46 MODERN STRAWBERRY GROWING 
reducing them finally to very small particles. 
These small pieces again are found to be 
more easily dissolved or some part of them 
in the soil water, thereby increasing the avail- 
able plant food of the soil. 
In a very dry summer good tillage, with 
its blanket soil-mulch, conserves moisture, 
thereby helping to counterbalance the great 
evil of drought, resulting year after year in 
more even crops. 
Cultivation also offers more opportunity 
for rains to enter the soil, owing to the more 
open texture of the soil, and if tillage is 
practised very soon after the rain the soil 
crust will be broken, and the moisture con- 
served. It is, however, highly important 
that the tillage be level, as there is less soil 
exposed, therefore less drying out 
These are not the only benefits of tillage; 
large quantities of weeds are destroyed 
annually by good cultivation. It is quite 
easy to control weeds if work is begun before 
they are more than an inch or two high, 
as the roots of the weeds are shallow at 
this stage and the growth tender. If the 
weeds are allowed to grow for some little 
time, competition between them and the 
