20 FARM GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 
The scooter-plow is unknown at the North. Itisa 
kind of shovel-plow having an oblique point. It digs 
up the clay, but leaves it in the furrow. <A great deal 
of time and labor is wasted in this manner in northern 
Georgia, northern Alabama, and adjacent sections. It 
is argued that if this subsoil were turned up and mixed 
with the soil it would greatly reduce the yield, which 
is very true. The idea is to break up the hard-pan 
which has been formed just below the furrow slice. 
But this can be done in a far better way. By plowing 
one inch deeper every year till a depth of ten inches is 
reached, a ten-inch layer of good surface soil is secured 
without at any time having a lot of unproductive hard- 
pan mixed with the soil. After this depth has been 
reached it is a good plan never to plow the same depth 
two years in succession. Plow, say, seven inches the 
next year, then nine inches the next, then six; then 
ten, then eight, andsoon. If this practice is followed 
there will be no hard-pan to break up. There are 
many farms on which all the plowing must be done by 
one small mule. Ten-inch plowing is, of course, out 
of the question in such cases. 
The preparation of good alluvial soil for grass in 
the Middle South does not differ materially from the 
methods required in the North, but the uplands re- 
quire considerably more care. It is useless to attempt 
to grow meadow-grasses on exhausted upland soils in 
the Middle South. The soil must first be brought 
into good heart. This may be done by sowing Southern 
grown winter rye and turning it under about the time it 
heads out, and by growing and turning under cow-peas 
or velvet beans. It is very important, when any heavy 
