350 THE SMALL GRAINS 



fall after the previous crop is removed, or the following 

 spring, and then kept clean throughout the season. When 

 the period between the crops is very long or if there is an 

 extreme tendency to weediness, there may be a second 

 plowing. The time and manner of plowing, treatment if 

 any before plowing, and the methods of tillage, will vary 

 with the local conditions of soil and time of occurrence 



FIG. 108. Summer tillage or bare summer fallow. 



of precipitation, the same as though a crop were to be 

 grown (Fig. 108). 



377. Storage of moisture in summer tillage. Summer 

 tillage has been found to be the most efficient of all methods 

 for storing water in the soil. Some actual figures are 

 given by Burr (1914, pp. 19-29), showing the percentage 

 of moisture stored in this way, at the North Platte, Ne- 

 braska, substation. (1) In one case of summer tillage 

 after spring wheat, the moisture content of the soil 

 August 24 the preceding year was 9.8 per cent, which was 



