No. 85.] 141 



the lower glades there was not sufficient depth of soil for either grass 



or grain. 



The surface of rich alluvial lands, it is known, may be so impover- 

 ished by constant tillage and severe cropping, as to become compara- 

 tively barren : but they may be renovated by giving unusual depth 

 to the furrow and bringing up a portion of soil that has never been 

 robbed of its native fertility. 



But in my case this could not be, for the clay, or rather the sub- 

 soil, composed of clay and sand, in many locations almost impervi- 

 ous to water, and altogether sterile, was found at depths of from four 

 to eight inches from the surface. Here then, were two difficulties — 

 my soil lacked fertility, and it lacked depth. It was not only poor, 

 but there was not enough of it. Its fertility might be restored by 

 manure, but the want of depth was always fatal to the crop, in sea- 

 sons remarkable either for drouth or moisture. 



The great desideratum, then, was to increase the depth of soil. 

 This could not be done by deep plowing, with the common plow, or 

 by the use of the subsoil plow. 



The first of these modes is liable to two objections, both of great 

 practical importance. And 1st. In those fields where the depth of 

 soil varies from four to eight inches, a furrow ten inches deep and of 

 the common width, would require the power of two yoke of oxen — 

 and any considerable increase in the depth of furrow would employ 

 the addition of a third team. 2d. Under such culture the soil is 

 buried deep and the subsoil brought to the surface, presenting a clay- 

 cold, pale face. The great amount of manure necessary to bring such 

 land to at once — to give it the hue of health, and the vigor of 

 fertility, I could not at all afford ; and as illy could I avail the slow 

 natural process of amelioration by the frost and the snow of winter, 

 and the showers and the sunshine of summer. My interest required 

 that I should adopt some plan less expensive than the one, and more 

 expeditious than the other. 



I had long thought of the subsoil plow as an implement adapted 

 to my purpose ; but not until the past winter did I resolve to test 

 theory by experiment, and give subsoil culture a fair trial, deeply im- 

 pressed with the belief that it steered clear of those insuperable ob- 

 jections that exist to the other mode, and that it was well adapted to 

 effect my object in the most perfect manner, and at the least possible 



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