Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1884-06-13

pact ana almost as solid, when dry, as
stone. 1t is the purpose of the harrow
10 reduce this cloddy soil to q fine cen-
dition and fit it for the seed.
There are two ways of narrowing, good
and bad, and the bad sometimes appears
to be better than the good work. Let us
first consider the good work. The harrow
should have sharp, long teeth, and be
hitched by a chain sufficiently long to
permit the harrow to be dragged level
and to avoid lifting up the corner by
which it is drawn 1t then works its
way through the soil, diverging from a
straight line at every obstacle met by
each tooth, and is thus forced through
the furrow slices in all directions, and
quickly reduces the compact earth into a
fine mellow condition. The Jumps which
it cannot break it brings to the surface
and there leaves them, and in so doing
it works the fine soil down to the bot
tom. This is very quickly done in light,
sandy soil, but requires more working to
effect it in hard, stiff land. When the
work is done, if the soil is stiff and
clayey, the surface will be covered with
lhlll 20 al LAAG hulbEl anu ldlSNI IL lilC
narrowing has been delayed until the
soil has become dry, and all the smaller
if it has been done on the newly-plowed
land. Bot down below the soil is fine
and mellow and in good condition to
receive the seed and cause it 10 sprout
and take hold with its roots and make a
vigorous growth. This, however, can.
not be done with one or two strokes of
the harrow, but it requires repeated har-
rowing and even cross narrowing to do
it wei.
Bad narrowing can be done very quick,
ly as other poor work may be done. The
harrow is hitched short, and rides on
few rows of the hinder teeth. The teeth
are short and blunt, and penetrate but
very little ways into the ground 1t
scratches the surface and does not work
its way tortuously through the soil down
to the bottom. 1t leaves the top line,
perhaps, but it also leaves the bottom
loose and open even in light soil, while
in heavy soil the furrow slices lie upon
each other unbroken, with vacant spaces
at the bottom. An inexperienced man
walking over the field may think it well
narrowed, but if he tries to push cane
into the soil here and there, in one place
it will go down suddenly Of its own
weight in a vacant space six inches or
more, and in another it cannot be pushed
down more than two inches. The seed
sown upon such soil is either barely
covered, or it falls down into the spaces,
where it lies and rots, while the other
sprouts, but soon fades and dies. because
there is no soil for the roots to penetrate
with sufficient ease.
Perhaps the farmer has roller, an0
thinks the roller will make up for these
deficiencies. But this is mistake.
Where the narrowing has been good the
roller will do good service. 1t will crush
the Jumps left on the surface and finish
the good work of the harrow. But on
the badly narrowed land the roller mere
ly packs the surface over the arched clods
below, which are not crushed, because
the weight of the roller does not reach
them, and makes the matter worse, be-
cause the thin skin of soil packed by the
roller soon dries and bakes into crust,
and the young plants rooted in it very
soon die.-NeW York Times.