18 
work ground before, and thus break it up early (say 
March); work it up for roots nine days prior to planting, 
and thus cheat the Fly/’ which the observer remarks 
jjarenthetically “ will go away with tears in their eyes ” ! 
A fine tilth is also of great importance in driving on 
rapid growth of the young plant in its first stage, and 
partly because this state of ground gives the best condi¬ 
tions for healthy germination. Germination requires 
warmth, moisture, and some air, and where there is a 
fine tilth the seed is in far better circumstances in 
all these respects than where the ground is rough or 
“ cloddy ” as it is termed, and therefore part of the seed 
is buried under great lumps of earth, and part exposed 
on the surface to drought or anything that may happen. 
The fine soil preserves the under-lying moisture 
evenly, and evaporates it gently, and besides, makes a 
good bed for the young rootlets. 
In the reports of last year the importance of good 
tilth as a measure of prevention of Fly ravage was 
most strongly dwelt upon. It is said “Good tilth and 
condition are the chief auxiliaries to push the plant out 
of the way of the Fly ” ; again, “ the finer the tilth the 
less are its ravages also, “the finer the ground is got 
before cultivation the quicker the plants come away, and 
the better and faster they grow out of the way of the 
Fly.’’ One more of the many notes sent on this subject 
draws attention to a yet further advantage we gain by 
removing shelter from the Fly. It is said, “ a fine tilth 
is most desirable; the parts of a field first hopelessly 
injured are those where the surface is the roughest, the 
small clods causing the moisture to dry out more quickly 
and affording shelter to the Fly from breezes which it 
does not like.’’ 
If the previous measures of cultivation have been 
good, this tilth will have been forming itself of the 
mellowing soil, but no good comes of trying too late in 
the season, when the soil is baking under a hot sun, to 
pound as it were the clods into manageable form. We 
certainly may get a powdered surface, but that dry bed, 
