FARM MANAGEMENT 43 



followed; in others, early plowing with summer tillage is the rule. 

 Still another method of summer fallowing is what is known as 

 Right-lapping.. 



Late Plowing With No Cultivation. This method is practiced 

 most frequently where there is considerable rainfall. The land is 

 plowed just as late in the spring as possible, and no further cultiva- 

 tion is given. The object in plowing so late is to get all the pasture 

 possible before plowing and to have the soil break up in a cloddy 

 condition and become so dry before it is plowed that no weed seeds 

 will germinate. If no weeds come many think that plowing is all 

 the cultivation that is necessary. Cattle and horses, and in some 

 instances sheep, are pastured on the summer fallow, to keep the 

 weeds down. Many do this class of work because they are farming 

 two or three times as much land as can properly be handled with 

 their equipment. Others profess to believe in it. If the rainfall is 

 considerable and is well distributed through the growing season, 

 good crops are often secured by this method. The advocates of this 

 system say it is desirable to have the ground pass through the winter 

 rough and cloddy in order that the depressions may catch the snow 

 and rain water and prevent it from running off the surface. They 

 further say that the soil runs together and becomes closely packed 

 during the winter if it is finely pulverized, and that the lumpy con- 

 dition secured by late plowing with no subsequent cultivation largely 

 prevents this. 



There are some serious objections to this system of summer fal- 

 lowing. In the first place, it is not conducive to the conservation of 

 moisture, to desirable bacterial life, and to the decomposition of the 

 organic matter in the soil. Instead of being freed from noxious 

 weeds the soil constantly becomes more foul. The average yield of 

 wheat for a number of years when raised on land summer fallowed 

 in this way is probably from 5 to 10 bushels less to the acre than 

 that secured on well-tilled land. It is also claimed that the yield of 

 the spring crop that follows the winter wheat grown on land summer 

 fallowed in this way is also usually very low. 



Early Plowing With Summer Tillage. This is a very common 

 method of summer fallowing. The plowing is done in the spring as 

 early as the ground is in good working condition. Some follow the 

 plow closely with the common tooth-harrow. This settles the soil, 

 pulverizes and dries the surface, and prevents the evaporation of a 

 great deal of moisture. Others plow large areas before harrowing, 

 permitting the soil to lie loose and open, just as the plow leaves it. 

 In this loose open condition the air circulates through the soil too 

 freely and dries it out very rapidly. Although it is not always done, 

 it is usually the aim to do enough cultivating after plowing to control 

 the weeds. 



Right-lapping. Where this system is followed the right-lap 

 cutaway harrow is used. As soon as the spring seeding is done the 

 land to be summer fallowed is cultivated with the right-lap. If there 

 is no seeding to be done, this first cultivation is given just as early 

 as the condition of the soil will permit. During the first cultivation 



