THE HANDLING OF THE LAND 93 



tenacious, it may be necessary to throw leafmold or litter 

 over the surface before the spading is done, to prevent the soil 

 from running together or cementing before spring. With 

 mellow and loamy lands, however, it is ordinarily best to leave 

 the preparation of the surface until spring. 



In the preparation of the surface, the ordinary hand tools, 

 or spades and shovels, may be used. If, however, the soil is 

 mellow, a fork is a better tool than a spade, from the fact that 

 it does not slice the soil, but tends to break it up into smaller 

 and more irregular masses. The ordinary spading- 

 fork, with strong flat tines, is a most serviceable 

 tool; a spading-fork for soft ground may be made 

 from an old manure fork by cutting down the tines, 

 as shown in Fig. 84. 



It is important that the soil should not be sticky 

 when it is prepared, as it is likely to become hard 

 and baked and the physical condition be greatly 

 injured. However, land that is too wet for the 84. improvis- 

 reception of seeds may still be thrown up loose |"g ^ '^p^'^' 

 with a spade or fork and allowed to dry, and after '"^" °^ 

 two or three days the surface preparation may be completed 

 with the hoe and the rake. In ordinary soils the hoe is the 

 tool to follow the spading-fork or the spade, but for the final 

 preparation of the surface a steel garden-rake is the ideal 

 implement. 



In areas, large enough to admit horse tools, the land can be 

 fitted more economically by means of the various types of 

 plows, harrows, and cultivators that are to be had of any dealer 

 in agricultural implements. Figure 85 shows various types of 

 model surface plows. The one shown at the upper left-hand 

 is considered by Roberts, in his '' Fertility of the Land," to be 

 the ideal general-purpose plow, as respects shape and method 

 of construction. 



The type of machine to be used must be determined wholly 



