GARDEN TILLAGE. 35 



Cultivation to Develop Plant Food. — Nearly all land in this 

 section contains immense quantities of plant food. Professor 

 Snyder has shown that our average wheat-producing soils con- 

 tain enough nitrogen to raise one hundred and twenty-five suc- 

 cessive crops of wheat. But only a very little of this material 

 is ever at one time in a condition in which the plant can take 

 it up; nearly all of it is insoluble. By chemical action and 

 fermentation in the soil, plant food is set free. This is increased 

 and made more complete by admitting air into the soil. Hence 

 the reason for deep plowing in the fall, which allows the air 

 and water to enter and thus develop plant food. This, also, is 

 an important fact to be kept in mind in cultivating land. Where 

 the soil can be kept moist through the summer deep spring 

 plowing is an advantage as it opens the soil to the air; but on 

 account of the liability to injury from droughts to soils thus 

 worked the practice is generally a poor one for this section. 



Fig-ure 6 —Planet Jr. fine tooth cultivator. 



GARDEN IMPLEMENIS. 

 Implements, such as plows, harrows, etc., used for prepar- 

 ing the land for ordinary farm crops are also used in fitting 

 the land for garden crops. In addition, however. thei;;e are a 



