154 SOILS 



simply a spike- tooth harrow, shaped like an A, 

 with handles attached. It may be worked shallow 

 and leave the surface very level; for this reason 

 it is considered one of the best tools for preserving 

 the soil mulch after it has been made by deeper 

 Working tools. The teeth may be straight on one 

 end and bent forward on the other and it should 

 be easy to reverse the ends. The bent end works 

 deeper. Most makes are also provided with a 

 lever to regulate the depth at which the teeth 

 work. The spike-tooth cultivator is not a good 

 implement for killing weeds except when they are 

 less than half an inch high. It is preeminently 

 a tool for making a mulch. If weeds get a start 

 the broader teeth of the coulter cultivator will up- 

 root them much better. 



The advantage of using a spike-tooth harrow as 

 a cultivator for stirring the entire surface of the 

 soil, where corn, potatoes, peas, beets and many 

 other crops have been planted, has already been 

 alluded to. Many people are afraid to use this 

 harrow for this purpose, thinking it will pull up the 

 crop as well as the weeds. But little if any injury 

 to the crop results from this harrowing, chiefly 

 because the seeds of the crop have been planted 

 deeply and the soil firmed around them; while 

 the weed seeds are mostly on or near the surface; 

 hence young weeds have a much slighter hold upon 

 the soil than the crop. The harrow may be used 

 for cultivating these crops until they are four 

 to six inches high; it is the most economical culti- 

 vating that can be given. 



Spring-tooth Cultivators, usually with five teeth, 

 are occasionally used. Like spring-tooth harrows, 

 they work deeply, loosening the sou for four or five 

 inches if necessary. For this reason they are quite 



