16 POTATO CULTUBti. 



and hard, the smoothing-harrow will not have much effect 

 on them only to move them around a little. It can not do 

 much pulverizing unless you wait for a shower, and go on 

 just as it gets dry enough. The safest plan is, never to let 

 the lumps dry. If it is very drying weather, hitch on to the 

 harrow after dinner, and harrow down what you plowed in 

 the morning, and the next morning work what was plowed 

 in the afternoon. Many friends have wondered how I could 

 harrow land, that was at all heavy, with a smoothing-harrow. 

 They thought it would not touch hard clods. You have 

 here in this chapter the secrets. If a thing must be done 

 any way, why not do it just when and in the way it can be 

 done'easiest and best V Some one may ask, " Why pulverize 

 the surface soil? The roots do not grow at the top." Well, 

 there would be danger of cut seed drying up in a dry time, 

 if we did not, and fine soil acts as a mulch to prevent the 

 lower soil from drying out, arid, of course, the harrow-teeth 

 go down in so as to fine the soil below some also. Now, 

 after harrowing just this once, we have often rolled the 

 ground and gone on with the planting, and considered that 

 we were doing the best we knew how. If there are hard 

 spots in the field, that the smoothing-harrow will not work 

 down properly, if used on time, or if the entire field is in 

 such shape that more working seems to be needed, we go 

 over it with a cutaway, or disc harrow, crosswise, lapping 

 half, then use the smoothing-harrow again lengthwise, and 

 roll. If there is an unusually hard clay spot, we go over it 

 alternately with cutaway, Thomas, and roller, until it is fine, 

 just working that spot down by itself, when the rest of the 

 field does not need so much tillage. The first time over with 

 the smoothing-harrow, we go the same way we plowed, so as 

 to push the furrows over rather than tear them up. A set 

 of three-horse whiffletrees, for three horses abreast, is a good 

 thing, as you can go right along then, with weight enough 

 on to set the teeth well down. Elliott's three-horse evener 

 is simple, light, and cheap. I have one, and it is just the 



