

CHAPTER X 



THE PREPARATION OF THE SOIL AFTER PLOWING FOB 

 THE SEED BED 



TO properly prepare the soil for the seed bed 

 after it is plowed or broken up, is as impor- 

 tant as the right plowing of the soil, and yet few 

 farmers give this the attention it should receive. 

 The author has always contended that the soil 

 properly prepared for the seed bed after it has 

 been plowed is half the cultivation of the crop, 

 that is, if the soil be put in the right condition 

 for planting that the crops grown do not need 

 thereafter one-half the cultivation usually given, 

 and besides there are other and important advan- 

 tages to be obtained. 



Old agricultural writers of practice contended 

 that "tillage is manure." That proper prepara- 

 tion of the soil is nothing more than intensive till- 

 age, and that intensive tillage pulverizes and 

 mixes up the soil, that it paves the way for the re- 

 lease of soil elements that feed the growing plants. 

 But how are we to get this tillage or proper prep- 

 aration? 



1st. We must have the proper implements with 

 which to do it. 



2d. It must be done at the right time. 



3d. The tillage must be thorough or in quan- 

 tity. 



If soil is hard, compact, and devoid of the 



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