168 SOILS 



a deep cultivation may be needed. Crops that 

 root deeply, as fruit trees, can be tilled more deeply 

 than crops that are shallow-rooted. The aim 

 should be to keep the soil water from getting above 

 that part of the soil in which the roots feed most. 

 The safest and best general practice, according 

 to present information, is to fit the land deeply and 

 thoroughly before planting, and to cultivate not 

 over three inches deep thereafter, and sometimes 

 less. A loose, dry mulch three inches deep is as 

 valuable a water-saver and weed-preventer as one 

 five inches deep. However, when a soil becomes 

 compact beneath the surface, as clayey soils are 

 very apt to from the tramping above, it is certainly 

 wise to stir it deeply. 



THE ADVANTAGE OF LEVEL CULTURE 



In earlier years nearly all crops were hilled or 

 ridged when cultivated. Now there is a strong 

 preference for level culture whenever practicable. 

 This preference is based on two facts; that level 

 culture is obviously easier and cheaper; and that 

 less water is lost since it exposes the minimum 

 amount of soil surface to the air for evaporation. 

 How much more surface is exposed when the 

 soil is left like this A than when it is left like 

 this ? 



Probably the chief reason why the farmers and 

 gardeners of a generation ago hilled their corn, pota- 

 toes, and beans, ridged their cotton and planted their 

 onions, carrots, and parsnips in raised beds, more 

 than at present, is because farm soils were not then 

 as well drained as they are now, there being 

 comparatively little under-drainage at that time. 

 There are but two occasions for ridging land: 



