PLOWING IN DRY AREAS 123 



conditions exist. Because of this it may take more power 

 in some instances to break up a sod with less of density 

 than would suffice for sod of greater density. On yet 

 other areas the land may be so encumbered with stones 

 lying on and near the surface that it is necessary to re- 

 move these before any attempt is made to plow the land. 

 Such land may have a forbidding look to the land seeker, 

 but it frequently happens that" the obstructions referred 

 to lie only on or near the surface and that when once re- 

 moved the soil may make excellent farming land. 



The ultimate object of plowing is to put the soil in 

 proper condition for growing a crop. While the objects 

 sought from plowing are virtually the same in kind in 

 semi-arid and humid regions, they differ much in degree. 

 In the former the breaking up of the soil that it will 

 more readily admit moisture is much more important 

 relatively than in the latter. In the former a carefully 

 prepared seed bed is more important than in the latter, 

 and in the latter the plow renders greater service in 

 destroying weeds because of their relatively greater 

 prevalence. 



The unbroken soil of the prairie is dry, and because 

 it is dry it is usually hard to break with the plow. It 

 would probably be correct to say that the larger portion 

 of the soil of the semi-arid country has not been wet 

 down to a greater depth than 3 to 4 feet at any time 

 before it was broken with the plow, and into much 

 of it water has never penetrated thus deeply. This dry 

 condition is the outcome of a light precipitation, but to 

 an even greater extent it results from the relatively small 

 proportion that enters the soil of that which does fall. 

 When the soil is broken with the plow, the water that 

 falls may enter it readily, and the more deeply that 

 the land is thus loosened, at least to a certain limit, 

 the more moisture does it absorb and the more deeply 

 does it penetrate the soil. This explains why the sub- 



