Campbell's 1902 Soil Culture Manual. 



17 



would not advise plowing over four or five inches deep, and use the com- 

 mon harrow with teeth slightly slanting and weighted; the object being 

 to pulverize and firm and compact the under portion of the furrow. These 

 observations are very important. Much care and attention should be 

 given to the furrow slices that they may be even in width and depth, so 

 that when you go over the ground with your packer or harrow there may be 

 no soil spaces left loose and porous. It is hardly possible for the average 

 farmer to conceive the great importance of thoroughly fining and firming 

 the entire plowed portion. In the ordinary conditions as found at the bot- 

 tom of furrows in plowing left without any further work until it has all 

 dried out, shown in cut No. 1, fully one-third of the soil contributes no 

 nourishment whatever to the growth or production of the crop. By 

 adding a little extra pains and labor that one-third of non-productive 

 soil may be put in condition to do its full share in making a larger and 

 better crop. By closely following this rule you will greatly increase the 

 quantity and quality of your crops of small grain. 



There is no economy, but, on the other hand, great waste, in trying 

 to economize or Miinimize the amount of labor required to thorougly pre- 

 pare the soil for the sowing or planting of grain, for the work of thorough 

 preparation is easily and quickly done, and when once done a successful 

 harvest is assured. 



SUB-SURFACE PACKING. 



The belief used to be almost universal among farmers that firming 

 the ground, as with the roller, or making firmer the soil in any way, in- 

 creased its water-holding capacity. Firming the surface of the ground 

 does, in fact, for the time increase the amount of water which may be held 

 in the compacted portion, and it is therefore natural that this belief should 

 have been general among farmers. Some lessons of vital importance may 

 be learned upon this subject. The movement of the water in the soil.un- 

 der varying conditions of the soil and the surface should be well under- 

 stood by every farmer. A discussion of the subject may not seem of in- 

 terest to the average farmer, yet the well established facts in regard to 

 this subject have great weight when carefully considered in connection 

 with the preparation of the soil for crops and in determining the quantity 

 and quality of all our crops. 



Prof. F. H. King, of the State University of Wisconsin, undoubtedly 

 one of the most learned men in soil physics we have in the west, if not in 

 the country, has recently published a book entitled " The Soil," which 



