DRY-FARMING 



sible, by deep and early fall plowing. If 

 the land is plowed during hot, dry 

 weather and is then allowed to lie loosely 

 as it is left by the plow, there is liable to 

 be a great loss of moisture through 

 evaporation. It is therefore essential to 

 compact the soil as soon as possible after 

 plowing. This can be done in several 

 ways: by the use of the subsurface 

 packer, by the common disc harrow, with 

 the discs set nearly straight, or by the or- 

 dinary steel-toothed harrow. In fact any 

 implement may be used which wiU pack 

 the soil and leave a loose mulch on the 

 surface. 



Again, if rains occur after the plowing 

 and packing have been done, they tend to 

 form a crust on the siu"f ace and the loss 

 of soil moisture will be very great. It 

 may therefore be advisable to harrow the 

 sm-face with a light harrow after every 

 rain until the snows come, luiless it is 

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