PLOWING IN DRY AREAS 137 



the absence of a good seed bed, crop production is doubly 

 hazardous in a dry country. 



Good plowing may be defined as follows: (1) a 

 straight and evenly turned furrow of uniform depth; 

 (2) a furrow so turned that it will lie well over against 

 the furrow previously turned, so that air spaces under- 

 neath will be excluded to the greatest extent possible ; (3) 

 plowing in which skips are entirely absent and in which 

 the cut and cover method has no place ; (4) plowing 

 which completely buries all rubbish and grass and in 

 which the furrow slice is crushed more or less ; (5) plow- 

 ing of such depth as is best suited to the conditions under 

 which the work is done and to the needs of the crop 

 which is to follow. 



If good work is to be done, careful attention must 

 be given to the condition of the land and of the plows. 

 Good work cannot be done on land plowed overwet or 

 overdry. Some soils, especially those known as gumbo, 

 will become so hard if they are plowed when overwet 

 that they cannot be pulverized properly when preparing 

 a seed bed, even though much labor should be expended 

 on the same. When lands are cloddy, it is scarcely pos- 

 sible to do good work when plowing them. It is also 

 greatly important that the plows shall be kept in first- 

 class condition. They should be kept free from rust 

 by housing and proper oiling when they are not in use, 

 and by keeping the shares sharp and in shape when they 

 are being used. Usually it will result in better work 

 when the furrow slice is cut rather less than the full 

 width that the plow can cut. 



Subsoil plowing in dry areas. In the true sense of 

 the term subsoil plowing means a loosening or breaking 

 up of the soil to a greater or lesser distance below the 

 depth to which land is ordinarily plowed. The land so 

 loosened is not brought any nearer to the surface. The 

 term has been improperly applied to the process which 



