POOR CROPS AND HOW TO GET BETTER ONES 127 



out loss to the land. In weedy land the weed crop some- 

 times answers the same purpose if plowed in before it goes 

 to seed. 



Plowing shallow, or to same depth always. Some- 

 times poor crops are caused by shallow plowing, which 

 prevents the roots from getting deep enough into the 

 soil for moisture and food. Then a great improvement 

 can be made by deeper plowing. When this brings up 

 the raw subsoil, as it may do in the humid region, it is 

 called subsoiling. Turning up the subsoil must be done 

 very gradually (not over an inch in one year) in the 

 humid states; because plants do not grow well in such 

 subsoils at first. In the arid region farmers may usu- 

 ally plow as deep as they please without hurting the 

 crop to be sown. But even there, land should not be 

 plowed to the same depth for several successive years, 

 because then a hard subsoil layer, or hardpan (called 

 plowsole), may be formed. Crops will then suffer for 

 lack of moisture and food, not being able to go deep 

 enough with their roots. Farmers should constantly 

 watch their land so that this may not happen. 



While in the humid region, and in the humid sections 

 or places in the arid countries also, it will not do to turn 

 up much of the subsoil at once with the turning plow, 

 we can always deepen the soil by following the turning 

 plow with a "subsoiler," which simply tears up the sub- 

 soil without bringing it to the surface, and so enables 

 the roots to go deep for moisture. 



