10 Progressive Agriculture 



hoped that in this way the reader may more 

 readily grasp the basic or fundamental principles 

 or ideas involved. In the study of each class, as 

 well as in the application of the principles, the 

 fact must be kept constantly in mind that under 

 semi-humid conditions, more perhaps than else- 

 where, nature sometimes helps and sometimes 

 hinders the progress of work done to bring about 

 the ideal conditions. 



Because of this fact, be ever alert to note and 

 understand what happens, as for instance, why 

 soil slightly dry or too wet will not assume the 

 same ideal physical condition when plowed as 

 will moist soil that is just right for the plow. Why 

 a half inch of rainfall will not have the same effect 

 in dissolving and settling the lower portion of the 

 soil furrow that an inch or 2-inch rainfall will; 

 neither will a 2-inch rain have the same effect 30 

 days after plowing that it would have one day 

 after. 



I Intelligent observation, understanding and re- 

 cognition of these primary facts is of wide import- 

 ance. The lack of it has many times misled the 

 investigator and farmer in conclusions as to the 

 correctness of principles and methods he has been 

 following. The farmer always needs to remember 

 that his attitude towards and faith in progress, 

 advancement and confidence in the theories in- 

 volved in any question, regulates very largely 

 the value and the amount of truth grasped in his 

 investigation of the basic principles. 



While the "How" and "Why" of tillage are 

 broad and to the untrained mind complex ques- 



