. The principles of agriculture, a text-book for schools and rural societies . mayrot. Should stagnant waterremain in the soil for sometime after the plants haveappeared above ground, theywill turn yellow, and mayperish (194). All this empha-sizes the necessity of prepar-ing a seed-bed adapted to thewants of the plant to begrown, and of maintainingsuch soil conditions as arebest suited to the wants ofthe plant during its entireperiod of growth. 253a. Care should beexercised not to sow verysmall and slow-germinatingseeds, as celery, carrot,onion, in poorly preparedsoil or in land which
. The principles of agriculture, a text-book for schools and rural societies . mayrot. Should stagnant waterremain in the soil for sometime after the plants haveappeared above ground, theywill turn yellow, and mayperish (194). All this empha-sizes the necessity of prepar-ing a seed-bed adapted to thewants of the plant to begrown, and of maintainingsuch soil conditions as arebest suited to the wants ofthe plant during its entireperiod of growth. 253a. Care should beexercised not to sow verysmall and slow-germinatingseeds, as celery, carrot,onion, in poorly preparedsoil or in land which such seeds it is wellto sow seeds of radish or turnip, for these germinate quicklyand break the crust, and also mark the row, so that tillage maybe begun before the regular-crop seeds are up.—Bailey, Gar-den-Making, p. 37. 255a. The expense of preparing the land can often be ma-terially diminished if the land is plowed some little time before itis planted, in such a way that the elements can act upon the soilthrough the process of weathering. In such cases, the furrow-. Fig. 63. The result of shallow plantine;. 158 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE slice is not laid flat, but left at an angle of about forty-fivedegrees, that the soil may become warmed for the purpose ofpromoting chemical action and the liberation of plant-food. Itmay also serve to hasten the drying of the land (95). 255b. Summer-fallowing is often an advisable means of pre-paring the seed-bed. It consists of two or more summer plow-ings and several harrowings, the land remaining idle. Fallowedlands are usually sown to wheat in the fall. An ideal seed-bedcan be secured by this means. Fallowing is to be advised whenlands are very stony, stumpy, hard, or when they have becomefoul with bad weeds, or have been injured by plowing or ditchingwhen too wet. It is a means of putting the land right. Thebetter the condition of the land,—that is, the better the farming,—the less the necessity of summer-fallowing. The p
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