CHAPTER X 



TILTH AND TILLAGE 



Feom earliest times it has been the experience of husbandmen 

 that cultivated plants grow best in soils that are stirred or tilled. 

 In this modern age good tilth, good seed bed and intertillage are 

 especially emphasized as important factors in successful crop- 

 production. Good tilth is one of the factors determining fertility; 

 and it has been defined as that physical condition of the seed bed 

 with respect to mellowness and firmness that is favorable to plant 

 growth (Chapter V). This condition is developed largely 

 through tillage. A good seed bed is not merely a layer of very 

 loose, fine soil; it consists, rather, of the tilled portion of the ground, 

 loosened and pulverized until it is mellow, and at the same time 

 possessing a fair degree of firmness (Fig. 66). The proper prepara- 

 tion of the seed bed is fundamentally important in securing good 

 jdelds of practically all farm crops; and, in case of crops planted 

 in rows, subsequent cultivation, or intertillage, is indispensable. 



Factors Determinrng Good Tilth. — ^The development of good 

 tilth, or of a good seed bed, depends largely upon three factors: 

 (1) the moisture content of the soil when worked; (2) soil struc- 

 ture, and (3) the kind of tillage tools used. 



Any one who has ever operated a tillage tool knows that soils 

 pulverize and work best when they contain a proper amount of 

 moisture. Each farmer must determine for himself just when 

 the soils on his farm are in fit condition to work. 



The easy workability of soils of a sandy and crummy structiu'e 

 is well known. Heavy soils of compact structure require the most 

 attention and effort to get them into good tilth. The crummy 

 structure of the heavier soils depends largely upon the amount 

 of organic matter they contain, since the organic matter binds the 

 soil particles into crumbs or granules. It is a common experience 

 with some farmers that certain soils are much more difficult to 

 work and pulverize now than years ago, for the reason that the 

 organic matter has been largely removed or used up, and too Httle 

 attention was given to maintain or increase it through the growth 

 of grasses and clover, and through the use of manure. The fre- 

 quent growing of grasses and clover on heavy lands greatly aids 



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