142 DRY FARMING 



the best plan, as otherwise the first crop following is 

 heavy and weak in the straw and more subject to lodg- 

 ing or fall frosts. In the drier districts no crop the first 

 year is the general rule. 



Backsetting scrub land is not generally practised until 

 one or more crops have been grown. It is seldom neces- 

 sary and it is usually difficult or impossible. When all 

 roots and brush are removed either before or after, or at 

 the time of the first plowing, backsetting is possible and is 

 occasionally practised. 



115. Surface Tillage After Plowing. — After scrub land 

 is plowed any loose brush and exposed roots should be 

 removed and the land worked down to a level surface 



Fig. 57. — How Scrub Land Looks After Plowing. 



This area did not contain many stumps of trees over live inches 



in diameter. 



with a packer or heavy planker followed by discs and 

 harrows. The sooner this can be done the easier the 

 vegetation may be killed and the less the land will dry 

 out. Scrub-breaking usually requires considerable disking 

 before the surface is level enough to make a satisfactory 

 seed bed. Aside from getting the land levelled down, 



