The best dry-farm practice is
to plow in the fall and let the soil lie in the rough during the
winter months. In the spring the land is thoroughly disked and
reduced to a fine condition. Following this the smoothing harrow is
occasionally used to form a more perfect mulch. When seeding is to
be done immediately after plowing, the plow is followed by the disk
harrow, and that in turn is followed by the smoothing harrow. The
ground is then ready for seeding. The disk harrow is also used
extensively throughout the summer in maintaining a proper mulch. It
does its work more effectively than the ordinary smoothing harrow
and is, therefore, rapidly displacing all other forms of harrows for
the purpose of maintaining a layer of loose soil over the dry-farm.
There are several kinds of disk harrows used by dry-farmers. The
full disk is, everything considered, the most useful. The cutaway
harrow is often used in cultivating old alfalfa land; the spade disk
harrow has a very limited application in dry-farming; and the
orchard disk harrow is simply a modlfication of the full disk harrow
whereby the farmer is able to travel between the rows of trees and
so to cultivate the soil under the branches of the trees without
injuring the leaves or fruit.
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