IMPROVEMENT OF SOILS. fj 



plants under the trees, and when the trees were re- 

 moved the ground was almost bare. On the open 

 prairie-lands there is a thick mat or sod of grass. 

 This we know consists of wild plants, weeds, and 

 grasses, growing so close together that the roots have 

 become twisted together to form a mass like a thick 

 carpet, and called a sod. If the settler sows his wheat, 

 oats, , or corn on this grass, the seeds will fall down 

 between the wild plants, and be lost ; or, if it succeeds 

 in growing, will be starved and smothered by the wild 

 plants. There will be a fierce fight to see which shall 

 live ; but the wild things will be sure to win, and the 

 wheat and other good plants will surely perish. The 

 settler knows this, and gets out his great " breaking- 

 up " plough, and with a strong team of horses cuts 

 the sod into strips, and turns each strip completely 

 upside down, one slice or strip resting beside the next. 

 This is the first step in the improvement of the soil. 

 We call the work ploughing, and it forms a part of the 

 science of tillage. Whether it is wiser to clear up 

 forest- land or break up prairie-land, in preference to 

 buying land already cleared and that is starved and all 

 out of repair, must depend on a great many circum- 

 stances. No doubt, to raise large crops of wheat, it 

 is best to take the new lands. To raise vegetables, 

 and fine fruits and flowers, we must take the old lands 

 near the cities. Which we should do, depends entirely 

 on our taste, education, and capital. Even though 

 we may never use old soils, or break up virgin soils, it 

 is well we know and understand these things ; for they 



