CHAPTER XIII. 



TILLAGE. 



HAT do we till for ? To bury a sod, destroy weeds 

 and grass, fine the soil so as to make a better seed 

 bed for plants and sometimes to compact it, to 

 prevent a crust forming, or, in other words, to let 

 in air freely, to check evaporation of moisture and 

 sometimes to hasten it, to prevent water from 

 flowing off on surface and cause it to soak straight down, to bring 

 new particles of soil in contact with each other, and in general to 

 set free more of the plant food that is locked up in the soil. 

 These are the main reasons. L,et us take them up in regular 

 order. The plow is the first implement to use. With this we 

 can turn over the sod and bury the corn stubble or loosen up the 

 settled earth to a depth of 6 or 8 or even 10 inches, thus letting 

 in the air, and then we have the foundation laid for the other 

 operations. There is a tendency towards stirring the ground more 

 hastily and less thoroughly of late. Be careful that this is not 

 carried too far. No other implement can do quite the same 

 thorough work of the old plow. There are many styles of plows, 

 and as many of plowing. One man wants a sod furrow turned 

 over flat and smooth, and a plow that will do this, that has a long 

 mould board and hence easy draft, is his plow every time. But now 

 I would not take such a plow as a gift. I want to turn a lap- 

 furrow, so the rich surface may be scattered through the soil more, 

 and not laid flat on the subsoil, and I want a shorter, blunter 

 mould board that will leave the furrows just turned so they will 

 not comeback, but lying up rough and loose. Such a plow draws 

 a little harder, but it does the work wanted. With a field plowed 

 like this, my Thomas smoothing harrow used in time will, with 

 my weight on it, do a large amount of pulverizing in once passing 

 over. This harrow would hardly touch the same soil turned over 

 flat and smooth. I would then have to take the cutaway or disk 

 to loosen it up in the shape the plow might just as well have left 

 it in. I do not want and will not have an inch skipped when 

 plowing, and still my field looks very rough when plowed, as 

 compared with some, and perhaps the other fellow thinks he is 

 doing a nicer job than I. But I am after the most net dollars. 



Of course, for such plowing, and for all on our farm, a 



jointer should be used on the plow. This is simply a very small 



plow ahead of the big one, that skims along two inches deep and 



throws sod or rubbish into the furrow, where it is buried. With- 



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