28 ELEMENT8 OF FARM PRACTICE 



growing crops during times when it does not rain for several 

 days. Fall plowing, disked and harrowed to loosen the 

 surface, makes an excellent seed bed. In other words, 

 a firm, mellow soil below, covered by two or three inches 

 of loose, fine soil is the condition desired. 



If land must be plowed in the spring, very thorough 

 harrowing is necessary to work the soil up fine and to assist 

 in firming the furrow slice so as to form good capillary 

 connection with the subsoil. 



Questions: 



1. What is the principal work of the farmer during April? 



2. What are the essential conditions of a good seed bed? 



3. Why is air needed in the soil, and how may it be secured? 

 ' 4. Why is moisture needed in soil? How may it be retained? 



Arithmetic: 



1. If wheat is worth 90c. per bu. and it costs 15c. per acre to 

 harrow land, how many times can one afford to harrow an acre of land 

 to increase the yield two bushels? 



2. If wheat is worth 90c. per bu. and it costs 35c. per acre to 

 disk the land, how many times can one afford to disk an acre of land 

 to increase the yield two bushels per acre? 



3. Field A yields twenty-five bushels of oats, field B yields forty 

 bushels of oats. How many more dollars' worth of labor can one afford 

 to put on field A than on field B, if oats are worth 35c. per bushel? 



PLANTING 



Time to Plant. — Crops that are not easily killed by 

 frost, as wheat and oats, are usually the first crops sown. 

 Seeds of these crops will germinate at a comparatively 

 low temperature, as low as from 41 to 50 degrees F. The 

 soil usually reaches this temperature in the spring about as 

 soon as one can begin disking and harrowing, and land 

 that is well disked and harrowed reaches this temperature 

 earlier, as shown in the preceding lesson. It is usually 

 wise to sow these crops as early as possible and thus avoid 

 the danger from rust, smut and hot winds that are more 

 likely to injure late sown grain crops. 



Barley may be sown early, but it is more liable to in- 

 jury from frost. Experiments show that the best yields 

 are obtained by sowing barley a week or ten days later than 

 the first seeding of wheat or oats. This is also the most 

 convenient time, as it permits one to sow the other grains 



