NEW ENGLAND CLIMATE. 161 



ploufj:hing. In countries where labor is cheaper, the same 

 object is effected by the spade, which indeed not only divides 

 the under soil, but brino;s it to the surface. But the expense 

 of this course, which in Massachusetts would probably be not 

 less than fifty dollars per acre, would be considered by many as 

 an insuperable objection. Besides, if the under soil is brought 

 to the surface, a heavy expense must be incurred in addition, in 

 the manure necessary to enrich it. The same objections may 

 be made to the enormous trench ploughs, used in England, but, 

 it is believed, scarcely known here, which completely reverse 

 the soil to the depth of a foot and a half, and thus place the 

 cold and barren subsoil uppermost. The only subsoil ploughs 

 used with us are those which merely split and break up the 

 hard pan beneath, and thus produce a bed of light earth of 

 about sixteen to eighteen inches in depth. This can be efi'ected 

 in the stiffest soil by a subsoil plough, with four stout horses, 

 or an equivalent force of oxen following in the wake of a com- 

 mon plough, and the cost will not exceed twelve or fourteen 

 dollars per acre. When once done, it may be considered as 

 permanent. Every one knows that the hardest ground, when 

 fairly broken up, is loosened for many years, and nothing but 

 the constant travel which takes place in the most frequented 

 streets or roads can restore it to its former compactness for a 

 long period. By this opening of the under soil, the roots of 

 plants are enabled to shoot downward, and this they will infal- 

 libly do when the surface is parched by drought. Besides, 

 every one knows that a heap of loose earth conducts the heat 

 of the sun off much more slowly than a compact mass of hard 

 soil, to say nothing of the superior power which it probably 

 exerts in- extracting from the atmosphere its hidden moisture. 

 If wo thus open a refuge to our plants from the fierce rays of 

 the sun, we shall find that none, whether trees, shrubs, grain, 

 or grass, will fail to shoot down their roots, as far as they find 

 the way open. 



The next expedient for alleviating the effects of our weari- 

 some spells of dry summer weather is, mulching. This expedient 

 can be practised to much less extent than that just mention- 

 ed, and must be a resort, rather of the gardener than the 

 farmer. With crops of English grain, it is manifestly impossi- 

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