408 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the horse drinkiog from the milkpail and the boys coasting in the best 

 copper boiler, we rightly infer that there is a lack of system in the 

 management of that household which entails in all of its departments 

 slavish labor and ruinous waste. We see a similar lack of system in 

 the present organization of the farmers' trade. Can it fail to bring 

 similar results, and is it a more attractive exhibition in the one case 

 than in the other ? If the farmer will organize and himself assume 

 control of his trade, a reform will speedily follow and hereia lies his 

 remedy. — L. M. St. John, Montgomery county, N. Y., in Orange Judd 

 Farmer. 



SUBSOILING. 



Every crop season brings with it conditions peculiar to itself and 

 gives prominence to methods of soil management which the previous 

 season, perhaps, by reason of its character, threw into the background, 

 The dry years of '93 and '94 emphasized the importance of storing 

 moisture in the soil and conserving it by appropriate tillage during 

 the season of growth, and during those years a good deal of thought 

 was given to subsoiling to increase the storage capacity of the soil, 

 and to continue surface cultivation to prevent evaporation. In 1895, 

 with a moderate rainfall, good crops were the rule, and much of the 

 success of the year was probably due to the fact that the lessons of 

 the previous two years in regard to the importance of conserving 

 moisture, were fresh in the minds of every farmer. Then came the 

 wet season of 1896, which made the west forget that it had ever been 

 in any danger of suffering from drouth. The present season, which 

 was wet in the earlier months and turned dry at a critical period in 

 the growth of the corn crop, would, we verily believe, result in a great 

 deal of loss to the corn crop if 1896 had been a dry year, but the 

 season, coming as it did after a wet year, care that might have been 

 taken to conserve the moisture which fell in the first half of the sea- 

 son was not taken, and the adver.se effect of the dry period thus be- 

 came very considerably intensified. 



The lesson that one should endeavor to master in relation to soil 

 management are not to be extracted from a single year, but rather from 

 a series of years. For several seasons prior to 1893 tile drainage was 

 a very popular thing, and a great deal of it was done. Moreover, 

 many desired to drain who felt unable to do so. When the dry years 

 came the men who had believed strongly in tile drainage never spoke 

 of it, even in a whisper. After the wet season of '96 there was a simi- 

 lar silence in regard to subsoiling. The land had been \^'et enough re- 



