138 FARMING ON FACTORY LINES 



compared with the ordinary spring cultivation. The 

 farmer's main object in connection with the latter is 

 to get his land dried sufficiently to allow of a fine 

 tilth being obtained. To do this, he is very careful, 

 especially if the land is in any way heavy, not to 

 touch soil in a damp condition, whilst to till such 

 land while rain was actually falling would be viewed 

 in the light of an insane act. 



With summer tillage, the case is entirely different. 

 The whole principle must be reversed. Instead of 

 allowing land to dry out before tillage operations are 

 commenced, every measure should be taken to retain 

 the soil moisture even to the extent of tilling the land 

 during rainy weather. This, of course, on heavy land 

 and in a wet summer can be overdone, but the 

 practical farmer will realise that tillage operations, 

 even in summer, must cease during wet weather, if 

 such operations result in the land being made pasty. 



QUICK CULTIVATION ESSENTIAL 



From the foregoing, it will be understood that, for 

 the successful growing of winter greens or any 

 summer-sown crop, we must adopt the methods 

 known in other countries as dry farming. For dry 

 farming, or the conservation of soil moisture, quick 

 or rapid cultivation of land is essential. For 

 instance, if a farmer were to set about the cultivation 

 of, say, 20 acres of tare stubble on the ordinary 

 plan to which he has been accustomed, he would 

 probably first plough the entire area; next he would 

 give the ploughed land a run w r ith the harrow or 

 cultivator; then proceed to cross-plough the whole 

 area, and repeat the harrowings and cultivations, 

 completing one operation before commencing the 

 next. 



