THE HANDLING OF THE LAND 93 
tenacious, it may be necessary to throw leafmold or litter 
over the surface before the spading is done, to prevent the soil 
from running together or cementing before spring. With 
mellow and loamy lands, however, it is ordinarily best to leave 
the preparation of the surface until spring. 
In the preparation of the surface, the ordinary hand tools, 
or spades and shovels, may be used. If, however, the soil is 
mellow, a fork is a better tool than a spade, from the fact that 
it does not slice the soil, but tends to break it up into smaller 
and more irregular masses. The ordinary spading- 
fork, with strong flat tines, is a most serviceable 
tool; a spading-fork for soft ground may be made 
from an old manure fork by cutting down the tines, 
as shown in Fig. 84. 
It isimportant that the soil should not be sticky ff) 
when it is prepared, as it is likely to become hard 
and baked and the physical condition be greatly ; 
injured. However, land that is too wet for the 84. Improvis- 
reception of seeds may still be thrown up loose mg @ spad- 
with a spade or fork and allowed to dry, and after ie Ae, 
two or three days the surface preparation may be completed 
_with the hoe and the rake. In ordinary soils the hoe is the 
tool to follow the spading-fork or the spade, but for the final 
preparation of the surface a steel garden-rake is the ideal 
implement. 
In areas, large enough to admit horse tools, the land can be 
fitted more economically by means of the various types of 
plows, harrows, and cultivators that are to be had of any dealer 
in agricultural implements. Figure 85 shows various types of 
model surface plows. The one shown at the upper left-hand 
is considered by Roberts, in his ‘Fertility of the Land,” to be 
the ideal general-purpose plow, as respects shape and method 
of construction. 
The type of machine to be used must be determined wholly 
a4 
ie 
