512 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



trenchinsf the land two feet deep by means of it, at 

 a cost per Irish acre, by day's wages, of £7 13s. ; 

 and although the expense appears to be large, yet 

 he finds it repaid in the first crop. A report of 

 Mr. Nivin's system was given in the Farmers' 

 Gazette, Aug. 27, 1859, to which I must refer 

 for details. 



The introduction, by the late Mr. Smith, of 

 Deanston, of the subsoil plough, as a follower of 

 the thorough drain, was an event of much impor- 

 tance, not only from the effects produced by the 

 use of this implement v/hen employed in breaking 

 up the indurated subsoil, but also from the enlarged 

 and more correct views which it was the means of 

 imparting to many on the subject of deep 

 culture. Its application by some as a substitute 

 for, instead of a follower of, the thorough drain, 

 militated against it in certain cases ; but it is most 

 unquestionably a valuable implement when properly 

 applied. Still, with all ray predilections for the 

 Deanston subsoil plough, arising from a rather 

 extensive experience of its use, I do not consider it 

 a perfect implement. It rips up the under soil, 

 and gives additional depth ; but it does not effect 

 this in such a perfectly uniform and complete 

 manner as all the requirements of deep culture 

 demand. Some, indeed, allege that the effects of 

 subsoiling are not lasting ; but I am not of that 

 opinion. I have, no doubt, met with cases where 

 the results apparently favoured such views ; birt in 

 tracing the history of those cases — which were 

 always in connection with stiff, cold clays — it was 

 evident that the subsoil plough had followed the 

 drain too closely, and without giving the latter 

 proper time to act. Where the latter point was 

 attended to, however, I have seen, even on very 

 obdurate clays, that the effects of subsoiling by 

 the Deanston plough were perfectly visible at least 

 fifteen or twenty years after the work had been 

 done. 



Various forms of subsoilers have been introduced, 

 and many of these possess great merit. The most 

 perfect implement, however, or rather combination 

 of implements, for effecting deep and uniform 

 culture, is to be found in the Tweeddale plough and 

 the Tweeddale subsoil-trench-plough. These were 

 invented by theMarquis of Tweeddale, and firstused 

 by him in the improvement of his farms on the Tes- 

 ter estate. The Tweeddale plough, at first sight, 

 appears to be a heavy and cumbersome implement ; 

 butaltbough it turns a furrow 15 to 16 inches deep, 

 and 14 inches wide, it is held by the ploughman Vt'ith 

 as much ease as any common swing plough turning 

 a furrow of 6 or 7 inches in depth. This arises 

 from the structure of the mould-board, which, to 

 use Mr. Stephens's description, "instead of pres- 

 sing against the furrow-slice along its entire length, 

 gets quit of it at once by its convex breast, and 

 causes it to slip along in a straight line till it 

 reaches near its ear, when the ftirrow-slice assumes 

 its proper position by its own gravity. Friction 

 of the furrow-slice is thus practically avoided." 

 In another place he says " The furrow-slice, in 

 place of being turned over in an entire form, as by 

 our fine working ploughs, is only so far turned, 

 and at the same time broken, as serves to present 

 the soil in the best possible state to the ameliorating 



effects of atmospheric influences. In this respect 

 the Tweeddale plough stands unequalled ; and 

 since the extinction of the old Scottish wooden 

 plough, no implement has approached the point to 

 which this has attained, for enlarging the extent of 

 surface exposed to the atmosphere." 



The Tweeddale plough is used in giving the 

 winter furrow and spring cross-ploughings for 

 green crops, and also in ploughing the seed furrow 

 for grain. Indeed, I believe that after ploughmen 

 get used to it they prefer it to any other form of 

 swing plough, from the ease with which it is held. 

 But although it certainly in itself does effect much 

 deeper tillage than any other form of plough, when 

 it is conjoined with the Tweeddale subsoil-trench- 

 plough, a still greater depth of soil is not only 

 broken up, but thoroughly pulverised and inter- 

 mixed. The subsoil trench-plough is of peculiar 

 construction, having an inclined tail-board aflfixed 

 to the sock, by means of which the loosened subsoil 

 is carried in an upward direction, and brought 

 within reach of the surface soil. Mr. Stephens, 

 in his account of " Yester Deep Land Culture," 

 speaking of this point says :^=r 



" When it has reached the top of the inclined 

 plane, by which it has been elevated nine inches 

 above the bottom furrow, it falls over its ends and 

 sides, bringing in its fall a portion of the surface soil, 

 and both are commixed before reaching the bottom 

 of the furrow, to fill up the void continually forming 

 under the inclined plane or tail-board in its passage 

 through the subsoil. . . . The soil and sub- 

 soil are more intimately mixed by this mode of 

 subsoil-trench-ploughing than by the spade, and 

 the reason is easily given. The subsoil-trench- 

 plough raises up a portion of the subsoil by degrees, 

 and rubs it against a corresponding portion of the 

 upper soil, laid over in a furrow slice by the plough 

 that has gone before ; and on the subsoil losing 

 the support of the inclined plane of the subsoil- 

 trench-plough, both sorts of soil fall together over 

 the end and sides of the incline upon the bottom 

 farrow ; whereas, when soils are mixed in trenching 

 by men, with the spade, masses in spadefuls are 

 placed together side by side, and not in numerable 

 small portions of mixed loose mould. A great 

 difference exists betrveen a mixture of spadefuls 

 and that of loose mould." 



It is scarcely possible, however, without actual 

 field demonstration, to convey a perfectly correct 

 idea of the really beautiful manner in which those 

 implements act in loosening and commixing the 

 soil, to a depth of from 20 to 24 inches. 



The application of steam to the purposes of 

 cultivation affords another means of effecting that 

 deep culture which enables us to " enlarge our 

 fields of subterranean pasture," as TuU denomi- 

 nates it, in his quaint phraseology. As yet, 

 however, steam cultivation, although a great fact, 

 has not attained that degree of uniform complete- 

 ness which it will ere long acquire, nor will this 

 be the case untd the best points of the different 

 systems which have been brought out are \inited 

 into one scheme. There are some little jealousies 

 to be overcome before this can be the case, but it 

 is evident that the promoters of steam culture will 

 best further their views and their own interests, 



