roller, farm implement used to break up lumps left by harrows and to compact the soil, eliminating large air spaces. The plain roller is often used to compact grassland damaged by winter heaving. Corrugated rollers, single or tandem, crush clods and firm the soil after plowing. A type usually called a roller-packer or land presser has heavy, wedge-shaped wheels about 3 feet (1 m) in diameter and is used in dry seasons to compress the soil after plowing.