220 DRY LAND FARMING 



roller will do effective work, especially in compressing 

 newly broken sod. One objection to the smooth roller 

 is that, while it firms the soil above, it leaves it uncom- 

 pressed below. The corrugated roller will aid more in 

 crushing lumps than the smooth roller where these oc- 

 cur. The planker will aid in levelling up the soil where 

 this may be necessary, in powdering lumps, and in 

 compressing the soil, but the compression is on and near 

 the surface as in the case of the roller. On stubble land 

 the subsurface packer should do good work, as it firms 

 the soil below. On breaking and sod land generally, the 

 disc does very good work when rightly used, and in the 

 absence of a better implement it may also be used to 

 compress stubble land. 



The next operation is harrowing with the straight 

 tooth harrow, the object being to form a dust mulch 

 on the surface of the soil to prevent the escape of 

 moisture that is continually moving toward the sur- 

 face, save when it has enough water in it to result in a 

 downward movement of the same. This dust mulch must 

 be maintained through the season, chiefly, if not en- 

 tirely, through the use of the ordinary harrow. The 

 necessity for renewing the mulch will depend to a con- 

 siderable degree on the frequency with which the summer 

 rain falls, and also on the nature of the soil. The more 

 frequently that rain falls on fallow land, and the greater 

 the tendency to encrustation, the greater is the necessity 

 for frequently renewing the dust mulch. When encrusta- 

 tion follows, as it does usually after every considerable 

 rain, the crust forms cracks in drying, and through the 

 openings thus made the moisture will rapidly escape. 

 The remedy consists in running the harrow over the 

 ground promptly, as soon as it has become dry enough 

 to admit of doing the work effectively and without any 

 injury to the land. It is not necessary to use the har- 

 row thus after every little shower that falls. Should 



