CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 169 



worthy of careful experiment by every farmer in a test 

 field. Few can comprehend or believe the greatly in- 

 creased yield possible from summer tilled fields over 

 ordinary fitting of the soil for crops until they have seen 

 the marked results from a test. 



BROAD GAUGED CULTIVATORS. 



Persons who have learned well that time is an im- 

 portant element in cultivation, also realize that appro- 

 priate implements are necessary. Cultivators must be 

 built on the broad gauged plan if farmers are to be suc- 

 cessful in cultivating the ground when it is in just the 

 right condition, a condition that does not long exist 

 after a rain, and manufacturers are trying to supply this 

 demand. A two or three-row machine is very important, 

 that we may cultivate two or three times as much ground 

 in the same length of time, and when the farmers come to 

 understand the importance of rapid work and the demand 

 is made, such tools will be produced, for Yankee ingenu- 

 ity is prevalent in all our big manufacturing establish- 

 ments. 



The fact is that we have not had in the great semi- 

 arid belt any season when it was not possible to keep 

 the soil in such condition as would be suitable for good 

 crops with the proper machinery. Such conditions as 

 indicated here have been held about the roots of the corn 

 by proper cultivation. With the loose mulch on top, to 

 a depth of two and a-half to three inches, produced when 

 the conditions are just right after a rain, and stirred just 

 often enough during the long dry periods, we can prac- 

 tically prevent any loss whatever by evaporation from 

 the surface. This accomplished, the perfect physical 

 condition of our soil and complete development of roots 

 will take the moisture from below sufficiently fast to pre- 



