58 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



la order to understand these results it must be explained that the summer 

 of 1883 was a dry one, and the two per cent of water conserved by subsoiling 

 was of great advantage to the crop. On the other hand, the seasons of 

 1884 and 1885 were unusually wet, and subsoiling, by increasing the water- 

 holding power of the soil, proved injurious to the crop. The subsoiled land, 

 to a dei)th of fifteen inches, contained 100,0U0 pounds of water in 1884, and 

 190,000 pounds per acre in 1885, more than the unsubsoiled. 



Experiments with wheat and potatoes gave similar results. The effect was 

 ■especially noticeable in the case of the potatoes, the yield being, in 1885, as 

 108 to 335, against the practice. The season was so wet as to cause the pota- 

 toes on the subsoiled portion to rot badly. 



These results are corroborated by experiments carried on in all parts of the 

 ■country. 



Thus the nature of the season has much to do in determining the results, 

 and for ordinary crops it has been found that, as the result of experiments 

 conducted for a series of years, subsoiling made no appreciable gain in the 

 crops, and hence was unprofitable. Prof. Shelton of Kansas reported, as the 

 average of a four-years trial, 55 bushels of corn from the subsoiled to 55.25 

 bushels from the unsubsoiled. 



Whatever method of plowing is found best, and whether subsoiling is prac- 

 ticed or not, the thorough pulverization of the soil, in fitting it for the crop, 

 will not only lessen the labor of cultivation, but will render the catch of seed 

 more even, thus saving in seed and in the labor of the consequent thinning, 

 and will also often increase the yield obtained. 



CLEAN CULTIVATION. 



No one can improve the advice given years ago, to kill weeds before they 

 -are up, and this'advice should be followed whether intensive or extensive 

 methods are used. Cultivate early and often, and never allow weeds to form 

 seeds and drop them on the land. The value of tillage is derived not alone 

 from preventing the growth of weeds, but in a more marked degree it is use- 

 ful in admitting the air and retaining the water which dissolve and convey 

 food to the plants. 



The method employed, whether with horse or the wheel, hand, or scuffle 

 hoes, is, of course, determined by the character of the crop and the value of 

 land and labor. In the growing of vegetables a majority of market garden- 

 ers use close culture for their early vegetables, while those for fall and winter 

 marketing are planted at such distances as will permit their being worked 

 with the horse. In some localities, where land and manure are cheap and 

 labor high, such crops as even radishes, parsley, and lettuce are worked with 

 the two horse walking cultivator. 



The same holds true in the raising of strawberries, but the method employed 

 is modified by the character of the market. With an educated public, will- 

 ing to pay an extra price for increase in the size and quality of the fruit, 

 and especially if there be competition, close cultivation, in hills, under the 

 most favorable circumstances, will not fail to be more profitable than the 

 matted row or the "no row at all" methods. 



