CHAPTER XIII 

 PREPARATION OF SOILS FOR CROPS 



345. Importance of Good Physical Condition of Seed 

 Bed. But few soils are in suitable condition for seed- 

 ing without further preparation than simply plowing the 

 land. If the plowing is poorly done, a good seed bed 

 cannot be made. The depth of plowing is of prime 

 importance and is determined largely by the kind of 

 soil, as sand, clay, or loam. (See Section 35.) The 

 condition of the seed bed is influenced not only by the 

 depth of plowing but by its nature as the way in which 

 the furrow slice is left. The treatment after plowing, as 

 disking, harrowing, cultivating, and light rolling, must be 

 determined largely by the character of the soil. Too 

 frequently the preparation of the soil is not given suf- 

 ficient attention and the crop suffers because of a poorly 

 prepared seed bed. Low yields are more generally due 

 to poor physical condition of the soil than to any other 

 factor. Without the requisite cultivation the natural 

 fertility is not used to the best advantage. 



346. Influence of Methods of Plowing upon the Condition 

 of the Seed Bed. A poor seed bed is sometimes due to 

 complete inversion of the furrow slice and the soil not 

 being sufficiently pulverized. If a heavy sod has simply 



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