174 SOILS 



an area of ground about eight to ten feet wide. 

 When dragged over a newly seeded and rolled 

 field the tough twiggy branches stir the surface 

 soil thoroughly to tne depth of one to two 

 inches, making a very effective shallow mulch 

 after a heavy rolling. It is better to defer making 

 the mulch for twenty-four hours after rolling, by 

 which time the moisture will have come to the 

 surface. 



Other Illustrations of the Principle of Rolling. 

 The practice of making a mulch after rolling sowed 

 land is not common. Most farmers who roll their 

 seeding leave it so. When rainfall is liberal and 

 the soil is fairly heavy and retentive, so that the 

 saving of water is not a first consideration, this is 

 probably the best plan. But if the summer rain- 

 fall is insufficient and the soil quite open, it will 

 usually pay to harrow or brush afterward. On the 

 other hand, the practice of making a mulch after 

 rolling, or otherwise compacting land that is to be 

 put into hoed crops, is necessarily very common. 

 In fitting sandy soils it is well to roll them before 

 the last harrowing. 



In garden operations there are numerous and 

 forceful illustrations of the value of establishing a 

 mulch above compacted soil. When I was little 

 more than half as high as a hoe handle, and 

 helped my father plant corn, I used to wonder why 

 he patted down the earth above the kernels and then 

 scattered a hoeful of soil loosely on top of this. 

 The gardener who makes a round melon hill, 

 patted smooth on top and covered with loose soil, 

 and who walks on his row of beets and then covers 

 his tracks; the fruit grower who stamps the earth 

 around the roots of the fruit tree he is planting but 

 leaves it loose on top; the florist who presses his 



