PLOWING IN DRY AREAS 125 



may thus be conserved to a greater extent than if the 

 land were- plowed. 



In humid areas there is usually a very considerable 

 aftergrowth of weeds and other plants amid the stubbles 

 of fields that have grown grain. This does not usually 

 follow to anything like the same extent in dry areas, 

 but even in the latter weed growth is frequently more or 

 less troublesome. The plow, better than any other im- 

 plement, buries weeds that are thus in process of growth, 

 and prevents them from further seeding. For this rea- 

 son among others it is frequently the aim to plow the 

 land as soon as practicable after the previous grain 

 crop has been removed. 



The time for plowing. Plowing may be done at any 

 season in humid climates where the frost does not hinder 

 the work. It is not so in arid or semi-arid areas. In 

 some of these the ground cannot be plowed at certain 

 seasons without great labor and the expenditure of much 

 power, because of the overdryness of the soil. In such< 

 areas the chief of the seasons for plowing are: (1) the 

 spring; (2) the summer, and (3) the autumn. 



In the semi-arid country spring plowing is very com- 

 monly practised more or less on almost every farm. The 

 advantages from spring plowing are: (1) The work is 

 then more easily done than in the autumn as a rule be- 

 cause of the greater moisture content in the soil. (2) 

 Where snow falls in wind-swept areas more moisture 

 enters the soil on stubble land when the snow melts, 

 as the stubbles have aided in holding the snow. (3) The 

 homesteader may grow some crops the year that he lo- 

 cates, although no land had been plowed the previous 

 year. 



The disadvantages from spring plowing are: (1) 

 The crop cannot be planted in time, or at least much of it 

 cannot. (2) The soil has not had time to settle upon it- 

 self before it is sown, hence the lower section of the 



