CULTIVATION OF CROPS. 



63 



I '2 34-56 



Subsoiler at Work. 



6 inches deep (see p. 59), a total depth of from 10 to 12 inches 

 is obtained at the lowest cost of labor. Subsoiling may 

 follow draining. Water allowed to lodge under in a 



shallow furrow converts the 

 subsoil into a sour mud that 

 is destructive to every root 

 that comes into contact with 

 it. With combined drain- 

 age and subsoiling, we have 

 the means of growing crops 

 at all seasons, whether they 

 be very dry or very wet, or the happy medium between 

 the two. 



Implements for Surface Cultivation. The plough may 

 do wonders in the hands of a man who knows how to use 

 it. There are those among us who do all the labour of 

 cultivation with the plough and harrow, and do it well. 

 But these are exceptional cases, and even in them it is 

 questionable whether there would not be saving of time 

 and labour, and money as a consequence, by the use of 



other implements. It is in 

 this direction that the colo- 

 nial farmer has to look for a 

 solution of the labour diffi- 

 culty that cramps his ener- 

 gies. In dry weather, while 

 it is desirable to keep all the 

 moisture possible in the soil, 

 the grubber is of peculiar 

 value. With it the soil can 

 be loosened to the required 

 depth, and prepared for seed 

 without turning it over, and 

 consequent exposure to the 

 air. This is becoming com- 

 mon practice in preparing 



Plough cultivator. land for wheat in the Rive- 



rina district, and in other 

 parts where the soil is sandy and inclined to be dry. 



