152 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



up in hard clods which are difficult to pulverize. In this condition it 

 requires more labor to prepare a seed-bed than if it had not been so injured. 



Soils are often seriously injured by the tramping of livestock. It is 

 unwise to allow stock to run in the fields when the soil is in a very wet 

 condition. Hauling manure or loads of any kind across the field when 

 the soil is too wet often results in injury to such an extent that the 

 tracks of the wagon may be seen even after the land has been plowed and 

 cultivated. 



Time and Intensity of Tillage are Economic Factors. — The time 

 to plow, disk harrow and cultivate is important in connection with the 

 cost of the operations. It is essential to perform these tillage operations 

 when the soil is in the best possible moisture condition. This enables 

 the farmer to accomplish the desired result with the minimum amount 

 of labor; consequently, his force of men and teams is able to properly 

 care for the maximum acreage. It is easier and much less expensive to 

 stir the soil at the right time and thus prevent bad physical condition 

 than it is to change the bad physical condition to a good condition. A 

 great deal of labor is required to reduce a hard, cloddy soil to a finely pul- 

 verized condition. As above indicated, time of cultivation in connection 

 with weed destruction is important. The farmer who is foresighted and 

 plans his work in such a way as to avoid undue rush at busy seasons will 

 be the one to accomplish the various cultural operations with the minimum 

 amount of labor. 



The intensity of tillage will be determined by a number of factors, 

 such as the price of land, the cost of labor and the value of the product 

 grown. With cheap labor, high-priced land and a valuable product, 

 intensive methods of tillage are applicable. On the other hand, when 

 labor is expensive, land is cheap and products are of low value, extensive 

 methods of tillage must be applied. It is wise to keep the soil occupied 

 as fully as possible. This is accomplished by crop rotations and a succes- 

 sion of crops, one following another, throughout the growing season, so 

 that at all times plants will be occupying the soil and gathering plant 

 food as it becomes available. 



The saving and utilization of all the manures produced on the farm 

 is essential in this connection. It is more profitable to grow a full crop 

 on five acres than it is to produce one-half a crop on ten acres. 



In general, soil utilization and management call for a thorough under- 

 standing of the underlying principles and the adoption of methods of 

 handling that accomplish good results without undue expense. Those 

 practices which are injurious and those which do not make for mainte- 

 nance of fertility should be avoided. 



