Whether the land has been newly cleared, or has been under 

 crop before, there should be always a fair proportion of fallow on 

 every farm. 



Four illustrations are given here of cultivators or scarifiers. 

 Coleman's is the original type, and has strength and durability to 

 recommend it. Bamford's 

 steel cultivator, it is claimed, 

 will prepare land equally \vell 

 for seed bed or for autumn 

 fallowing. A similar one is 

 made by the Massey- Harris 

 company, and has been used in 

 this colony and well spoken of. 

 The Planet jr. horsehoe does 

 good work, but is more suited 

 to light lands. There is also the 



Giant sectional cultivator, a THE GIANT. 



Canadian make (Richard Purser, local agent), to which a seed-box 

 may be attached, and which is highly recommended for all classes 



of land. It is said to be 

 used in the United States 

 for breaking up macadam- 

 ised roads previous to re- 

 metalling and rolling, so it 

 must be of immense strength. 

 In the drier districts of 

 the colony I cannot urge 

 too strongly upon farmers 



the advisableness of running 



USED l ^^^^3^,^;ij-J-^" ss ^ the harrows over the grow- 



ing crops in the spring as soon as the rains begin to slack off. 

 Lavves and Gilbert found that 36 per cent, of the rain percolated to 

 the dcp'h of 20 inches into the soil. With a 25-inch rainfall every 

 acre receives 567,168 gallons per annum, of which 200,000 sink 

 deeply into the soil. Two-thirds of the whole are ci'iifartitcd. This 

 means that when there is only a 15 inch rainfall, 10 inches, or 1000 

 tons of water per acre, are evaporated and practically lost to the 

 plant. It must be borne in mind that the plant is dependent upon 

 the moisture in the soil for its nourishment. A plant cannot eat, it 

 can only drink, that is, it cannot take up food in solid form, but 

 only in a liquid state. The plant drinks up its liquid nourishment, 

 retains the solids in its composition, and the liquid is evaporated 

 through its leaves. This shows the absolute necessity for retaining 

 as much moisture in the soil as may be requisite for the full 

 development of the plant. Harrowing in the spring, when the 

 rains have practically ceased, breaks up the surface of the ground, 

 destroying the minute channels or capillaries, by means of which 

 the water finds its way down below, and in doing so arrests the 



