TILLAGE AND TILLAGE TOOLS 1 3 



tages are not so marked with the looser and sandier 

 types, except in so far as the garden work may be 

 facilitated. 



The condition of the soil at plowing time is of 

 prime importance. Sandy soils may be plowed in 

 almost any condition, but the heavier types 

 must be plowed when containing exactly the right 

 amount of moisture. If the plowing is done with 

 the soil too wet, it is rubbed and puddled together 

 and after drying out becomes hard and impervious 

 both to moisture and to air. A single working of 

 the heavier types when a little too wet will often 

 ruin the physical condition of the soil for a year or 

 more. The soil should be in such condition that the 

 furrow slice will break and crumble readily after it 

 leaves the moldboard. If these soils are permitted 

 to become too dry they break in lirge clods, prac- 

 tically impossible to break down and pulverize prop- 

 erly without an enormous expense of time and money. 



Subsoiling has often been advocated in connec- 

 tion with vegetable gardens, but as a matter of fact 

 has never become a popular practice and is rarely 

 ever followed. While deep plowing should always 

 be the universal rule in vegetable gardens, the depth 

 should be varied from time to time. When the land 

 is plowed at the same depth each time, the tramping 

 of the team, together with the pressure of the plow- 

 share, soon tends to form a more or less impervious 

 layer or hard pan which seriously interferes with 

 the proper movement of moisture and the growth of 

 plant roots. This can all be avoided by changing 

 the depth an inch or two each time the soil is 

 worked. 



In the preparation of the soil for sowing or trans- 

 planting the next operation is commonly known as 



