CHAPTER VI 

 Depth of Plowing 



DEPTH of plowing has been argued pro and con for 

 many years. A depth of six inches is regarded as deep 

 plowing by some and shallow by others. In this dis- 

 cussion two to four inches is regarded as shallow. faur_ 

 to eight inches as medium and eight to sixteen inches as 

 deep plowing. The question that interests every 

 farmer and one that he must decide for himself is whether 

 he shall practice shallow or deep plowing on his farm, 

 and not what his neighbor regards as deep or shallow 

 plowing. One farmer makes great success of deep 

 plowing, another plows just as deep and meets with 

 dismal crop failure. One farmer plows deep in the fall 

 and grows a good crop the next year, another plows just 

 as deep in the fall and has a dismal failure the next year. 

 The same results are happening in deep spring plowing. 

 These being facts beyond dispute, something besides the 

 mere act of plowing must be taken into consideration 

 before a conclusion can be reached. 



Advocates of deep fall plowing center their arguments 

 around the theory that deep plowing in the fall turns 

 the raw earth to the surface giving it the advantage of 

 the winter's freezing and atmospheric influences to bring 

 into play the fertility which is supposed to have lain 

 dormant or in unavailable form. The experience of 

 those who have deep fall plowed with disastrous results 

 the next year would tend to disprove this theory. The 

 fact that many men have deep plowed in the spring with 

 successful results would tend furthermore to prove that 

 fertility is made available by deep plowing in the spring. 



