18 



BULLETIN 4S(i, f. s. DEPARTMENT OF AtiKHTl.TrUK. 



line along Che hillside, guided by the stations marked by the rodman. 

 A small telescopic farm level with tripod and leveling rod suitable 

 lor this purpose, constructed on the principle of the surveyor's level, 

 can he purchased for about $20. The slope or direction of drainage 

 of the f urroAvs is ordinarily made from the center of the field toward 

 both sides or is otherwise suited to the existing watercourses. 



Most farmers prefer marking the rows, properly spaced, in ad- 

 vance of opening the furrows. This is usually done by a 1-mule 

 1-point marker (a. u scooter'") provided with a guide stick, hinged 

 to the beam, to extend on either side the right distance to trace the 

 next row. 



After providing in one manner or another for the correct spacing 

 and the course of the rows, the furrows are opened by using a 2-mule 



Fig. 6. — Running a guide line for sugar-cane rows along the hillside. 



middle breaker (fig. 7, l>) or by throwing out two furrows with a 1- 

 mule turnplow, and then opening deeper with a 1-mule round shovel 

 plow. The furrows are opened shallower in the flat, poorly drained 

 fields of Louisiana. In the irrigated sections of Texas and Arizona 

 the planting is extra deep. The commercial fertilizers and sometimes 

 also the barnyard manure are distributed in the furrows (fig. 7, a). 

 and mixed with the soil by again driving through with a suitable 

 implement. The cane is then distributed (fig. 8) and covered to a 

 depth of 1 to 2 inches in the case of spring planting, or about 4 to 6 

 inches in fall planting, by throwing light furrows on from both sides. 

 In the latter case the covering is again raked off in the spring, leav- 

 ing only 1 to 2 inches over the cane. Frequently the cane in the 

 windrows or banks is more or less damaged by red-rot or some other 

 disease. With reference to cutting away the diseased parts before 



