66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



fall was altogether the best practice, that the poisonous matter 

 that was thrown to the surface might have the ameliorating 

 influences of the winter frosts, in order to improve it. I have 

 invariably found that a decided amelioration of the soil has 

 taken place where the depth of sub-soil taken up was limited 

 to one inch. I have, therefore, no hesitation in saying, that 

 where this special circumstance does not occur, (and I believe 

 I am borne out by the fullest and most ample experiment,) 

 the deeper you plow, the better. 



I can very well understand that there were in the sub-soil 

 to which the gentleman has referred, where he ran his plow 

 eight inches deep, injurious matters; but I venture to predict, 

 that if he continues that operation for a few years, until that 

 sub-soil has become thoroughly ameliorated by the action of 

 the atmosphere, he will find a marked difference between the 

 land plowed eight inches deep and the other. Of course, it 

 was ill-judged husbandry to go so deeply at first, but per- 

 severe. 



Many years ago, one of the most able, I think I may say, 

 the most able and ingenious experimenter in husbandry, 

 Jethro Tull, made an experiment which illustrated this matter 

 very admirably. He selected a piece of land six yards wide 

 at one end, and gradually narrowing to a width of six inches 

 at the other. If I recollect right it was thirty feet long. 

 This was spaded to a uniform depth of eight inches. He 

 then planted along the center of the piece, lengthwise, a row 

 of turnips, eight inches apart. Beginning at the narrow end, 

 you see that every successive turnip had a wider space on 

 either side of it, through which its roots might be diffused, 

 than the one preceding it. When the crop was gathered, he 

 weighed each turnip in succession, beginning at the narrowest 

 end, until he came to the point where the space on each side 

 was two feet wide, and there the turnip was larger than any 

 that preceded it. And I may remark, that the weight of the 

 turnip precisely indicated the increasing amount on either 

 side of pulverized land. The proportion of space had a direct 

 relation to the weight of the turnip, until he came to two feet. 

 Beyond the two feet the turnips were of the same size, and did 



