PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 151 



earth -mulch should remain unpacked between 

 the rows, to conserve moisture. 



254. In some cases it is impossible to secure 

 a proper seed-bed for small seeds. For ex- 

 ample, no suitable seed-bed can be procured, 

 as a rule, for clover seeds when sowed in a 

 growing tilled crop. In order to secure germina- 

 tion, these seeds are sown on the surface in early 

 spring, while the surface soil is still porous 

 from winter freezing. The spring rains wash 

 the seeds into the little cracks in the soil and 

 partly cover them. The weather being cool and 

 cloudy and the soil moist in early spring, the 

 oily seeds of the clover are kept damp enough to 

 insure germination. If such small seeds are sown 

 in summer or early fall, the land is- rolled for 

 the purpose of supplying them with moisture. 



255. A good field seed-bed, then, can be 

 secured profitably only on land which is either 

 naturally or artificially well drained, which has 

 been well broken and crumbled by the plow, and 

 the surface of which has been thoroughly fined 

 by the harrow. Particular care should be taken 

 not to work heavy or clay lands when they are 

 wet. Neither should clay lands be tilled so much 

 that they become very dusty, else they will puddle 

 when the rains come. The remarks respecting 

 the proper tillage of the land (Chapter iv.) will 

 apply here. 



