THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



513 



and those of agriculturists generally, by consenting 

 to Gucli an amalgamation as that which I have 

 alluded to. In so far as regards tlie mere act of 

 culture, it appears to me that the smashing-up 

 system adopted by Mr. Wilham Smith, of Wool- 

 ston, is the best ; and notwithstanding the " heavy 

 blows and gre?.t discouragements " which it has 

 received at the hands of the judges appointed by the 

 Koyal Agricultural Society of England, it evidently 

 appears to be rapidly gaining favour amongst 

 practical^ agriculturists in many parts of that 

 country. 



The effects produced by deep culture are of so 

 wide a range that a full consideration of them 

 would afl'ord abundant materials for a lengthened 

 series of papers. Under the circumstance, there- 

 fore, all i can do is to refer to a few prominent 

 points. 



It is sufficient merely to remark that deep cul- 

 tivation, when preceded by thorough draining, 

 increases the absorbent powers of the soil, and 

 thus enables it to imbibe and retain a properly 

 balanced supply of moisture — the excess being 

 carried off— and also of those fertilizing gases 

 which are derived from the atmosphere, and from 

 the decomposition of organic matter within the 

 soil. Furthermore, the air, when thus admitted 

 freely through the soil, exerts a powerful influence 

 on the mineral substances contained in it ; decompo- 

 sing them, and rendering them soluble, and for 

 that reason available as the food of plants. The 

 action of the air "sweetens " she soil, as it is very 

 correctly termed in practical language, and the 

 poor, stiff, forbidding clay, on being subjected to 

 its agency, becomes friable, darker in colour, more 

 fertile, and kindly to work. 



Such are the general features of the question, 

 but it is necessary to illustrate them by cases 

 drawn from actual practice. 



I have already referred to the deepening of the 

 soil at Marino, and I need scarcely remind you 

 that Mr. Brady is very famous for the heavy and 

 uniform crops of roots which he grows on that 

 soil. At our last meeting, he laid a good deal of 

 stress on the system he has followed for many 

 years, in preparing farm-yard dung durinjg the 

 winter and spring previous to its being applied to 

 the land in root crop cultivation. Whilst I at once 

 admit that Mr. Brady's system of manure manage- 

 ment is such as to retain the fertilizing properties 

 of the manure in a much better manner than the 

 ordinary practice allows, still it is worthy of con- 

 sideration how far the SO or 90 tons per Irish acre 

 of mangel vvurzel, and a corresponding weight of 

 swedes and other root crops, which he annually 

 produces, are due to the deep and thorough 

 pulverization of the soil, which is an essential 

 feature in his practice. Without in the slightest 

 degree detracting from the value of his system of 

 manure making, I am most decidedly of opinion 

 that even his v/ell-madehcajis of farm-yard manure 

 would tell much less effectively in the ])roduction 

 of crops if the depth of the active soil was still 

 limited, as it formerly was, to seven inches. Of 

 this we have, to a certain extent, corroborative 

 evidence in the results of the "smashing up" 



system on Mr. Wilham Smith's farm at Woolston, 

 where he succeeded last year, in consequence of 

 his adoption of that system, in growing 55 tons of 

 mangels, and 31 tons of swedes per statute acre, 

 being equivalent to about 90 tons of mangels and 

 50 tons of swedes i)er Irish acre. That I am right 

 in attrd)uting the heavy weight of those crops in 

 a great measure to deep and thorough cultivation is 

 evident from the tenor of the following remarks, 

 which occur in a letter with which Mr. Smith has 

 just favoured me, in reply to some enquiries I made 

 relative to the weight of the previous root crops 

 on the same land. He eays : — 



I " The last crop of turnips and mangels, in the 

 same field as last year, was six years ago, and 

 under horse culture, though considered good, did 

 not exceed 20 tons of turnips and 30 tons of 

 mangels. The same field was in turnips twelve 

 years ago, and did not exceed 10 tons per acre. 

 The crops generally round the last year, under 

 horse culture, did not exceed 20 tons of turnips 

 and 30 tons of mangels, even on the best land ; but 

 two other persons near me, who have adopted 

 steam and my system, produced nearly as heavy 

 weights as myself." 



From this I think there can be little doubt as to 

 the reason why Mr. Smith succeeded in growing 

 10 or 11 tons of swedes and 25 tons of mangels 

 per statute acre more than he did when he employed 

 the ordinary run of horse culture, and more 

 than his neighbours still do "even on the best 

 land." 



At Lois-Weedon, from having only six inches of 

 staple, there is now at least sixteen inches of dark 

 mould, through the constant use of the spade and 

 fork. In adducing this case, I am not expressing 

 any opinion on the general merits of Mr. Smith's 

 experimental system at Lois-Weedon j but that 

 twelve successive crops of wheat have been grown 

 by him without degeneracy or diminution, relying 

 solely on the soil-stores of plant-food which are 

 rendered available by deep cultivation, is a fact 

 which ought not to be overlooked. 



I have already referred to the deep culture 

 effected by the Tweeddale plough and the Tweed- 

 dale subsoil-trench ploughs, and I now proceed to 

 lay before you some of the results. 



The soil on the Marquis of Tweeddale's farm at 

 Tester, previous to its Improvement, consisted 

 chiefly of poor, stiff, clay, the surface soil being 

 " generally from 5 to G inches in depth, and 7 or 8 

 inches would have reached the subsoil through the 

 deepest part of the soil." The subsoil consisted 

 of a " poor, hungry, clay, of various colours, 

 and contained many stones and much moor-band 

 ])an," the latter being " from the thickness of a 

 film' to 3 or 5 inches." The farm lies at an 

 elevation of from 400 to 750 feet above the sea; 

 and Mr. Stephens informs us that the letting 

 value ranged generally from 2s. 6d. to 10s. per acre. 

 Altogether, therefore, to use the words of the talented 

 historian of " Yester Deep Land Culture," whose 

 name 1 have just mentioned, "it is evident that 

 fields with such aspects were by no means pro- 

 mising subjects for the expenditure of capital, 



