TILLAGE TOOLS: WHAT THEY ARE FOR IQ3 



A field may look well after a harrow has gone over it, 

 but this does not necessarily mean that the work has been 

 done well. For this reason, you should always examine 

 carefully to see whether the soil has been uniformly pul- 

 verized, and the particles pressed in close contiguity. 



While few men catch the spirit of plowing, a still less 

 number catch the spirit of harrowing. The harrow is the 

 tool to complete disintegration and pulverization. It 

 should go three, four, or even five inches into the soil. 

 The harrow teeth should go down well below the surface, 

 and work among clods and lumps ; they should either 

 break all clods and lumps, or bring them to the surface 

 where they can be ground and crumbled by subsequent 

 tillage. 



A field is never well harrowed until the interstices be- 

 tween the coarser particles are filled with a sifting in of 

 the finer particles. When this has been accomplished, the 

 seeds have a perfect chance to sprout and grow ; the soil 

 is well fitted to take care of its water supply. 



One kind of harrow is not enough : it will not do for 

 all seasons, nor for all soils. Here are the things the 

 harrow must do: it must smooth, cut. level, spade, pul- 

 verize, and compact. Xo harrow can do all these, hence, 

 you will need different kinds to do all the work involved 

 in harrowing well and effectively. 



The fine-tooth, smoothing harrow should have a place 

 on every farm. It levels and disintegrates, and it comes 

 in handily for intertillage : it does splendidly on corn and 

 cotton land after planting is done. 



The spring-tooth harrow should be had, as it comes in 

 nicely where you have leveling and smoothing to do, or 

 where a heavy rain has compacted the soil too hard for 

 seeding purposes. 



In addition to these, you should have a disk or cut-away 



