By hand

You can till, that is turn over the soil, with a hoe or a spade.

By hand: You can till, that is turn over the soil, with a hoe or a spade.

Usually this work is done with a hoe (daba).
The hoe should be heavy enough to cut into the soil even if it is rather hard.
You can also do the work with a spade.
With these tools you can turn over the soil and bury organic matter.
But this work is slow and tiring.

With animal power

The trees in the field have been grubbed.
The farmer uses a plough drawn by donkeys or oxen.
The work is done better and done faster.
The plough.
Usually a simple plough is used.
The plough consists of a ploughshare, a mouldboard and two handles.
The ploughshare cuts a strip of earth.
The mouldboard turns this strip over.
Handles for holding the plough

Handles for holding the plough.

Tilling should never bring the subsoil to the surface (see Booklet No. 4, page 6).
This layer of soil is poor in mineral salts.
Doing this also destroys the soil structure.