FALL CULTIVATION'. 149 



The month of September is a specially good time 

 to cut off all perennial weeds below the surface. By 

 so doing the top is prevented from nourishing the 

 root, and the next growth will be destroyed by the 

 frost. This severe drain on the roots will weaken 

 them, and a heavy crop of grain or clover the follow- 

 ing season will be comparatively free from weeds. 



All root land should be ribbed (not plowed) in 

 the fall, about twenty inches in width, and across 

 the turnip drills, so as to incorporate the tops evenly 

 with the surface soil. Run furrows (with the 

 double mould-board plow) in the low portions to 

 carry off the surface water. Land which is ribbed 

 will keep much drier than land which is plowed in 

 ridges of, say, fourteen feet wide. Besides the follow- 

 ing crop will be much more abundant, as it will be 

 more uniform. 



When root or corn land is plowed in the fall the 

 following crop will frequently be lodged in the 

 centre of the ridge, where a double portion of 

 vegetable matter has been gathered, and in the 

 furrows where the vegetable matter has been turned 

 off there will not be half a crop. These are facts 

 which are within the experience of every farmer. 



