COMPACTED AND LOOSE GROUND 



329 



covers and presses thirty-one and one-half square 

 inches of surface, and that two horses be driven over 

 the plowed ground five times, in the fitting and seeding 

 of the land, and that 

 the implement covers 

 an average space of 

 five feet at each pas- 

 sage, the feet will 

 have compressed and 

 fined approximately 

 five -twelfths of the 

 acre of land. How- 

 ever, some deduction 

 may be made, for it 

 is probable that the 

 feet will occasionally 

 tread in a former 

 track. Usually, un- 

 plowed ground is too compact and plowed ground too 

 loose for the fullest growth of most plants, and the 

 compacting and fining of the surface soil by the horse's 

 feet is usually beneficial, as far as it goes. Then, too, 

 many clods will fall into the depressed tracks made by 

 the feet; as the harrow follows, the clods will be drawn 

 into the depressions and crushed or covered; if covered, 

 they become softened and are then fined by the roller or 

 a second harrowing. Sometimes the beneficial effects 

 of the compacting by the feet are marked. On the other 

 hand, the tramping may be detrimental, as when the 

 ground is moist and the crop to be raised does best in a 

 loose soil. 



FIG. 86. Durable and beautiful 



