138 



TILTH AND TILLAGE 



considered in relation to the different tillage implements. It is 

 convenient to divide the discussion into three parts: (1) Prepara- 

 tion of the seed bed; (2) seeding and planting, and (3) cultiva- 

 tion and intertillage. 



PREPARING THE SEED BED 



The Plow the First Implement. The first tool commonly used 

 in the preparation of the seed bed is the plow. Because of its 

 importance, it has been called the greatest tool in the advance- 

 ment of agriculture. Long before the invention of the modern 

 plow, tillers of the ground so fully realized the great necessity of 

 some kind of implement to loosen the soil preparatory to planting 



FIG. 67. Diagram illustrating the pulverizing action of the moldboard. (King.) 



that many of them used a crooked, wooden stick. A modern 

 moldboard plow is a comparatively plain tool and seems a simple 

 invention, yet the history of its evolution reads like a romance. 



Because of its ingeniously devised steel moldboard, the modern 

 plow can turn practically any kind of soil, and at the same time 

 pulverize it more or less (Figs. 67 and 68). Certain equipment is 

 required to increase the efficiency of the plow; such as, jointers 

 and coulters, to cut sod into strips so it can be turned and to aid 

 in turning under weeds, grass and litter; the gauge wheel, to aid 

 in regulating the depth of plowing;: and clevises, for draft 

 adjustments (Figs. 69 to 74). 



Plowing Stubble Land. Stubble land, or old ground, is land 

 on which small grains and cultivated crops have been grown. 

 Plows designed for such lands are called stubble plows. Their 

 moldboards are short, high and have an abrupt turn. Because of 



