass 

 roots and pulverizing the soil as much as possible so. as to secure their 

 exposure to the sun. For this purpose, either moldboard plows with 

 standing and revolving coulters or the disk plows may be used. Mold- 

 board plows should be of the black-land type, having a very long sharp 

 point and the share set at an acute angle with the land slide, so as to make 

 them of easy draft and insure scouring in the heavy clay and gummy 

 lands. Disk plows should be of very strong construction and with extra 

 large disks. The first plowing should be comparatively shallow and 

 should be done some time before the cross-plowing in order to permit the 



Fig. 3. — ^Single-disk three-wheeled gang plow. 



drying and crumbling of the over-turned sods in the dry season, or their 

 disintegration by water during the rainy season. The cross-plowing can 

 be done with the same implements, but plows having an extra long 

 standard or very large disks are better for this work. Subsoil plows may 

 be used for following the cross-plowing, but there is considerable doubt 

 as to the economy of their use. Disk and drag harrows are essential to 

 the proper pulverization and leveling of the land after breaking. Field 

 rollers, clod crushers, and drags also have a distinct place in the proper 

 preparation of cane lands. 



The breaking of land previously planted to cane is a much easier 

 process than bringing new land into cultivation and requires a lighter 

 class of implements with less power to pull them. The native plow and 

 harrow, described by Mr. Walker, are very poor types of implements and 



