Plowing Under Manure. 253 



soil to work up fine and form the seed bed. 2d. Plowing 

 deep enough at first to provide a sufficient soil to work tip 

 with a disc harrow and give the desired depth of seed-bed. 

 The latter method usually requires less time but the draft 

 is heavier. It is usually best in such cases to go over the 

 surface with a heavy roller to press the sod home and lessen 

 the danger of the disc turning them over. 



319. Plowing Under Manure. If manure is coarse or the 

 soil light it is usually better to place it under a deep f urrow 

 because it needs more moisture to rot it and in heavy soils 

 it will let the air penetrate more deeply jnto the soil. In 

 such cases it is better to do the plowing in the fall or as 

 early in the spring as the soil will permit. If the. ground 

 is a little too dry when plowed and seeding time is at hand 

 the field should be thoroughly harrowed and firmed, using 

 the heavy roller if necessary in order to establish good 

 capillary connection with the deeper soil. If this is not 

 done the soil above is liable to become too dry. 



When the manure is well rotted it may be left nearer the 

 surface to advantage, except in the sandy soils where the 

 air penetrates so deeply as to cause too rapid decomposition 

 )f the manure. 



320. Plowing Under Green Manure. Where a crop is 

 ; urned under for green manure i-t is usually best to plow 

 Jeep, to use the jointer and the drag-chain if necessary to 

 get everything well and deeply buried. If a considerable 

 body of material is turned under thorough firming of the 

 soil after plowing will be beneficial. 



In green manuring good judgment is always required 

 not to let the crop turned under exhaust the soil moisture 

 too completely, for when this has occurred a new crop 

 starts under very unfavorable conditions, both because of 

 lack of water and immediately available plant food, for the 

 soluble salts are used up with the water by the green ma- 

 nure crop. 



