it can be made clear what a certain kind of cultivation will 

 do under certain conditions. Then if the farmer knows 

 what he wants he can adapt his work to his needs. 



There has been a great deal of discussion as to the value 

 of shallow and deep cultivation. Some persons have 

 undertaken to make entirely too much of one or the other 

 of these systems. The fault is that they have not always 

 kept in mind that much depends on the character of the 

 soil, and still more on the soil and atmospheric condi- 

 tions which prevail at the time of the cultivation. It 

 is not necessary to make an argument anywhere in the 

 semi-arid region to convince the farmer that the old- 

 style of cultivation of growing crops with the long pointed 

 shovels is not proper especially in the light soils of the 

 west. If he has had experience he knows that this method 

 of cultivating his corn or potatoes is as likely to do harm 

 as to do good. So he has turned to shallow cultivation 

 as the natural alternative. But it is possible he has gone 

 too far in that direction, an error easily made and quite 

 common. 



Shallow cultivation is not very well understood. There 

 are times when it is just the right thing. But take it, for 

 instance, in the drier portions of the west, where the at- 

 mosphere is free from moisture and the altitude is high 

 so that vaporizing of the water comes at a low tempera- 

 ture, it is easy to cultivate too shallow. A little deeper 

 will get better results, because it is necessary to have a 

 deeper soil mulch to protect the moisture beneath. 



SHALLOW VS. DEEP. 



In the chapter touching on the growth of potatoes, 

 th^re will be found two illustrations which will bear study 

 ir connection with this subject of shallow or deep culti- 



