IMPORTANCE OF GOOD PLOWING. 161 



Very few farmers ever plow a field twice in preparation for 

 a crop and it is nothing uncommon to see the land a mass 

 of hard clods, which the farmer is vainly endeavoring to 

 break down by the use of the spike tooth harrow or the rol- 

 ler, into a fit condition for the reception of the seed. 



The soil is quite as rarely ever plowed to a sufficient 

 depth and nothing is feared so much by American farmers 

 as permitting the plow to run an inch or two more deeply 

 than usual or to turn up "the yellow clay" to the surface. 

 All this is an injury to the soil. The passage of a plow 

 back and forth over the same bottom of a furrow for sever- 

 al years hardens it makes it tough and compact, and im- 

 permeable to air and water; and really reduces the depth 

 of the soil from which plants can procure their food to the 

 few inches which the shallow imperfect plowing turns over.. 

 Nor is the plowing even. The plowman is not instructed! 

 in the art of holding or guiding the plow, nor in the neces- 

 sity for keeping the furrow of even depth and width, and 

 of avoiding balks by which the plow is thrown out and a 

 portion of the soil is left wholly unturned. In many parts; 

 of the Southern States the soil is not even turned, but is. 

 merely torn by the common bull tongue which leaves the 

 soil only scratched in lines and a large part of it is not 

 touched. In the great states of Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; 

 and others ; wheat is sown upon the corn stubble and simply 

 covered by a harrowing and this with a most ineffective 

 implement. The soil is not turned and is not pulverized. 

 From what has been said in previous chapters this sort of 

 culture is seen to be wholly ineffective for its intended pur- 

 pose, and is utterly useless as a method for improving the 

 soil after it has been exhausted and wasted by this treat- 

 ment. 



The plow is constructed for the purpose of cutting loose 

 and turning over a portion of the soil, having a cross sec- 

 tion of 5 x 7 inches up to 7 to 10 or more; depending upon 

 circumstances. American plows are made with shorter and 

 more curved mold boards so as to break up the furrow slice 

 by bending it at a short and sharp angle and are exceed- 



