62 



FIELD CROPS 



\fL 









pulverized and packed against the subsoil. The earlier the 

 plowing is done the more readily the wet sod will be broken 

 /^ ..- ^ up. Considerable disk- 



ing and harrowing is 

 .v,^. >^?/ necessary to prepare a 



spring-plowed field for 

 corn. A practice that 

 is followed by many 

 careful farmers is to 

 disk the land thorough- 

 ly before plowing. The 

 pulverized surface, 

 when turned over, is 

 more readily compacted 

 against the subsoil than 

 land which is not pul- 

 verized. This contact is 

 especially necessary in 

 sod land, for the stubble 

 and other vegetable 

 matter on the surface of 

 meadow or pasture land 

 are liable to separate the 

 furrow slice quite effec- 

 tively from the subsoil, 

 thus greatly retarding 

 the movement of mois- 

 ture. 



Cultivation can be 



done more cheaply and 



more completely before the corn is planted than afterwards, 



because more horses and larger machines can be used and all 



the soil can be cultivated to better advantage. 



71. Preparation of Stubble Land. The methods out- 

 linofl for the preparation of sod land for corn will produce 



Figure 19. — Hills of corn at maturity. Note 

 that the roots ha\e now penetrated to a 

 depth of 4 feet. .Seo Figures 17 and IS. 



