TYPES OF CULTIVATORS 



479 



pulverization following the plow. Plowing, if it be prop- 

 erly done, leaves the soil in the best possible condition 

 to be pulverized. It is properly moistened, and if the 

 clods are not shattered they are reasonably frail and may 

 be much more readily broken down than when they are 

 permitted to dry out. In drying, they are somewhat 

 cemented together and thereby hardened. Not only is 

 it desirable in almost all cases to take advantage of this 





Fig. 137. "Sweeps" used extensively in the southern states, particularly 

 for shallow cultivation of cotton and corn. (Hartley.) 



condition of the soil, but the leveling and pulverizing 

 of the soil reduces drying and improves the character 

 of the seed bed. 



340. Cultivators proper. There is a great va- 

 riety in types and patterns of cultivators. .They may be 

 divided into: (a) Large shovel forms, (b) Small shovel 

 forms. The former have a few comparatively large 

 shovels set rather far apart, which vigorously tear 

 up the earth to a considerable depth and leave it in 

 large ridges. There is a lack of uniform action, and 



