174 APPENDIX 



levelling any ridges. Cultivation should be kept 

 up to kill weeds and conserve moisture. The next 

 spring you will have a firm seed bed in a uniform 

 condition. When the seeder goes on a field like 

 this you will notice the benefit of the plank 

 dragging. The seed bed is uniform and the drill 

 plants the seeds at a uniform depth. The surface 

 packer follows the drill, not for the purpose of 

 packing the root bed but to pack the moist soil 

 around the seed to hasten germination. This is 

 followed by the harrows. After the grain is up 

 four to six inches I harrow to cultivate and kill 

 any weeds. The harrows I use are home-made for 

 the purpose. They are light and do good work. 

 The object is to keep the grain growing by culti- 

 vating it. 



"I also use the plank drag on breaking as well 

 as on fall and spring plowing. In plowing in the 

 spring for a crop I follow the same method, using 

 the packer after the plow. Then comes the drag, 

 then the seeder followed by the packer, and then 

 the harrows. This insures getting the seed in a 

 firm seed bed while moist. Cultivation can be 

 done after it is seeded. Fall plowing also is treated 

 according to the same method of preparing the 

 seed bed. 



"In my opinion it is a mistake to seed fall 

 plowing early in the spring. It should be given 

 a stroke of the harrows to conserve moisture and 

 allow weeds to germinate. It can be sown later 

 on, as fall plowing generally matures a crop faster 

 than spring plowing, breaking or summer fallow. 

 I would sow breaking first and summer fallow 



