THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



39a 



ment, the central subsoiler, and two side-tires, witliout 

 shares ; the width altogether being 20 inches. The side 

 wheels are set so as to travel in between the wheat rows, 

 acting at the same time partially as rollers to press in 

 the wheat. The depth woiked with three horses on our 

 soil is 5 or G inches, which moves the entire breadth of 

 the interval, levelling the high furrow-slice lelt by the 

 February operation, and mingling and incorporating a 

 considerable portion of the ameliorated subsoil with the 

 upper staple. And in this way, some of the previous 

 sur.'ace-mould is replaced by portions of subsoil ; and 

 these kept upon the top, and subjected to all the scari- 

 fyiiigs and horse-hoeiugs, the i-ain, dew, wind, and sun, 

 of a summer and autumnal fallowing, add so much 

 virgin soil to our field, and deepen its productive stra- 

 tum. 



By way of further direction, we scarcely need insist 

 upon the watchful destruction of weeds that thieve the 

 nourishment provided for the crop, or urge the frequent 

 cutting of the iticrusting intervals by the sharp-knived 

 horse-hoe, to promote the absorption of the atmospheric 

 gifts, and pulverize a rich surface-bsd for the spreading 

 wheat-roots to feed in. And of course, the wise 

 husbandman will time this stimulating operation accord- 

 ing to the obvious thriving or lagging growth of i.he 

 plants, and will narrow the width of the implement 

 as the season advances and the roots extend. 



If possible, have the intervals in a state of powder, 

 say by the middle of June : as you should perform 

 another operation when the wheat is in full-ear or going 

 out of bloom, namely, earth-up the wheat rows as you 

 would potatoes, only with care and moderation. This 

 may be done with a ridge ^or double-mouldboard plough, 

 the horse being driven and guided by a lad walking 

 along the next adjoining interval. Owing to excessive 

 draught, our intervals last summer were too rough and 

 cloddy to admit of this process being done at all ; and 

 as the seed had been imperfectly put in the ground, many 

 odd stalks in the outer-rows were dashed down by the 

 July storms, bent an inch or two above ground, and laid 

 prostrate across the intervals. Gathering up these straws 

 made tedious work for the reapers, and the grain in them 

 was also light. Earthing-up slightly, Mr. Smith finds, 

 will jirevent this, without injury or retarding the ripen- 

 ing of the corn. But the stems are stronger than in a 



common crop, and though liable to twisting and whip- 

 ])mg by the winds, are rarely found to lodge. 



You will probably be pu zzlcd about the best way of 

 harvesting : the three-row strips being too narrow for 

 mowing, and if reaped, the stubble when afterwards 

 mown, would be only scattered and dispersed by the 

 scythe. We p-iid our men extra to reap with hooks or 

 sickles rather close to the ground, and collect the many 

 stalks that lay athwart the intervals ; and they had to 

 leave separate " reaps'' or handfulls along each stripe to 

 be afterwards gathered into sheaves. 



The subjoined items of expenditure on our 10-acre 

 crop will give an idea of the cost of the operations now 

 described. Manual-labour is charged at the price paid 

 for it ; and horse-labour at half-a-crown a day for each 

 horse. The expenses, divided by 10, give ^tr ac?-e as 

 follows : 



s. D. 



Scarifying, cleaninsf, drilling, &c 16 



Seed, 3 pecks (at 56s.) 5 3 



Bird-keeping 4 



First ploughing and aubsoihng 3 8 



Secoud ditto 3 8 



Hand-hoeiug wheat 1 10 



Scarifying iutervala , , . . 1 10 



Hoe-weeding by hand 3 4 



First horae-hoeiug intervals 9 



Secoud ditto 10 



Reaping 13 



Surveying reaper's work 3 



Carrying, &c 1 11 



Thrashing and dressing 8 1 



Delivering at market 1 9 



Total working expenses £3 2 6 



To which, of course, are added the rent, tithe, rates, 

 taxes, and interest on outlay. And this is the cost of 

 groicing an acre of wheat, and at the same time fal- 

 lowing that acre for next year's crop. 



It now remains for us, in concluding this series of 

 papers, to urge the experiment upon all who are desirous 

 of growing wheat at a profit, in spite of low prices. 

 And should our second harvest corroborate the assurance 

 of the first, we sha 1 be able to enforce the adoption of 

 the system on the largest scale. 



AERATION OF LAND. 



Whatever be the elements of the atniospliere by which 

 the earth rnaj' be acted upon, it is certain that the soil, if 

 freely exposed to such elements as present themselves in 

 the ordinary state of the atmospheie, has its fertility greatly 

 increased. 



It signifies nothing what are the required elements, un- 

 less it be capable of demonstration that it is solely owing 

 to some particular elements, and that those particular 

 elements can be supplied to the soil at a cheaper rate by 

 other moans than by exposure. 



To ettVct this exposure, it has been usual to have frequent 

 ploughing, fallowing, drilling, &c , which conduced to this 

 purpose, and were otherwise useful by destroying weeds ; 

 but I venture to suggest the following plan, not as a sub- 

 stitute for the ordinary means, but as an accompanying 

 meiuurc, which is small in first cost, and in its action at- 

 tended with little expense : 



Let drainage-tiles (perforated, if needfid) be laid as 

 usual ; but let all the drains iu a field be connected. At the 

 lower end of the field, where the drainage is discharge'l, 

 let the ends of the pipes (not perforated) be well packed in 

 clay, and the ends of the pipes made like an inverted 

 syplion, so that drainage-water will lodge in the bend. In 

 various parts of the field — or one part, if that be found 

 sufficient— let there be large bcll-moutlied funnels to gather 



wind, so arranged, by means of a vane, as always to present 

 the open mouths to the wind ; and let these funnels be 

 connected by an upright pipe with the drains. 



The pressure of the wind in the mouth of a funnel will 

 cause an equal pressure through all the drains, it not being 

 able to escape through the ends, because of the water 

 lodged in the bend ; and air will, consequently, permeate 

 the soil at all times when there is a breeze. 



It might in some situations be possible to use water- 

 power, or even steam-power, (or an occasional service, aa 

 many well-drained farms now-a-days are furnished with 

 steam-engines, and the aeration through the ordinary 

 drain-pipes would be effective. 



In steam-packets a long bag opened to the wnid at the 

 side, near the top, forces air into the hold amongst the 

 cattle. Gas companies find that their gas permeates in 

 large quantities through the soil, although their pipes are 

 as tight as they can make them, and the ground they are 

 laid in dense; whereas, iu the plan suggested, the pressure 

 would be in perforated pipes, and through a loose soil. 



The plan would not interfere with the drainage, but 

 would he a second use for the same pipes, and he stimu- 

 lating the crops at periods when it would be otherwise im- 

 practicable to manure them, t!. II. B. 



