342 



How THE FARM PAYS. 



PREPARING THE GROUND 



lor the reception of the seed (if it has been plowed the fall 

 previous), plowing should be begun as soon as the land is dry- 

 enough to work, first having spread over the land well rotted stable 

 manure, at the rate of thirty tons to the acre. This should be lightly 

 turned under, plowing not more than five or six inches deep, and 

 covering the manure so that it will be three or four inches under the 

 surface. For this reason, the manure must be well rotted, otherwise 

 it cannot be well covered by the plow. If concentrated fertilizers 

 are to be used, it is best to plow the land up roughly, sow the 

 fertilizer at the rate of one to two tons per acre, according to its 



SOTJTHPOBT YELLOW GLOBE ONION. 



SOUTHPORT WHITE GLOBE ONION. 



fertilizing properties; then harrow thoroughly, so that it is regularly 

 incorporated with the soil. After harrowing with an ordinary toothed 

 harrow, the surface should be further leveled with some kind of a 

 "smoothing" harrow, either Meeker's Smoothing Disc Harrow, or 

 some sort of chain harrow. The former we like best, as the revolv- 

 ing discs pulverize the soil, to a depth of three inches, much better 

 than it can be done by raking, and the smoothing board, which 

 follows in the wake of the revolving wheels, makes the surface, if free 

 from stones, smooth as a board far better than it can be done by 

 raking. 



