CHAPTER XXI 



THE CULTIVATION OF CROPS: THE TOOLS AND THE 

 PURPOSES 



The cultivating- tools involved in the interculture of 

 crops serve three purposes: they release plant food ; they 

 kill weeds ; and they pro- 

 vide a mulch so as to pre- 

 vent the loss of soil water. 

 The modern idea is to cul- 

 tivate the soil in a man- 

 ner that a shallow and 

 mellow mulch will be 

 made, the work being 

 especially designed for 

 the purpose of water-sav- 

 ing. Hence, the old shovel 

 plow that went deep into 

 the soil has been replaced 

 almost entirely by mod- 

 ern tools that never reach 

 the lower depths of the 

 soil nor touch the roots 

 of the plant. The one- 

 horse plow, now used so 

 much in the cotton and 

 corn fields of the South, is 

 likewise losing its popu- 

 larity and is being suc- 



, , , CORN ROOTS 



cecdcd by more shallow- They occupy the entire spa cc bc- 



/iiltii'ififur tJc >irJ1i ernr tween the rows to within a few 



Cultivating tOOIS With SCV- inches of the surface. Do you 



rril shovok Tt i^; nonr wonder why deep cultivation in- 



lUVCIa. jures the crop? 



