XIV 



CONTENTS 



Tillage to kill weeds . , . 



What a weed is . 



The tirade against weeds . 



Friendly words for weeds . 



A spur to the sluggard . 



Tillage to save water . 



The amount lost by evaporation 



The efficiency of the soil mulch . . 



Increasing the water-holding capacity of soils 

 Dry farming ...... 



Its growing importance in the West . 



Conditions under which it is necessary 



Methods of handling the soil 



Crops under dry farming . 



Caution necessary . . . . . 

 Tillage to promote fertility . 



Nature's method of promoting fertility . 



How tillage increases fertility . . . 



Tillage the poor man's manure . . 

 The alchemy that follows the plow 



PAGB 



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CHAPTER VI. THE OBJECTS AND METHODS OF 

 PLOWING 



The evolution of the plow 



Primitive plows . ... 



Early American plows 



The modern plow 

 The objects of plowing .... 



To destroy wild plants and bury herbage 



To pulverise the soil 



To prepare the seed bed 



To promote fertility 



To deepen the soil reservoir 



To drain the soil .... 



To establish a mulch . . . 



The depth to plow is influenced by: 



The nature of the soil . . . 



The time of year 



The nature of the subsoil 



The value of deep-plowing and sub-soiling 



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