126 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



PREPARING THE GROUND. 



In preparing the ground for the reception of the seed, 

 (if it has not been plowed the fall previous,) plowing should 

 be begun as soon as the land is dry enough to work, first 

 having spread over the land well-rotted stable manure, 

 at the rate of thirty tons to the acre. This should be 

 lightly turned under, plowing not more than five or six 

 inches deep, and covering the manure so that it will be 

 three or four inches under the surface. For this reason, 

 the manure must be well rotted, otherwise it cannot be 

 well covered by the plow. If concentrated fertilizers are 

 to be used, it is best to plow the land up roughly, sow 

 the fertilizer at the rate of one to two tons per acre, ac- 

 cording to its fertilizing properties, and then harrow 

 thoroughly, so that it is regularly incorporated with the 

 soil. After harrowing with an ordinary toothed harrow, 

 the surface should be further leveled with some kind 

 of a "smoothing" harrow, either Meeker's Smoothing 

 Disc Harrow, or some sort of chain harrow. The former 

 I like best, as the revolving discs pulverize the soil to a 

 depth of three inches much better than it can be done 

 by raking, and the smoothing board, which follows in 

 the wake of the revolving wheels, makes the surface, if 

 free from stones, smooth as a board, and far better than 

 it can be done by raking. 



SOWING THE SEED. 



The ground being thus prepared, the next thing is the 

 sowing of the seed, about six pounds being used per 

 acre. This, of course, now-a-days, is done always by the 

 seed drilling machine, of which there are a dozen or 



