SPADING AND FORKING 19 



tenacious, it may be necessary to throw leaf- 

 mold or litter over the surface before the spading 

 is done, to prevent the soil from running together 

 or cementing before spring. With mellow and 

 loamy lands, however, it is ordinarily best to leave 

 the preparation of the surface until spring. 



In the preparation of the surface, the ordinary 

 hand tools, or spades and shovels, may be used. 

 If, however, the soil is mellow, a fork is a better 

 tool than a spade, from the fact 

 that it does not slice the soil, 

 but tends to break it up into 

 smaller and more irregular masses. 

 The ordinary spading -fork, with 

 strong, flat tines, is a most ser- 

 viceable tool ; but a good spad- 

 ing -fork may be made from an 

 old manure fork by cutting down 

 the tines, as shown in Fig. 10. 

 It is essential that the soil should 

 not be sticky when it is prepared, 

 as it is likely to become hard 

 and baked and the physical con- 

 dition greatly injured. However, / ;/ ;j 'lj 

 land which is too wet for the * *' ' 

 reception of seeds may still be 

 thrown up loose with a spade or 

 fork and allowed to dry, and after two or three 

 days the surface preparation may be completed 

 with the use of the hoe and the rake. In ordi- 



