372 



The Land and Its Treahnent 



broken and pulverized. The depth to which this pulveriza- 

 tion or plowing shall extend must be determined for each 

 particular case : it depends on the character of the land 

 and the crop. Land that is very hard^ or in which there 

 is a high sub-soil, usually needs to be plowed deep; the 

 effort must be to deepen the soil. Sandy or leachy lands 

 may need to be plowed shallow and approximately the 

 same depth every year : the effort is to compact the under 

 soil and thereby to prevent the leaching. The root-crops 

 demand deep soil, that the roots may grow long and sym- 

 metrical. This is emphatically true with such long-grow- 

 ing roots as parsnips, late beets, carrots and horse-radish. 

 Once it was the general advice that land be plowed deep. 

 But neither deep plowing nor shallow plowing is the unit. 

 The depth of plowing is a question of conditions. 



It is a favorite practice with gardeners to plow in the 

 fall. There are three objects of fall plowing: (1) To 

 render the land earlier in the spring; (2) to be fore- 

 handed with the work; (3) to improve the physical char- 

 acter of the soil. Land plowed in fall usually can be 

 worked several days earlier than that plowed in spring. 

 It dries out sooner. Especially is this true of stiff and 

 loamy lands. Clay lands may be much improved by being 

 plowed in the fall, so that the weather may break down 

 and slack the lumps. It is important, however, that such 

 land should contain more or less vegetable matter; other- 

 wise it may run together and puddle during the winter 

 season and be difficult to manage in spring. If the land 

 bears stubble of grain or grass, or if it has a covering of 

 manure, such danger is averted. If land is clean and in 

 good condition, it will not need to be plowed again in 



