Harrowing is an operation usually very badly performed, and an operation that is 

 almost always ended up sometime before it should be on any given area. Good plough- 

 ing is a necessary condition of the best crop results, but thorough harrowing is an indis- 

 pensable condition of profitable crop returns from any field. Thorough harrowing 

 does not necessarily mean three or four or ten different harrowings, but it means such 

 treatment as leaves the surface of the seed bed smooth and friable, and leaves the 

 bottom of the seed bed firm and solid. Until these two conditions are fulfilled the 

 harrow should not stop. 



Where sod land is being prepared for any crop, possibly the best treatment would 

 be about as follows: Roll with a heavy roller, disc harrow lengthwise and crosswise or 

 on the bias; roll again, disc harrow once more, and then smooth harrow with a common 

 spike-toothed harrow. If, however, it is found that the land is not yet in perfect tilth, 

 then it might be necessary to repeat the disc harrowing and the rolling. In any case, 

 seed should not be sown until the soil is in perfect shape for crop production. It is 

 usually safe to harrow again after conditions seem nearly perfect for seeding. 



The spike-toothed harrow may often be run over the land when the average 

 farmer would consider it utter folly to use it as all, for instance, in the corn field a few 

 days after sowing or planting the corn, and in the same field a few days after the corn 

 is up. Harrowing the field at such times is almost certain to materially help the crop. 



Where large areas of corn are grown, an implement likely to prove of considerable 

 value is what is known as the slant-tooth or tilting harrow. This enables one to control 

 the depth to which the harrow shall sink in the soil, and so permit of harrowing the 

 corn or potatoes at times and under conditions when the common spike-toothed harrow 

 might do some small amount of damage. 



Seeding — Seeding is now rarely done by hand. It is, however, in too many districts 

 still done broadcast, that is, what are known as broadcast seeders are used. Such 

 seeders are not nearly so satisfactory as drill seeders. Much of the seed is insufficiently 

 covered, while another part is buried too deeply. Consequently it comes up unevenly, 

 grows unevenly, ripens unevenly, and there is thus considerable loss at harvesting, to 

 say nothing of the seed lost by being buried too deeply or by being insufficiently covered. 



The hoe drill and the single disc are the best seeders, and of these, I believe the 

 single disc to be the better. Here, as in the case of the plough and the harrow, as large 

 an implement as possible should be selected, since such implements aid materially in 

 reducing the cost of production. 



The Roller. — The roller is commonly looked upon as the implement wherewith 

 to give the finishing touch. It is just at this point, however, that the greatest danger 

 lies. It is as an operation after seeding that rolling is, on the average, of least value. 

 There are, of course, conditions where it is advisable to roll after seeding, but the true 

 value of this implement lies in its usefulness as a means of preparing the land prepara- 

 tory to seeding, as already mentioned in connection with harrowing. The use of the 

 roller in preparing sod land for grain or corn is much to be commended, and it is here 

 that this implement is of the greatest value to the farmer. In certain soils, as for 

 instance, mucky or peaty soils, it is often advisable to roll once or twice before seeding 

 and two or more times after seeding; this more particularly, if the land is to be seeded 

 down to grass or clover, at the same time as sown to grain. 



No land should be rolled after seeding if the surface is at all damp. The surface 

 should be allowed to dry a few days before the roller is put on. Rolling in this way a 

 few days or even two or three weeks after the grain is up, breaks the crust, forms a 

 mulch, and so helps to conserve moisture, as already mentioned in a preceding para- 

 graph. 



On light dry soils, rolling is an essential operation after seeding to insure quick 

 germination of both grain and grass seeds. Here again, however, it is often advisable 

 to roll a second time two or three weeks after the grain is up. This helps firm the soil 

 and breaks the crust as before stated. 



41 



