16 MODERN STRAWBERRY GROWING 
By working with both disk and spike har- 
rows, the soil is put in very fine, level tilth 
and this fineness is carried to a greater depth. 
BACK FURROWING 
Oftentimes the grower wants his soil to 
have even better preparation than the har- 
rows are able to give, or he may desire to 
lay off his land in beds. The method used 
in this case would be back furrowing, plough- 
ing four inches deep, either by splitting the 
piece in the middle and ploughing, by throwing 
the furrows together, or by making several 
small beds, by back furrowing in the middle 
of a narrow strip, then starting another the 
same way, leaving a dead furrow between 
the beds. 
While ploughing, the furrows are raked 
down, thereby leaving a very even, well- 
raked bed, having all the coarse material at 
the bottom of the furrow, and the top four 
inches in the very best possible condition 
for plant growth. 
Sometimes just before back furrowing, 
which is generally cross ploughing, a good 
layer of well-rotted manure is spread and 
this four-inch ploughing is considered by 
