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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



different times in the fall, and the remainder of the 

 field ploughed twelve inches deep, also in the fall. 

 That part grubbed in the fall was grubbed again in 

 the spring, at the same depth, and produced 2U 

 tons of swedes per acre. Half that portion ploughed 

 in the fall was worked with the grubber to the 

 depth of twelve inches in the spring, and produced 

 23s tons of swedes per acre. The other half that 

 was ploughed in the fall was ploughed again in the 

 spring, and produced 192 tons per acre. The 

 ■whole, it should be stated, was manured alike. The 

 land was sown the following spring — part with oats 

 and part with April wheat. The land grubbed for 

 swedes was again grubbed for wheat, one portion 

 to the depth of ten inches producing 84 bushels of 

 oats per acre, and 34 bushels of wheat per acre; 

 the other portion, grubbed four inches deep, pro- 

 duced 80 bushels of oats per acre, and 38 bushels 

 of wheat per acre. No. 2, ploughed and grubbed 

 for swedes, one part ploughed ten inches now pro- 

 duced 91 bushels of oats per acre, and 47§ bushels 

 of wheat per acre. The other part ploughed four 

 inches deep, produced 85 bushels of oats, and 4lJ 

 bushels of wheat per acre. The other portion 

 ploughed wholly for swedes, one part ploughed now 

 ten inches deep produced 90 bushels of oats per 

 acre, and 38 bushels of wheat per acre. The other 

 portion, ploughed four inches, produced 83 bushels 

 of oats, and 42 bushels of wheat per acre. The 

 land was then all sown to seeds, and produced a 

 good crop the following year ; but the deep culti- 

 vated land was much the best, no difference appear- 

 ing between that ploughed deep and grubbed deep. 

 The deduction he (Mr. Reader) made from these 

 experiments was that deep cultivation answered 

 well for root crops and oats, but not for wheat. 

 He then gave an instance of the successful manner 

 in which he had cleared a piece of land from this- 

 tles by deep cultivation, and expressed an opinion 

 that it was impossible to get rid of them by shallow 

 cultivation, as the roots were not disturbed by the 

 plough. He thought it ought to be done in the 

 fall of the year, on the wheat stubble, because, in 

 bringing up the subsoil, if it was a retentive soil, 

 they could pulverize and work it better than if 

 ploughed towards the spring. They all knew very 

 well that when they ploughed their land in the fall 

 of the year, or early, it brought better crops than 

 doing it late. He detailed an instance of this that 

 had come within his own experience, and concluded 

 by commenting on the necessity of carefully testing 

 every experiment they made, and not merely being 

 satisfied with appearances. 



Mr. Saunders explained that he did not deepen 

 his chalk soil at once from two and a-half inches to 

 six or seven inches. He took a little deeper every 

 year — about an inch — and always in the autumn, 



so that the chalk was always pulverized during the 

 winter. If turned up in the summer, the sun 

 would burn it, and it would never " slatch." He 

 quite agreed with what had been said with respect 

 to freeing the land from thistles by deep cultivation. 

 He had subsoiled a piece, and put a man with a 

 pick to throw up the thistle roots, which were as 

 long as a tobacco pipe. The result was that they 

 all died, and he had never seen a thistle there since. 



Mr. Jackson, having been called upon, said he 

 was not aware that he could give them much 

 information upon deep ploughing on the farm he at 

 present occupied, as he had only been there a short 

 time; but probably he might be allowed to make 

 one or two remarks with respect to his experience 

 in Hertfordshire. After alluding to the unanimity 

 of opinion that prevailed in the Club on this sub- 

 ject, he remarked that the individual who Mr. 

 Clarke had said put the bottom " spit" of clay at 

 the top, and the top soil at the bottom, was some- 

 what in the position of the man who, after the 

 funeral of his wife, sung the first line of the 

 Doxology ; he had buried his best friend. 

 (Laughter.) He quite agreed with the other 

 experiment in which the best spit was kept at the 

 top, loosening that underneath, as it allowed the 

 water to get away. He also gave an instance of the 

 good effect subsoiling had on his father's farm in 

 destroying thistles. With respect to ploughing 

 deep, he thought on all soils they ought to plough 

 deep to a certain extent, say five or six inches. 

 If they had a good loam, they need not be afraid to 

 plough it up ; and if they had a poor soil under- 

 neath, with shallow good soil at the top, he thought 

 they need not be afraid to plough it up to a reason- 

 able depth, because it was better to have poor soil 

 at the top than just at the roots. At the same time, 

 he did not advocate burying it very deep, so as to 

 have the good soil out of the reach of the roots. 

 As regards chalk, in Hertfordshire it was of a soft 

 nature, and he was not accustomed to hard chalks. 

 Where hill chalk was subject to burn he would not 

 plough deep ; but that he alluded to v/as not of that 

 description. Although when ploughed- up it was 

 quite white, it became darker and the soil loamy. 

 Mr. Jackson concluded by expressing his concur- 

 rence in the views of Mr. Reader with respect to 

 ploughing deep for the root crops, and not for 

 wheat. 



Mr. Saunders, in reference to the advisabiUty 

 of not ploughing deep for wheat, stated that he had 

 ploughed for wheat full six inches deep, putting in 

 a good coat of dung. In the spring he thought he 

 had a good piece, but to his surprise at harvest it 

 turned out very bad. He believed he should find 

 the dung just as it was put in, not having come 

 into action ; for if they paid attention to the root 



