MANAGEMENT OF SPECIAL SOILS 283 



breaking some of them are reported to be more or less 

 alkaline but many of the "burn outs" are found to be 

 productive. The difficulty with and chief objection to 

 them is that the texture is different from that of the good 

 soil, hence the '^burnt outs" are seldom in condition to 

 work when the good land is, and the crop the former pro- 

 duces is either very small or very late, resulting in a 

 lower yield or a lower grade. The difficulty is one of 

 handling the land efficiently and of getting a high grade 

 of grain. 



239. The Management of "Burnt Out" Soils.— The lower 

 levels of the "burnt out" spots and the lack of organic 

 matter in them are the chief causes of inconvenience and 

 loss, and suggest the basis of attack. After a survey of 

 the methods of handling this land the following prac- 

 tices were found to be used by many of the most suc- 

 cessful farmers with apparently favorable results: — 



1. Levelling with floats and harrows to get some of 

 the good surface soil into the "burn outs", thus lessen- 

 ing the difference in level and improving the tilth of 

 these low spots. 



2. Surface drainage to prevent water standing in the 

 hollows too long after rains. 



3. Heavy applications of manure either plowed under 

 or used as a top dressing. 



4. In a few cases shallow fall plowing, left loose, was 

 recommended. Spring cultivation with a spring tooth 

 cultivator or disc harrow seemed necessary in some areas 

 whether the land had been well prepared the fall previ- 

 ous or not. 



5. Deep plowing of the fallow, it was frequently stat- 

 ed, resulted in a more uniform and heavier crop, 



6. Some men strongly recommended the use of the 



