90 Progressive Agriculture 



as to become very fine or dust like, it takes little 

 rain to settle this top very solid and should the 

 rain be sufficient to settle the entire depth of the 

 mulch, a few hours of sunshine and you have a 

 dense crust, out of what should be your mulch, a 

 very unfavorable condition. Therefore it must soon 

 be again loosened. 



On the other hand, if the mulch had been kept 

 coarse, especially on the top, as shown in Cut No. 

 8, the light showers have very little effect and as 

 previously stated the coarse mulch is by far the 

 most economical, for it requires less frequent 

 work and takes in more moisture, in fact several 

 modest rains might fall without seriously effecting 

 the protection effect of the mulch, and it is more 

 effective in preventing loss by evaporation at all 

 times, than the dust mulch. 



ADVANTAGE OF THE PACIFIC COAST IN SUMMER 

 TILLING 



On the Pacific coast little or no rain falls in the 

 summer time, so the serious packing effect of the 

 summer rains are eliminated, but the weed ques- 

 tion is even more serious and for best results must 

 be kept out. The coarse mulch, however, is 

 quite as vital in holding the moisture there also. 



