Disks, shovels, or spring teeth may be used on
cultivators. There is a great variety on the market, and each farmer
will have to choose such as meet most definitely his needs.
The various forms of harrows and cultivators are of the greatest
importance in the development of dry-farming. Unless a proper mulch
can be kept over the soil during the fallow season, and as far as
possible during the growing season, first-class crops cannot be
fully respected.
The roller is occasionally used in dry-farming, especially in the
uplands of the Columbia Basin. It is a somewhat dangerous implement
to use where water conservation is important, since the packing
resulting from the roller tends to draw water upward from the lower
soil layers to be evaporated into the air. Wherever the roller is
used, therefore, it should be followed immediately by a harrow. It
is valuable chiefly in the localities where the soil is very loose
and light and needs packing around the seeds to permit perfect
germination.
Subsurface packing
The subsurface packer invented by Campbell is [shown in Figure
83--not shown--ed.
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