DRILLS FOR DRY-FARMING 317 



that the storage reservoir of the soil should be near 

 the surface and that the packed soil layer should act 

 as a bottom to prevent the water from descending. 

 This is in radical opposition to the best experience of 

 the dajr. Undoubtedly, the subsurface packer does 

 have a place on soils which do not permit of a rapid 

 and complete decay of stubble and other organic 

 matter that may be plowed under from season to 

 season. On such soils the packing tendency of the 

 subsurface roller may help prevent the loss of water 

 and may also assist in furnishing a more uniform 

 medium through which plant roots can force their 

 way. For these purposes the disk is usually much 

 superior. (See Fig. 83.) 



Solving 



It has already been indicated in previous chapters 

 that proper sowing is one of the most important 

 operations of the dry-farm, quite comparable in 

 importance with plowing or the maintaining of a 

 mulch for retaining soil-moisture. The old-fashioned 

 method of broadcasting has absolutely no place on a 

 dry-farm. The success of dry-farming depends en- 

 tirely upon the control that the farmer has of all the 

 operations of the farm. By broadcasting, neither the 

 quantity of seed used nor the manner of placing the 

 seed in the ground can be regulated. Drill culture, 

 therefore, introduced by Jethro Tull two hundred 



