THE PROBLEM OF TILLAGE 



Harrowing. 



After plowing the most important 

 operation in the dry-farm is the constant 

 use of the harrow. The land should al- 

 ways be harrowed the same day that it is 

 plowed. The chief objects of harrowing 

 are: to make a fine and mellow seed-bed, 

 to warm the soil, to kill weeds, to prevent 

 the evaporation of soil moisture, to retain 

 the rains, and to encourage the germ life 

 that is so essential to fertility. In har- 

 rowing and plowing, let me state again, 

 the soil should be taken at the right time, 

 that is to say, when the land is moist 

 neither too wet nor too dry. Harrowing 

 land that is inclined to be wet, or having 

 furrows with a glazed appearance, will 

 injure the mechanical texture of soil. It 

 is better, therefore, to lose some of the 

 water in the soil by evaporation rather 

 than to run the risk of harming the land. 

 All over the West it is a common practice 

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