PHYSICAL INTER-RELATIONS IN SOILS 47 



sible, to take advantage of the proper moisture condition 

 for plowing and the consequent partial re-mellowing that 

 might come therefrom. The plow, therefore, leaves the 

 soil in a very lumpy condition. King, in his "The Soil," 1 

 gives a very striking illustration of the extra expenditure 



FIG. 20. The appearance of soil plowed in an overdry condition, and 

 especially after it has been subjected to standing water for some 

 time. The mellowing tools following the plow will produce a zone 

 of mellow soil as shown. They cannot, however, mellow the soil 

 to the bottom of the furrow, and crops planted upon soil in such 

 a condition must fail wholly or in part. 



of labor required to develop a proper condition of tilth 

 which, after all, was then only an approximate condition. 

 Complete restoration, even under the less aggravated 

 initial condition which he there describes, was probably 

 impossible for that season. (See Figs. 19 and 20.) 



1 King's The Soil, p. 189. 



