mulch of desirable coarseness, if the cultivating is done 

 after rains when the surface soil has reached the moist 

 condition, not wet, and yet before it gets dry. Continue 

 this persistent care through the season; in case of extreme 

 heat more frequent cultivation is necessary. Our rule is 

 to watch carefully the firm soil just beneath the mulch 

 and gauge our time of cultivation during continued dry 

 periods by the quantity of apparent moisture, observed 

 at the top of the firm soil beneath the mulch, or if we 

 move the loose soil away and find there is ajnple moisture, 

 the protection is all right. If the top is beginning to show 

 dry, then it is time to cultivate again. 



EARLY SPRING WORK. 



If desirable to put in spring crops, it is a good idea to 

 thoroughly disk the ground as it goes into the winter. 

 This will bring some of the moist firm soil to the top and 

 better protect from winds, also leaving the surface mc.'e 

 uneven, to catch the snow, if in a country where snow- 

 storms are looked for. 



In the early spring, as soon as spring conditions will 

 permit, the ground should be gone over for the purpose 

 of reestablishing the soil mulch. Should the snows and 

 rains have been ample to have considerably packed the 

 surface, the disk harrow may of necessity have to be used, 

 although much depends on the kind of a harrow or culti- 

 vator you may have. These are points of which the 

 precise how cannot be specified; get the idea, then use 

 good judgment as to the how and when, and the kind of 

 tool. 



In case of fall seeding to winter wheat, rye or oats, 

 care should be taken, especially in the more arid sections 

 where fall rains of any magnitude are less probable, to 

 have at least two inches and a-half of fine loose soil on the 



