236 FIELD CROPS FOR THE COTTON-BELT , 



is for shallow tillage on friable, easily worked soil. The 

 'meeker harrow is merely a series of lines of small disks 

 arranged on straight axles. It is used primarily for the 

 pulverization of numerous small hard lumps on the sur- 

 face. 



288. Subsurface packers. — A fairly compact seed- 

 bed is desirable at planting time. When plowing is done 

 long in advance, rains usually accomplish this object. 

 Soils that are plowed after the rainy season, or immediately 

 before planting, are much benefited when some imple- 

 ment is used upon them that will bring the furrow-sKce 

 in close contact with the subsoil, firm the seed-bed, and 

 ■leave a loose mulch on top. In arid sections, fall-plowed 

 lands are usually benefited by this treatment. It prevents 

 the rapid drying out of the plowed portion and conse- 

 quently the loss of much water from the subsoil. An 

 excellent implement for accomplishing this purpose is the 

 Campbell form of subsurface packer. It " consists of small 

 wheels placed five inches apart on an axle. The rim is 

 much thickened and is triangular in shape, with the thin 

 edge outward, so that the effect is to give a decided down- 

 ward and sidewise pressure, while enough fine earth is left 

 at the immediate surface to serve as a mulch." 



When a subsurface packer is not available, a disk- 

 harrow may be niade to serve the purpose by having the 

 disks set with very little angle and weighted to force them 

 deeply into the soil. 



289. Ridging com land. — In certain sections of the 

 cotton-belt, notably on the stiff, waxy lands of Alabama, 

 Mississippi, and Texas, some farmers follow a system of 

 ridging or forming beds on which the rows of corn are 

 planted. For poorly drained soils that compact readily 

 after rains this system possesses some advantages, pro- 



