ROTATION OF CROPS. 



103 



The following year the whole of No. 2 section, 

 including the sod left from the previous year, and 

 the stubble land, may be plowed with a two-furrow 

 gang-plow (///. jj) by adding a third horse for the 

 sod. 



If the land is too dry and hard, use a single plow 

 with wheel to regulate the depth (///. 4q). By 

 keeping the humus on the surface there will be no 

 difl&culty, after a few years, in plowing sod in the 

 summer, as humus will not get hard. Hasten de- 

 composition, as before described, by having the 

 ground rolled and harrowed immediately after 

 plowing. 



Early fall is the best time to clean the land of 

 weeds and weed seeds for the next season's hoe 

 crop, and with proper implements the work of fall 

 cultivation can be done thoroughly while there is 

 no crop on the ground. The broad-share cultivator 

 and harrow should be kept going alternately at 

 short interv^als until October. By that time the 

 land should be in fine tilth and free from weeds or 

 weed seeds that may be near the surface. 



All the farm manure that is on hand should be 

 spread on the surface at the rate of about fifteen 

 two-horse waggon loads per acre and covered by 

 ribbing the land with the attachment (see III. 55) 

 on the cultivator frame, making the ribs about 

 twenty inches wide. 



The manure will then be in the centre of the ribs, 

 which will prevent it from leaching and being lost. 

 The decomposed vegetable matter in the ribs will 

 act as an absorbent and prevent the liquid manure 

 and ammonia from escaping. 



The furrows tend to drain the land and allow the 

 frost to act on the subsoil. If the ribs are run 

 north and south the land will dry several days 



Plow Sod and 

 Stubble Land. 



Plowing in 

 Summer. 



Fall Cultivation 

 — Best Time to 

 Clean the Land. 



Manuring and 

 Ribbing Before 

 Winter. 



Advantages o: 

 Ribbing. 



Ribbing North 

 and South. 



