No. 63.J 243 



plow turns up a furrow six inches deep, and the subsoil plow pene- 

 trates and loosens the subsoil ten inches below the first plow, we have 

 at least sixteen inches of loosened soil, which in the common method 

 of plowing, and allowing that the plow lays the furrow two inches 

 higher than the depth of the cut, we have then but eight inches of 

 loose soil for the bed of the plant. 



The expense of cultivation, by subsoil plowing, must be necessa- 

 rily much increased by the present mode, as it requires an extra hand 

 and team to go over the same ground, and at the same time of the 

 first plow; and to diminish the expense of the operation of subsoil 

 plowing, and to adapt them to the wants of the small farmers, several 

 attempts have been made in England, to combine the two implements 

 in one. The first of these, by Mr. Pusey, called the Charlbury Sub- 

 soil Plow, of which the following is a figure: 



Charlbury Subsoil Plow— Fig. 3. 



" It combines in one implement," says Mr. Morton, "both the 

 plows used in the operation of subsoiling. It not only stirs the sub- 

 soil, but opens the furrow in which the subsoil plow works. It con- 

 sists in the attachment of a strong tine, similar to those used in Bid- 

 die's Scarrifier, to the common plow, in a position in which it acts 

 after the furrow slice has been turned." 



"This implement," continues Mr. Morton, " doing all the work, 

 requires, according to an experiment recorded there, less force to work 

 it than the subsoil plow, (!) doing only one portion of the operation. 

 It cannot, however, be soetficient in thoroughly stirring the subsoil as 

 the original implement." The other attempt at diminishing the ex- 

 pense of subsoil plowing, is by Mr. Armstrong of Stirlingshire, for 

 which he received premiums from the Stirlingshire Agricultural So- 

 ciety, and from the Highland Society. 



The following is a description of it as given by Mr. Smith, at an 

 agricultural meeting. It appears that the inventor has adapted the 

 principle of Wilkie's turn-west plow to Smith's subsoil plow; and if 

 I understand the principle of it, it is just what the American farmer 

 is in need of, as one hand with one team can perform both operations. 



'' The general frame work is that of a subsoil plow rather under 

 the medium size, and to it is attached a hinged mold-board, similar 

 to the mold-board of Smith's hill-side or turn-west plow. By means 

 of this arrangement, the plow can be used for removing the furrow 

 preceding the operation of the subsoil plow, and when the furrow has 

 been removed, the mold-board being moved upon its hinges, from its 



