10 
COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
Preparing New Ground for Spring Seeding .—It is always a ques¬ 
tionable practice to crop newly broken sod in a dry year. The sod 
usually contains but little moisture and the process of breaking causes 
one to lose an appreciable portion of it. Suggestive plan: Plow sod 
land not less than three nor more than five inches deep, turning sod 
down as flat as possible, and thus prevent its drying out too soon. 
Follow as closety with disc harrow as practicable, and this with some 
form of packer, either single or double roll. This will level the sod 
land above, and firm the soil in the lower portion of the furrow slice, 
restoring the capillarity where plowing has arrested it. This firmed 
under-surface soil is thus enabled to draw moisture from below and 
give good, normal root development. Follow up the packer with either 
an acme or a good smoothing harrow to produce a good ^earth mulch 
to arrest surface capillarity and check evaporation of soil moisture. 
Follow with the seeder. All small grain should be drilled in with a 
press wheel drill, followed up with a good spike-toothed or smooth¬ 
ing harrow. It is almost necessary that all tillage operations on 
sod be with the furrows rather than across them to avoid tearing up 
' the sod and drying out your seed bed. Do not seed broadcast. Make 
each tillage operation thorough—plowing, disking, firming, harrow¬ 
ing, and seeding. 
When the new crop is up, cross harrow to prevent the formation 
of a crust and giving the young crop a cultivation. Folbw up each 
rain with a good harrowing as long as character of crop will permit. 
Early in June prepare seed bed for the fall and following 
spring’s seeding. Try to hereafter seed only on ground which has 
been given “summer culture” treatment. 
Remember that roots of all cultivated crops make their best growth 
when you provide: 
A firm mellow 
A warm mellow 
A ventilated 
A moist 
Methods of farming which (a) conserve the moisture, (b) pre¬ 
pare a good seed bed, (c) reduce the evaporation to as near the min¬ 
imum as possible, (d) use good vital acclimated seed, (e) employ a 
crop rotation which has stock foods , prominent, contain at least one 
money crop, (f) and practice thorough tillage of the ground, often 
tide the farmer o^^er bad years and insure his success in good years. 
^ Soil well supplied with plant food. 
SUMMER CULTURE TO CONSERVE MOISTURE. 
HINTS FOR PLAINS SETTLERS. 
BY W. H. OLIN. 
Many hundred farmers, unfamiliar with the soil and climatic 
<!toiiditions of our eastern plains, are this year coming to make homes 
