322 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



cussion. The state of perfection to which the plough has been 

 brought is not perhaps susceptible of much further improve- 

 ment. But the manner of ploughing, — the depth to which the 

 ground should be stirred, — is a consideration of much moment, 

 and, in the Judgment of many, it is the point upon which all 

 correct farming depends. 



To the opinion that deep ploughing will answer as a substi- 

 tute for manuring, and that it will render unnecessary the now 

 common practice of rotation, it is difficult to subscribe. It 

 would seem, if the crop when gathered contained the constitu- 

 ents of the soil upon which it grew, that a succession of the 

 same crops would necessarily, by abstracting the elements of 

 fertility, ultimately impoverish the land. This result might be 

 considered as unavoidable, unless it could be shown that the 

 components of the crop were obtained from the atmosphere, — a 

 proposition that in its whole extent would rarely be assented to. 

 That deep ploughing, by opening the land to the influence of 

 the atmosphere and creating a deeper soil for production, adds 

 to the power of the land, is manifest ; and whatever difference 

 of opinion may exist as to the extent of its usefulness, none can 

 be felt as to the fact itself. If ploughing deep is essential, it is 

 not the less so when the land is cultivated with the aid of ma- 

 nure, and the disuse of manure is unlikely to be recommended 

 under the present state of agricultural science. Deep plougli- 

 ' ing, then, should be adhered to in aid of the present system, and 

 not received as a substitute for the usual methods of enriching 

 the soils. 



The rotation of crops has been so repeatedly and thoroughly 

 tested, that the prevalent opinion of its usefulness, and indeed 

 of its necessity to good culture, seems well established. But, 

 without attempting to question the correctness of the opinion, 

 a suggestion may be hazarded that some soils do not, perhaps, 

 demand a regular change ; and some old experiments in Eng- 

 land, with others of more recent date, may be referred to as of 

 interest upon this question. The earlier experiments were 

 made by Jethro Tull, of Berkshire, England, at the commence- 

 ment of the last century,, who may be considered as the origi- 

 nator of the drill culture of England, and of deep ploughing. 

 His system of agriculture was founded upon the principle that 

 " the food of plants consists of minute particles of earth taken 



