CHAPTER XIII 



PREPARATION OF SOILS FOR CROPS 



330. Importance of Good Physical Condition of 

 Seed Bed. But few soils are in suitable condition 

 for seeding without farther preparation than simply 

 plowing the land. If the plowing is poorly done, a 

 good seed bed cannot be prepared. The depth of 

 plowing is of prime importance and is determined 

 largely by the character of the soil, as sand, clay or 

 loam. (See Section 35). The character of the seed 

 bed is influenced not only by the depth of plowing but 

 by the nature of the plowing as the way in which the 

 furrow slice is left. Treatment of the soil after plow- 

 ing, as disking, harrowing, cultivating and light roll- 

 ing must be determined largely from the character of 

 the soil. Too frequently the preparation of the soil 

 is not given sufficient attention and crops suffer be- 

 cause of poorly prepared seed beds. 



331. Influence of Methods of Plowing Upon the 

 Condition of the Seed Bed. A poor seed bed is some- 

 times formed by complete inversion of the furrow slice 

 and the soil not being sufficiently pulverized. If a 

 heavy sod has simply been inverted, subsequent harrow- 

 ing and cultivation will fail to pulverize and loosen 

 the tough sod in the lower part of the furrow slice. 



