GETTING THE SEED BED RIGHT 



31 



the top soil and the under soil have been knitted 

 together again capillarity is at work sending water 

 into the seed bed — ^just where newly planted seed 

 can get the advantage of it. 



Then, too, early plowing and repeated workings 

 of the soil mean mellowness and fineness and com- 

 pactness. All of these do much to make the seed 

 bed right and perfect. You want no loose, open top 

 soil unless there is an abundance of rain to start 



PEG-TOOTH HARROW 



This common farm tool is not only useful in preparing 

 the seed bed, but it has a place in weed destruction. After 

 crops like corn, or cotton, or wheat are planted, the fine peg- 

 tooth harrow can be run over the ground, not only for its ef- 

 fect in mellowing the soil and conserving the moisture, but in 

 destroying the grass and weed seed at the surface of the 

 ground. 



the crop. Nor do you want a cloddy soil, nor one 

 of poor, mechanical form, nor one in bad physical 

 condition. Such will not be conducive to a good 

 stand or to vigor or healthy growth. A poorly 

 compacted, lately plowed, clod-filled soil does not 

 make a good seed bed and handles the water with 

 little or no satisfaction. 



Even though the season be wet, repeated diskings 

 or harrowings are good, because they keep the 

 weeds down. If the season is dry and the soil turns 



