Of the amount lost during the first week,
over 60 per cent occurred during the first three days. Cultivation
should, therefore, be practiced as soon as possible after conditions
favorable for evaporation have been established. This means, first,
that in early spring, just as soon as the land is dry enough to be
worked without causing puddling, the soil should be deeply and
thoroughly stirred. Spring plowing, done as early as possible, is an
excellent practice for forming a mulch against evaporation. Even
when the land has been fall-plowed, spring plowing is very
beneficial, though on fall-plowed land the disk harrow is usually
used in early spring, and if it is set at rather a sharp angle, and
properly weighted, so that it cuts deeply into the ground, it is
practically as effective as spring plowing. The chief danger to the
dry-farmer is that he will permit the early spring days to slip by
until, when at last he begins spring cultivation, a large portion of
the stored soil-water has been evaporated. It may be said that deep
fall plowing, by permitting the moisture to sink quickly into the
lower layers of soil, makes it possible to get upon the ground
earlier in the spring.
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