TREATMENT OF UNPLANTED LAND 



71 



for working in the spring, a small portion of the soil should be 

 taken in one hand and pressed into a ball. When the fingers are 

 relaxed, the mass of soil should retain its shape and show the marks 

 of the fingers, but should readily crumble when rubbed lightly 

 between the thumb and finger, and should not stick to the hand. 

 Treatment of Unplanted Land to Conserve Moisture. — For later 

 crops the land should be plowed fairly early in the spring while 

 it is still well supplied with moisture, and should be harrowed the 

 same day it is plowed, in order to break up the surface lumps 



Fig. 39. — Disk harrow: an implement used for surface 

 tillage in preparing land for vegetables. 



before they become hard, and also to create a mulch that will 

 conserve moisture in the lower layers of the soil. At frequent 

 intervals and before a crust forms after each rain, the ground 

 should be disked or harrowed, and thus kept in good tilth until 

 the time it is needed for planting. It will then be an easy matter 

 to finish the preparation of the seed bed with harrow and planker. 

 In a small home garden, where there may be insufficient space 

 for working with horse tools, the same principles of preparation 

 apply. To facilitate early planting it is an advantage to work 

 up the ground roughly but deeply in the fall. Fall worked ground 

 can be fitted for early planting by the use of a hoe and rake. Land 

 for later planting should be spaded in early spring while it is in 



