414 DRY-FARMING 
deeper each year until eight or ten inches are reached. 
Plow at least once for each crop. Spring plowing, 
if practiced, should be done as early as possible in 
the season. 
Follow the plow, whether in the fall or spring, with 
the disk and that with the smoothing harrow, if crops 
are to be sown soon afterward. If the land plowed 
in the fall is to lie fallow for the winter, leave it in the 
rough condition, except in localities where there is 
little or no snow and the winter temperature is high. 
Always disk the land in early spring, to prevent 
evaporation. Follow the disk with the harrow. 
Harrow, or in some other way stir the surface of the 
soil after every rain. If crops are on the land, har- 
row as long as the plants will stand it. If hoed crops, 
like corn or potatoes, are grown, use the cultivator 
throughout the season. A deep mulch or dry soil 
should cover the land as far as possible throughout 
the summer. Immediately after harvest disk the 
soil thoroughly. 
Destroy weeds as soon as they show themselves. 
A weedy dry-farm is doomed to failure. 
Give the land an occasional rest, that is, a clean 
summer fallow. Under a rainfall of less than fifteen 
inches, the land should be summer fallowed every 
other year; under an annual rainfall of fifteen to 
twenty inches, the summer fallow should occur every 
third or fourth year. Where the rainfall comes 
chiefly in the summer, the summer fallow is less im- 
