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the crop is gathered. It is very difficult to explain the 

 value and importance of this work in sufficiently strong 

 terms to permit the reader to grasp its full force and 

 meaning. We will endeavor to give it in six reasons. 



First: There is no time in the year when water held 

 in the soil near the surface in sufficient quantities, will 

 bring about so many valuable chemical changes as during 

 the months of July and August. This is the season of 

 the year when a vast amount of nitrates and bacteria 

 may be developed, in other words, the fertility, the very 

 elements that start your wheat off early in the fall with 

 that dark green color, and has very much to do with its 

 stooling, providing, however, your final work of fitting 

 your seed bed is carried out as explained under " plowing" 

 and "sub-packing." 



The fact that the farmer loses sight of the real scien- 

 tific or necessary physical condition of the soil in the 

 plowing of his field for another crop, accounts for the 

 failure of so many plowed fields to yield as much in dry 

 seasons as fields that were simply put in with a disk drill 

 and not plowed. How often have we heard farmers 

 say: "I plowed my ground and fitted it thoroughly, and 

 my neighbor hogged his wheat in with a disk and got a 

 better crop than I did." In fact the man with the disk 

 had produced a more- scientific condition of the soil. 



Second: If there is any moisture in the soil below, 

 by preparing this fine mulch of a liberal thickness this 

 moisture will accumulate in the firm soil just beneath. 

 If no more rains come, your ground is in perfect condition 

 to plow because of the moisture you have retained by 

 the early disking. 



Third: If you do not wish to plow in the fall this 

 moisture can be carried over until the next spring, when 



