HISTORY OF DRY-FARMING 



Tull's theories were wrong, his practice 

 has been followed by all progressive far- 

 mers down to the present time. We now 

 know that plants do not absorb particles 

 of earth, but take in food in solution. 

 Consequently, the more the particles of 

 soil are broken up and refined, the more 

 plant food the roots can absorb. Before 

 Tull's day, seeds were sown broadcast 

 and but little subsequent tillage was 

 given. He recommended a more thor- 

 ough preparation of the land. He ad- 

 vised that wheat, oats, and other crops be 

 planted in drills to admit of tillage with 

 a horse-hoe. He devised a number of 

 tools to perform this work. For all these 

 things, he was bitterly abused and op- 

 posed by his contemporaries. His system 

 met with much opposition from the far- 

 mers themselves. In the third and fourth 

 editions of this work the editors affirm 

 that "what is still more to be lamented, 

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