No. 63.] 249 



ground — of very little value. Indeed, some excellent farmers have 

 satisfied themselves that strawy manure is unprofitable for summer 

 crops. 



I am far from holding that opinion, however. The error consists in 

 not applying it to the soil in the best manner. In the spring of 1840, 

 I had no ground for field beets, but a small lot where corn had grown 

 for two years in succession. It was unfit for such a crop without 

 manure; and I had only fresh manure from the stable, which has 

 long been considered most unfavorable to the beet. My necessity 

 however prevailed against opinion; and I took the responsibility. 

 From each line where the beets were to grow, two furrows were 

 turned so as to leave a wide dead furrow. Into this the manure was 

 thrown from the wagon, each fork full touching the one just behind 

 it, till the row was completed. It was well covered by turning two 

 furrows together over it, which held it down while the harrow was 

 passing four times in succession, breaking, pulverizing, and mixing 

 it intimately with the soil. Again two furrows were turned together 

 over the row, and the harrow passed twice more — in all, six times. 

 By this process the ground was reduced to a fine tilth; and if there 

 were any better beets in the county, I did not see them. 



To me, it was a most instructive experiment. I have often seen 

 manure applied to corn fields, but never in any case where it was so 

 completely incorporated with fine earth. Even in the driest part of 

 that season, the ground was always moist and mellow. 



I am satisfied that we have been too saving of our harrows. Thirty 

 years ago, there was a method of plowing in this country, called " cut 

 AND COVER." It was plowiug, not to the shares^ but the halves 

 — the furrow slice covering the space where a furrow ought to have 

 been. I am apprehensive that our ideas of harrowing were learned 

 in the same school. When grain is sowed, is it not the prevailing 

 opinion that it is harrowed enough when the seed is covered '? I had 

 a narrow land harrowed sixteen times in one day, and was satisfied 

 that the labor was well applied. 



For beets, or corn, or potatoes, what would be the effect of plow- 

 ing in a heavy dressing of stable manure, harrowing twice, and re- 

 peating the operations of the plowing and harrowings four times more, 

 adding each time to the depth of the soil? I have not yet performed 

 the experiment, but the nearer I have approached it the finer has been 

 the crop. Thorough culture would seem to require that every little 

 lump should be broken, so that the roots could wander freely in every 

 direction, and that every drop of summer shower, should be caught 

 and retained for future use. Hard land and thin soils have some re- 

 semblance to a dish bottom upwards. 



An instrument for pulverizing the soil was invented a few years ago 

 in Virginia by Thomas B. Gay. It is called the Drag-roller, for it 

 operates just as a roller would that does not turn but drag. Take a 

 hollow log, six or seven feet long, split it in two, and one-half would 

 serve for this instrument. The greater the diameter, the easier it 

 would run; and be less liable to clog by gathering clods before it. 

 Three feet would be better than two, though either would answer^ 



[Senate No. 63.J G* 



