Campbell's 1902 Soil' Culture Manual. 



33 



Use the long toothed weeder frequently in the early growth of corn 

 and potatoes. It is a great weed killer and moistare saver. 



Try to cultivate when soil is in best condition. Put in long days 

 then. Cultivation early in the morning and late at night is better than 

 mid-day work. 



Cultivate to save moisture in the early spring and late fall as well as 

 during the growing season. Moisture lost in the fall may be much needed 

 in the coming spring and summer. 



Don't keep the old 4-shovel cultivator because you think you cannot 

 afford to buy one with eight or ten shovels. It is poor economy to go on 

 with the old kind. It will lose corn for you every year; and the drier the 

 season the greater will be the loss. 



Time and manner of cultivation has much to do with the final yield 

 of the crop. Don't let the weeds grow — they are robbers and should be 

 arrested. Cultivation does not gather or make moisture, but prevents the 

 evaporation or loss of it from the soil. 



The more you cultivate with care the more moisture you have in the 

 soil for plant growth. The object of cultivation should not be alone to 

 kill weeds but to save moisture; if due attention is given to saving moist- 

 ure weeds cannot grow. Weeds should not be the indicator to show when 

 there is to be more cultivation. 



Do not cultivate too shallow. The cultivator, like the plow, always 

 appears to run deeper than it really does. Two inches into solid soil after 

 a rain with a fine cultivator at the proper time will make 23>^ to 3 inches of 

 fine, loose mulch, and this is all right under ordinary conditions, but in 

 extreme heat during long dry periods, 3 to 3}4 inches of loose soil mulch 

 gives better protection. 



While the cultivation of wheat and other small grain when sown 

 broadcast or with the close drill is a comparatively new idea, yet no think- 

 ing man can deny its importance. The introduction of the weeder has 

 made it possible and successful. If the root bed has been made fine and 

 firm these crops can be greatly benefited by this tool, as the long flexible 

 teeth slip around the well rooted wheat and yet the young and tender 

 weeds are readily destroyed and the surface soil loosened to prevent 

 further evaporation. 



