80 BULLETIN 757, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The amount of working of the soil required for best production 
is dependent largely upon the character of the soil and weather con- 
ditions. Under normal conditions tillage equivalent to one disking 
and twice over with the harrow gives better results than where 
greater or less amounts of labor are utilized. Frequently time is 
lacking for more than one harrowing, and when this is the case, 
yields are generally about 2 bushels of wheat per acre less than when 
the land is disked and harrowed twice. 
The practice of going over the land with the harrow as soon as 
possible after each rain, conserves moisture and tends to increase 
yields. Where land is in a fair state of tilth after plowing, disking 
is omitted and care is exercised to conserve moisture by harrowing. 
Leaving the land as rough as possible during the winter is advis- 
able, as thus it catches and retains more snow than w hen the surface 
is smooth. 
SUMMER-FALLOWING. 
Summer-fallowing is practiced by comparatively few farmers, 
since experience has shown very little difference in net returns be- 
tween this method and that of planting a crop each year. In some 
cases this method is advisable, particularly where the land is weedy, 
as clean cultivation for a season will eradicate many of them. In 
general, however, summer-fallowing does not appear as profitable 
for North Dakota as crop production each year. 
FALL VERSUS SPRING PLOWING. 
In so far as yield is concerned, it appears that, in general, it makes 
very little difference whether the land is plowed in fall or spring. 
Weather conditions may cause one method to be highly desirable in 
one year while in another the same practice may prove a poor one. 
Among nearly 100 farmers, 60 plowed for wheat in the fall and the 
remainder plowed in the spring. Records from a number of farms 
indicate on the fall-plowed land a yield of 13.1 bushels and on the 
spring-plowed 13.6 bushels per acre. With oats and barley slightly 
larger yields are made by fall than by spring plowing, a difference 
of from 4 to 6 bushels being noted. However, only 18 farmers out of 
90 plowed in the fall for these crops. 
Aside from the question of yield, there is a very great nines 
in plowing in the fall where possible. The period for plowing, prepa- 
ration, and sowing in the spring is short, and plowing is the operation 
that requires most time. Even though the weather may be disagree- 
able in the fall, as much plowing should be done after harvest and 
thrashing as possible, since it makes a much more even distribution 
of labor and makes it possible to seed at the earliest possible date in 
the spring. 
