24 



BULLETIN 126, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SPRING-TOOTH HARROWING. 



The spring-tooth harrow was operated on relatively few farms in 

 the Rocky Ford and Fort Morgan districts, but enough growers at. 

 Greeley used this implement to afford reliable data. The spring- 

 tooth is an excellent implement with which to loosen up fall-plowed 

 land. Land plowed in early spring, which has been partially worked 

 and has been packed with a few heavy rains, can also be brought 

 into proper condition with a spring tooth. Inasmuch as only a 

 small amount of plowing is done here in the autumn, it is highly 

 probable that the spring-tooth was operated for the latter purpose. 

 According to these records the season for spring-tooth harrowing 

 extended from March to May. The average implement was 6 feet 

 in width (Table XII). 



Table XII. — Spring-tooth harrowing data for three Colorado districts. 





Year. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms. 



Acres 

 harrowed 

 per farm. 



Num- 

 ber 

 times 

 har- 

 rowed. 



Crew. 



Hours per acre. 



Total 



cost 



per 



acre. 



District. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Rockv Ford 



1914-15 



1915 

 1914-15 



5 



10 



- 62 



13.7 

 17.0 

 21.05 



2 



1.8 



1.56 



1 

 1 

 1 



3.4 

 4.2 



4.0 



3.42 

 2.3 



1.77 



11.4 

 9.8 



7.0 



$1.76 



Fort Morgan 



1.52 



Greeley 



1.11 







On the Rocky Ford and Fort Morgan farms the beet land w r as 

 spring-tooth harrowed approximately twice. Greeley farmers aver- 

 aged one and one-half times. In the latter region 54 growers used a 

 crew r of one man and four horses. It will be observed that the cost 

 per acre for spring-tooth harrowing was slightly more than the cost 

 for similar work with the spike-tooth. Since the number of farms 

 reporting from the Rocky Ford and Fort Morgan areas is small, it 

 would be unfair to make a direct comparison with the Greeley group 

 w T here the larger number obtains. Under average conditions 8 acres 

 appears to be about the usual area covered per day w r ith the spring- 

 tooth. 



ROLLING. 



The roller not only serves a useful purpose in reducing clods or 

 mmps in a dry soil, but also is valuable in packing the loose surface 

 soil and in restoring connection with the supply of moisture in the 

 subsoil. Only 17 per cent of the growers did rolling in the prepara- 

 tion of the seed bed. The majority of these were found in the 

 Greeley district. At times the roller may be serviceable in producing 

 a smooth surface ior the drill. 



