TflE BENEFITS OF TILLAGE 99 



Man requires a larger increase. It is in his 

 power to secure it in two ways; he can make the 

 condition of the soil favourable for the germination 

 of the seeds and the growth of the plants, and he 

 can prevent competition by isolating his plants. 

 All of these conditions are secured by tillage. The 

 plow buries wild plants and loosens and deepens 

 the soil; the karrow makes it mellow to receive the 

 seed; the cultivator kills the weeds that would 

 dispute with the crop for possession of the land. 

 Simple as these statements are, they are funda- 

 mental truths. 



An Improvement on Nature. The farmer whose 

 land yields the most increase is the one who im- 

 proves upon Nature the most, in sowing seeds and 

 in growing plants. He sows seed, not in Nature's 

 haphazard way, wherever the wind blows, on good 

 soil or poor, but only upon soil that is congenial 

 for that plant and that has been specially pre- 

 pared to receive it. He grows plants alone, not 

 in a hand to hand struggle with other plants that 

 he does not want. In fact, a man's success in 

 farming is measured largely by his ability to re- 

 move from his plants the uncertainties and the 

 competition that these plants would have to face 

 were they growing in the wild. This result is 

 accomplished largely by tillage. 



Good tillage is especially needed in making the 

 seed bed. The farmer who does the most harrow- 

 ing is usually rewarded at harvest time far beyond 

 the value of the time spent. All seeds need a 

 mellow soil, a warm soil and a well ventilated soi 1 

 in order to germinate quickly and grow fast. Plow- 

 ing and harrowing make the soil finer and secure 

 these conditions; and the degree of mellowness, 

 warmth, and aeration it has is governed very largely 



