22 



BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The leveling was done exclusively in the spring, the operation 

 preceding planting at least ten days or two weeks. The implement 

 varied in width from 8 to 10 feet. To do efficient work, the leveler 

 must be of suitable length and should be heavy. In the Rocky Ford 

 district the leveling was done with a crew of one man and four horses 

 on 84 farms; 21 farms used a crew of one man and three horses. 

 One man and four horses constituted the most important crew size 

 at Fort Morgan. This was also true for the Greeley area, where 146 

 growers used this combination. There were 34 operators in the 

 Greeley region with crews of one man and three horses. A few men 

 in each of these areas used odd crews. It will be seen that the 1-4 

 crew was employed on more farms than any other, indicating that 



Fig. 7. — Leveling subsequent to plowing. This operation leaves the surface of the field in a smooth 

 condition, and a uniform distribution of water is thereby made possible. 



leveling is heavy work, demanding a strong team. Under average 

 conditions an ordinary crew will level from 10 to 13 acres in a 10- 

 hour day. 



HARROWING. 



Ninety-nine per cent of the growers included in this study used 

 the spike-tooth harrow. The spike tooth not only has a pulverizing 

 action on the soil, but it also has a slight leveling effect. On many 

 farms it is customary to plow and harrow alternately from the 

 beginning of the work until the entire field has been completed, 

 harrowing "up to the plow" each night. Afterwards the beet land 

 may be harrowed two, three, or more times at intervals of a week or 

 10 days. The harrowing season extended from March to May. 

 The harrows used varied in width from 9 to 16 feet (fig. 8). 



