84 The Control of the Soil [pt. ii 



the fact that if the clay is in the proper state small lumps 

 of soil readily fall to pieces when just sufficiently moist. 

 Hence after winter the soil is allowed to dry and is then 

 broken down into small lumps by a clod-crusher : these 

 are then allowed to become moist so that they break to 

 pieces with harrows. The operation probably demands 

 more skill and judgment than any other part of soil 

 management: both the drymg and the re wetting are 

 done by the weather and are therefore largely out of 

 farmers' control; only a limited time is available and 

 the season for sowing the crop soon passes ; and, on the 

 other hand, if the farmer tries to hurry matters too 

 much and begins before the land is dry enough he may 

 poach it so badly as to ruin it for a time. His only 

 chance, therefore, is to have his work well forward in 

 autumn and winter so as to take full advantage of 

 favourable opportunities in spring. The ideal case arises 

 when the soil was turned up roughly in autumn, when 

 the winter was frosty, and the spring just sufficiently 

 showery to soften the lumps at the proper time and 

 facilitate their breaking down under the harrows. A 

 mild winter makes matters more difficult because the 

 clay does not flocculate. If the early spring is dry the 

 soil dries to a hard surface, or, in the case of lighter soils, 

 to steely lumps which can be broken by the Crosskill or 

 other roller; if, however, the spring remains dry there is 

 great difficulty in getting any further and obtaining a 

 proper tilth; this is often experienced on the loams of 

 the south-eastern parts of England where spring rain- 

 fall is low and winters are mild. A good cultivator 

 watching his opportunities often achieves remarkable 

 results, but no one has yet succeeded in reducing his art 

 to an exact science. 



