GARDEN TILLAGE 



57 



the plant can take it up; nearly all of it is insoluble. By 

 chemical action and fermentation in the soil, plant food is 

 set free. This is increased and made more complete by 

 admitting air into the soil. Hence the reason for deep 

 plowing in the fall, which allows the air and water to enter 

 and thus develop plant food. This, also, is an important 

 fact to be kept in mind in cultivating land. Where the 

 soil can be kept moist through the summer, deep spring 

 plowing is an advantage in opening the soil to the air; but 

 on account of the liability to injury from droughts to soils 

 thus worked, the practice is generally a poor one for sections 

 having a limited rainfall. 



GARDEN IMPLEMENTS 



Implements such as plows, harrows, etc., used in pre- 

 paring land for ordinary farm crops, are also used in 

 fitting land for garden crops. In addition, however, 

 there are a number of tools and implements which are not 

 commonly used in grow- 

 ing the farm crops. 

 These may be roughly 

 classed as follows: 



Horse hoes and 

 horse cultivators are 

 much alike in general 

 construction, but each 



is adapted tO Special Fig . 13 . A combined harrow and cultivator. 



purposes and both are 



very desirable. The horse hoes are for use when the land is 



very hard and weedy; they may also be used for ridging 



the land and drawing the earth from, or harrowing it 



towards, the plants. For this purpose they have various 



attachments. 



