310 



DRY-FARMING 



Making and maintaining a soil-mulch 



After the land has been so weH plowed that the 

 rains can enter easily, the next operation of impor- 

 tance in dry-farming is the making and maintaining of 

 a soil-mulch over the ground to prevent the evapora- 

 tion of water from the soil. For this purpose some 



Fig. 79. Spiko tooth harrow. 



form of harrow is most commonly used. The oldest 

 and best -known harrow is the ordinary smoothing har- 

 row, which is composed of iron or steel teeth of various 

 shapes set in a suitable frame. (See Fig. 79.) For 

 dr}'-farm purposes the implement must be so made as 

 to enable the farmer to set the harrow teeth to slant 

 backward or forward. It frecjuently happens that in 

 the sjDring the grain is too thick for the moisture in the 

 soil, and it then becomes necessary' to tear out some of 

 the young plants. For this purpose the harrow teeth 

 are set straight or forward and the crop can then be 



