CHAPTER XI 



TILLAGE OPERATIONS 



The advan- 

 tages of 

 tillage. 



Tillage 

 increases 

 the soluble 

 constituents 

 of the soil, 



renders the 

 soil porous, 



and destroys 

 weeds. 



Good and 

 bad tillage. 



If the soil were allowed to remain without any preparation 

 of tillage, its upper layers would become so hard and com- 

 pact that the seeds sown could not germinate ; and, if seed- 

 lings of coffee or cacao were planted out, the young and deli- 

 cate roots would not be able to penetrate the hard soil, and 

 the plants would die. Tillage operations, which are really 

 the breaking up and stirring of the soil, prevent all this, for 

 they render the soil loose and friable, so that the seeds can 

 easily germinate, and the young roots can push themselves 

 through the soil with facility. But, besides this important 

 effect, tillage acts in other ways on the soil. By digging and 

 ploughing and by the various other operations the earth is 

 turned over and exposed to the action of the atmosphere, by 

 which means, insoluble portions of the soil are rendered 

 soluble and thereby become available for plant food. Another 

 effect of tillage is to render the soil more open and porous 

 and thus to facilitate the passage of water through it. And 

 lastly, it is the means employed by the planter for getting 

 rid of the weeds which are ever ready to eat up the food that 

 ought to be kept for his crops. A properly tilled soil is 

 therefore free from weeds open and porous ; and a badly 

 tilled or untilled soil is hard on the surface, compact, and full 

 of weeds ; and if it have any cultivation on it, the plants are 

 poor and the crops are small. If a clean soil, after heavy 

 rain, settle down with a hard surface, the tillage has been 



