roller
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Encyclopedic overview
A roller in a typical power farming application A horse-drawn agricultural roller during World War I The roller is an agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of soil, especially after ploughing or disc harrowing. Typically, rollers are pulled by tractors or, prior to mechanisation, a team of animals such as horses or oxen. As well as for agricultural purposes, rollers are used on cricket pitches and residential lawn areas.
Flatter land makes subsequent weed control and harvesting easier, and rolling can help to reduce moisture loss from cultivated soil. On lawns, rolling levels the land for mowing and compacts the soil surface.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “roller” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.