harrow. This implement has been found to produce generally, 

 the most nearly ideal seed bed conditions, because of the man- 

 ner in which it meets the requirements in the desired prepara- 

 tion of soil. 



The disk harrow is coming: into general use on both the 

 unirrigated and irrigated farms of Idaho in disking grain stub- 

 ble. The farmers are finding that it pays to disk immediately 

 after harvest in order that the soil will absorb any water which 

 may be precipitated or artificially applied, and in order that 

 when the plowing is done later in the season the soil will be 

 turned over in a mellow, rather than in a lumpy condition. 

 Oftentimes farmers plant alfalfa in their stubble fields shortly 

 after the grain crop is removed and the disk harrow is here 

 used to prepare the seed bed. Where soil has been reasonably 

 well cared for and is not too heavy, naturally, a better seed bed 

 can frequently be secured for alfalfa planting by thoroughly 

 disking the stubble than by plowing the field, and the disking 

 of course is much less expensive than plowing. On some of the 

 sandy soils in the Snake River Valley, it has been found that a 

 stand of alfalfa can be secured by planting in a seed bed pre- 

 pared by a disk harrow run over a stubble field. Where these 

 sandy soils are inclined to "blow," great care has to be taken 

 not to get too much finely pulverized soil on the surface. In 

 instances of this kind, the disk harrow is run with the disks 

 almost straight over the stubble field. This loosens up the soil 

 sufficiently for the reception of the alfalfa seed, but does not 

 pulverize it to such an extent that it blows undesirably. This 

 use of the disk harrow illustrates its adjustability by varying 

 the angle at which the disks are run. Wide variations in the 

 degree of pulverization of the soil can be secured. 



The cultivation of alfalfa on both the dry and irrigated 

 farms of Idaho is done very largely with the disk harrow. The 

 purposes of cultivating alfalfa are many. They include the 

 admission of air to the alfalfa roots and the organisms on the 

 roots, the breaking up of the crust formed by natural precipi- 

 tation or surface irrigation, the eradication of weeds from the 



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