Method Of Plowing
Categories: TILLAGEThe depth of plowing should be fixed largely by the
amount of organic matter in the soil. It is essential that a good
percentage of this material should be mixed throughout the soil, and
when it is in scant supply, the depth of plowing usually should not be
great. Fertile soils should be plowed deep for their own good, and thin
soils should be deepened gradually, as sods and manures afford a supply
of humus-making mate
single application on a poor soil, a large amount of inert subsoil
should not be thrown upon the surface. The manure goes out of reach of
the greatest need, which is in the surface soil where plant-life
starts. A gradual process of deepening the soil is to be preferred, but
such deepening should not be neglected. The subsoil is a store of inert
fertility that should not remain dormant.
It may not do to say that the success of the best farmers is due to
thoroughness in plowing, but it is true that the more successful ones
are insistent that the plowing be absolutely thorough. Every inch of
the soil should be stirred to a certain depth, and that requires a plow
so set that it does not turn a furrow-slice much wider than the point
can cut. Evenness in depth and width of furrow is seen in good plowing.
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