THE BENEFITS OF TILLAGE 107 



that compare very favourably with those of Eastern 

 farms that receive from 30 to 40 inches. Dry 

 farming is never resorted to, however, except when 

 irrigation is impossible or inexpedient. It is an 

 illustration of what can be done by tillage to con- 

 serve soil water that every farmer in the humid East 

 may consider with profit. 



Dry Farming Methods. The success of dry 

 farming is based upon a most thorough application 

 of the principles of tillage. Two things are essen- 

 tial : the subsoil must be put in condition to receive 

 and hold all the water that falls upon it, and the 

 surface soil must be made dry and mellow to pre- 

 vent the escape of that water by evaporation. A 

 third essential, in some cases, is to secure seeds that 

 are adapted to these trying conditions. 



In preparing the subsoil, an effort is usually 

 made to leave it compact. Sometimes this is done 

 with a special tool called a subsoil packer. This 

 is a bevel wheel roller that follows the plow, rolling 

 down and packing the subsoil. Each of its ten 

 wheels has V-shaped rims which press deeply into 

 the soil, compacting it below. The object is to 

 make the subsoil so firm that the air spaces will be 

 very small, hence air will not circulate freely 

 through the soil and dry it out. The soil packer 

 usually accompanies a steam plow outfit, which is 



generally used in dry farming. A weighted disk 

 arrow, with disks set straight, is also used. The 

 harrow is then put on the same day if possible 

 and three or four inches of the surface soil is 

 made into the most efficient kind of soil mulch, 

 which is renewed frequently. Keep the harrowing 

 close up to the plowing. The mulch established 

 in dry farming would be a revelation to those 

 Eastern farmers who barely scratch the surface 



