54 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



slices that they may be even in width and depth, so that 

 when you go over the ground with your packer or harrow 

 there may be no soil spaces left loose and porous. The 

 average farmer must realize the great importance of 

 thoroughly fining and firming the entire plowed portion. 

 In the ordinary conditions as found at the bottom of fur- 

 rows in plowing left without any further work until it 

 has all dried out, shown in cut No. 1, fully one-third of 

 the soil contributes no nourishment whatever to the growth 

 or production of the crop. By adding a little extra pains 

 and labor that one-third of non-productive soil may be 

 put in condition to do its full share in making a larger 

 and better crop, while the remaining two-thirds will 

 bring far better results. By closely following this rule 

 you will greatly increase the certainty as well as the quan- 

 tity and quality of your crops of small grain. 



BREAKING NEW PRAIRIE LANDS. 



There are two questions to consider in breaking 

 new prairie, both of which are quite vital. 



First, what can or should be done to promote the 

 quickest and most thorough decomposition not only 

 of the sod that is turned over, but of that portion of the 

 soil just beneath the sod that we expect to turn on top 

 in our next plowing. 



Second, how to get all the rainwater possible to pass 

 below the sod, and there conserve it. 



When we went to Dakota in 1879, the idea was very 

 prevalent that the sod as it was turned over should be 

 allowed to kink up and lie loosely on the surface. This 

 we soon found was a very erroneous idea for the semi- 

 arid sections, a plan that might have originated in early 

 Illinois home making. 



With fourteen years' farming in Dakota, we became 



