SOIL TILLAGE AND CROP ROTATION 



Kinds of Tillage 



Notice in what way the crop-producing soils of your 

 locality are tilled. Observe how the soil is plowed, 

 harrowed, cultivated, rolled, hoed, and raked. 



During a dry time in summer notice the cracks that 

 appear in a soil which has been neglected, and compare 

 such a condition with the surface of a soil which has 

 been kept in good condition by tillage. 



Learn how deep the fields in your neighborhood are 

 usually plowed. Does the plow go down to the sub- 

 soil? 



Tillage and Moisture 



Notice whether the soil under a board or any mass 

 of rubbish that serves as a surface mulch is more moist 

 than the soil along a path or roadside where there is no 

 mulch and where the surface is not tilled. Do you 

 think that the board or mulch prevents the evaporation 

 of the water in the soil and so holds it for the use of plant 

 roots? 



Now find a place in a well-cultivated field where the 

 surface is in a finely pulverized condition and remove 

 an inch or two of the top soil. Is the soil below moist 

 in very much the same way that it is moist beneath the 

 board or mulch? Do you think that this layer of sur- 

 face soil serves the purpose of a mulch in keeping the 

 water from evaporating? 



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