108 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



takes place from this repeated working at tliis precise 

 season of the year, when the atmosphere is more fully 

 charged with the effluvia arising from so much decayed 

 and decaying vegetation, arising from the ripening and 

 decay of all the straw crops, the stubbles, the falling 

 leaves, the ditch readings, the nuinerous grasses, and 

 the like at this season ; which effluvia, it may reason- 

 ably be supposed, are deposited in the soil thus prepared, 

 and there retained for future service ; but if this process 

 is neglected, and the soil remains unbroken, the morn- 

 ing's sun speedily dissipates the nightly deposits, and no 

 benefit is derived. 



The nest, and perhaps the most important operation in 

 fallowing, consists in breaking up the soil at very consi- 

 derable depth, the deeper the better, provided the staple 

 and character of the soil do not present any imprac- 

 ticability in the turning-up of anystei'ile, unconvertible 

 subsoil, so incapable of improvement as to be of little 

 avail when brought into use. But good loamy soils 

 cannot be broken up at too great a depth with our pre- 

 sent appliances; and all other soils ought to be broken 

 up at a depth proportionate to their nature and thick- 

 ness of surface soil, taking care not to bring up and in- 

 termingle with this surface soil at any one operation too 

 much ofany of those hard, stiff, impervious, or inert sub- 

 soils so often met with. These inert soils may, and ought 

 to be, brought gradually into useful action or service ; 

 but to attempt too much at once serves only to retard 

 the ready and profitable cultivation of the soil ; but 

 ultimately, from oft-repeated deep processes of culture, 

 the surface soil and subsoil become so intermingled and 

 gradually deepened that vast benefit is derived, and of 

 course heavier and more varied crops may be grown. 

 On every soil, the great rule by which to regulate the 

 depth at which it should be broken up is the depth of 

 the roots of surface weeds ; these should all be up- 

 routed, so that they may be readily and speedily worked 

 to the surface by the subsequent processes, in order to 

 be picked and carried off. I use the term Irealnng-vp 

 in preference to laloughing-up advisedly or designedly, 

 because I consider the modeof breaking-up immaterial, 

 provided the soil is properly subsoil-drained ; and in 

 these modern days of farming I take this to be the 

 foundation of good husbandry, and my remarks only 

 bear upon land properly drained ; the great thing is 

 to provide a deep soil fi)r the fallowing. 



The next course ought to consist of a series of labo- 

 rious operations by which this deeply-broken-up soil 

 can be effectually worked, so that all weeds shall be 

 brought to the surface to be destroyed, while the whole 

 stratum thus brought under operation is kept in an open 

 movable state, and capable of being repeatedly stirred 

 by the effactive implements brought to operate upon it. 

 This stirring ought, in dry, hot, sunny weather, to be 

 continuous ; on no account should any intermission of 

 this laborious labour take place. It is in this way that 

 the fixed ammonia in the soil is to be released — that the 

 full and free aeration of the soil is to be accomplished. 

 This is to be achieved by patient perseverance in the 

 daily use of drags and scarifiers, whereby the whole of 

 the soil to the very bottom of the stratum broken up for 



fallowing is powerfully moved and stirred, tumbled 

 about, and mingled as much as possible. The aim should 

 be to present and expose as many surfaces of clods and 

 particles of soil to the chemical action of atmospheric 

 influences as possible. To do this most effectively, and 

 with the greatest certainty, it is very desirable to keep 

 the whole soil in rather a rough state — at all events, it 

 must not be reduced to powder or fine mould. If the 

 whole stratum could be kept in a small cloddy or 

 chequery state, the better, the clods varying in size from 

 a hazel nut to a goose's egg. If, unfortunately, during 

 these tillage operations the soil should become too mi- 

 nutely divided, or nearly reduced to powder, it may be 

 desirable to ridge it by the plough, i. e., give it a sort of 

 trench ploughing, for further exposure to "weathering" 

 influences. Any course will be more advantageous than 

 to permit it to be run together by heavy rains. Occa- 

 sional slight rains are of incalculable value to the full 

 development of the system I am now advocating — the 

 eflfective fallowing of a deeply broken-up soil — and that 

 in order to extract from it the rich supply of ammonia 

 it is known to contain, as also to cause it to imbibe all 

 those gaseous influences which the atmosphere has to 

 impart. I believe the result of this deep cultivation will 

 astonish every farmer who will effectually practise it. I 

 wish to be fully understood : it is not the occasional 

 stirring or working the soil at the farmer's convenience 

 that will suffice — it must be always in motion if possible, 

 the more the better in suitable weather ; it should not be 

 permitted to lie still beyond a day or two, but if it could 

 be stirred every day the advantage would be correspond- 

 ingly great. It will be very probably asked. How is 

 this all to be done ? I as promptly answer, I cannot tell ; 

 but this I know, it ought to be done, and I believe it 

 will ultimately become the general practice — there is no 

 impossibility in it. I will endeavour to show briefly 

 how it may be attempted. Every farmer must curtail his 

 fallow — i. e., fallow a less breadth, and do it better. 

 We must introduce more powerful and more effective 

 implements into our practice, and these must be worked 

 by the gigantic power of steam. Our present ap- 

 pliances and power cannot effect it ; our horses cannot 

 effect such deep working as I propose for general adoj)- 

 tion. I hail the power of steam for such purpose, and 

 we have only to show that a great and permanent good 

 is to be derived, to insure its introduction throughout the 

 length and breadth of the land. The fact is patent. 

 Steam cultivation is introduced to cultivate the soil. 

 It is for us to show or prove its transcendent advantages 

 in culture by the power and continuity it can bring to 

 bear upon the many difficult operations of tillage and 

 farm practice. The thorough deep working and pul- 

 verization of fallows will be one of its great and most 

 beneficial achievements, and to which I now more im- 

 mediatSly advert. 



Having, as above, shown the uses, design, and mode 

 of effecting a good modern fallow, our next inquiry is, 

 Can the soil be well managed, and good farming proceed 

 profitably, without fallows, as now practieed ? My 

 answer is, Certainly not, taking fallotving in its broad- 

 est sense; otherwise, I answer. Yes. I shall attempt to 



