DRILLS FOR DRY-FARMING 317 
in close contact with the straw or organic litter 
plowed under and thus to hasten decomposition, and 
to provide a firm seed bed. 
The subsurface packer probably has some value 
where the plowed soil containing the stubble is some- 
what loose; or on soils which do not permit of a 
rapid decay of stubble and other organic matter that 
may be plowed under from season to season. On 
such soils the packing tendency of the subsurface 
packer may help prevent loss of soil water, and may 
also assist in furnishing a more uniform medium 
through which plant roots may force their way. 
For all these purposes, the disk is usually equally 
efficient. 
Sowing 
It has already been indicated in previous chapters 
that proper sowing is one of the most important 
operations of the dry-farm, quite comparable in 
importance with plowing or the maintaining of a 
mulch for retaining soil-moisture. The old-fashioned 
method of broadcasting has absolutely ng place on a 
dry-farm. The success of dry-farming depends en- 
tirely upon the control that the farmer has of all the 
operations of the farm. By broadcasting, neither the 
quantity of seed used nor the manner of placing the 
seed in the ground can be regulated. Drill culture, 
therefore, introduced by Jethro Tull two hundred 
