170 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



on his wheat land in the way of mellowing and fining. The best 

 yield I ever secured was on a field that I harrowed, rolled, and 

 dragged six times between breaking and seeding. I fully believe 

 in the truth of the maxim, " Tillage is manure," and that a soil 

 which is kept mellow and fine for six weeks or two months 

 during the heat of summer, becomes vitalized and enriched so as 

 to give the young plant a thrifty start. 



It is of the utmost importance in all the work of preparing 

 the seed-bed for wheat to so arrange that the work can be done 

 at the right time. During the heat of summer we usually have 

 after each rain, one or two cool, cloudy days. This is the time 

 when the teams should be kept at work early and late. The 

 land is moist and turns up easily, and the team will do twelve or 

 even fourteen hours of work with less strain and worry than 

 they will do eight a week later, when the ground has become 

 dry and the mercury is up in the nineties. It is the same with 

 the work of pulverizing. There are times when one day's work 

 will accomplish more than three a little later. There is a time 

 after a rain when the ground will crumble at a touch, and if the 

 farmer can go on his fields then with a harrow that will take a 

 wide sweep he can mellow a large amount in a day, and leave 

 it in a condition to be benefited by sun and air, while if neg- 

 lected a few days, till a crust forms, it will be impossible to 

 get it in good order till another rain falls. 



My advice in preparing land for wheat is to roll as soon as 

 plowed. At the first plowing after a rain it will do to plow 

 a day or sometimes two days before rolling, but as the weather 

 gets hot and the land begins to dry, roll each half day, and 

 under some circumstances it will pay to unhitch from the plow 

 and hitch to the roller as soon as a sufficient number of furrows 

 are plowed to make a round for the latter. I think that any 

 farmer who will give this plan a fair test will never abandon it. 

 It is wonderful what power of retaining moisture a fine soil has. 

 A field that is at once made fine and compact with the roller will 

 be put in excellent condition for seeding by a shower which would 

 not make any impression on a field that had been left rough and 

 cloddy. I think there can be no beneficial chemical action in 



