402 [Assembly 



necessary qualities desired ; and therefore it is preferable to pre- 

 pare the subsoil by the admission of atmosphere, before combin- 

 ing large quantities of it with the surface soil ; that after one or 

 two years thorough subsoil plowing, we may then combine the 

 two without fear of injuring our crops, but, on the contrary, we 

 find them greatly improved by such treatment, ^' Sometimes the 

 subsoil is composed principally of clay, and will not permit the 

 surface water to pass freely down, thus causing the surface to be- 

 come acid, too compact by excess of w^t, and the plants from such 

 excess, of moisture cannot thrive. In so'fne localities w^e find a 

 thin surface soil underlaid by a hard pan subsoil, which is so com- 

 pact that the roots of plants cannot penetrate it, and thus for want 

 of being able to adopt their natural configuration, the plants die. 

 In both these cases, subsoil plowing is found to remedy the evil. 

 With the clayey subsoil the cut made in or through it often per- 

 mits the excess of. water to escape, and the hard pan subsoil, by 

 the mechanical disintegration of fhe plow, is rendered permeable 

 to the roots of jdants ; and in both cases the constituents of the 

 ■ atmosphere and gases it contains, can reach the roots of the plants, 

 even to their termini, which could not be the case unless by the 

 assistance of the subsoil plow. Nor do the advantages of subsoil 

 plowing end here. Soils may not only be deepened, sweetened, 

 and otherwise improved by this practice, but in seasons of exces- 

 sive rain or droughts, the crops are more likely to succeed than if 

 the soil had not been subsoiled. Excess of rains may pass down, 

 while in the drought the roots may go down to a lower point to 

 find moisture, and thus the whole plant is sustained." 



^^ During the present summer's severe drought, I have had a fair 

 opportunity of observing this fact , while parts of my crops and 

 those in the neighborhood, on soils not subsoiled, died out, the 

 same crops on subsoiled land flourished with exceeding vigor. 

 Corn curled and dried up within a few rods of strong-growing 

 and beautiful plants in a deeper-worked soil. 



Cultivation of Potatoes. 



" I would here mention a palpable error so common with us in 

 the cultivation of hoed crops, especially corn and potatoes. I 

 mean the careful hilling up. This practice, like many others^ 



