There is a story that illustrates the value of tillage. A man lay dying and as his four sons gathered about his bed he whispered feebly, “My sons, there is a great treasure hidden in the garden.” Scarcely had they laid the body of their father away, when the sons went to the garden and began digging it up. They dug every inch carefully, and found nothing for their pains. Then the eldest son, being of a practical turn of mind, suggested to his brothers that they plant the garden and thus secure some return for their labor. This they did, and when harvest-time came the returns were so wonderfully increased that they said, “Now we know what our father meant. Let us seek like treasure in all our fields.” And in every garden and field lies hidden the same treasure that can be revealed only by the expenditure of intelligent labor. Tillage is an art in itself, and very important to success. There are two kinds—the tillage of preparation and the tillage of maintenance. They are widely different in their purpose and effect. The average farmer thinks that both may be carried on at the same time, and this belief may be in part the cause of his failures. The tillage of preparation includes not merely the breaking up of the soil by the plow, but pulverizing it for as great a depth as the roots of the plants will reach. How deep that may be, depends upon the character of the soil and of the crops. For example, a hard soil with a subsoil near the surface, must be plowed deep; so that the root crops, which run deep, may find sustenance. On the other hand, sandy soil, or one which leaches away, can stand only shallow plowing, as we must hold the subsoil firm to prevent leaching. So that, even in the tillage of preparation it comes back to the same point, to learn the needs of your particular soil and supply them. The tillage of maintenance should be given as often as once a week or ten days, and is merely that surface loosening which enables the soil to drink in the rain and withstand the heat of the sun. The loosened surface will not cake about the plants, and it makes a layer of mulch for the protection of the under soil. By the addition of humus, or vegetable matter, a clayey soil may be put in condition so that it will respond to further tillage as satisfactorily as the lighter, sandy loam. This is the way to “counterfeit the best soil.”