27 



ON DEEP CULTIVATION. 



The importance of deep cultivation cannot be too strongly insisted on. 

 Not that I would advise bringing up to the surface the raw, sour sub- 

 soil ; where such is the case the bottom spit should be turned up to it, 

 and the subsoil forked over 12 inches deep, leaving it rough at the 

 bottom of the trench ; the air will by this get access to it, and some of 

 the fertilising properties of the soil above will be carried down likewise ; 

 these will assist in neutralising the crude salts contained in it, and it 

 will in a year or two alter greatly in consequence, and may be mixed 

 by degrees with the other soil. A good plan with such subsoils is to 

 spread over the bottom of the trench, before breaking it up, some fresh 

 slacked lime, which will assist in ameliorating its condition. Land 

 intended for ordinary crops of vegetables, as Cabbage and the Brassica 

 tribe generally. Peas, Beans, Onions, Endive, and many other vegetables, 

 should be free and open to the depth of 24 inches at least, for on 

 examining the roots of the above when in a growing state they will 

 be found to extend downwards that depth ; and a good depth of soil 

 not only increases the luxuriance of crop by enlarging the pasturage for 

 their roots, but to a certain extent a preventive to drouglit, directly and 

 indirectly ; the former by allowing the roots to penetrate to a greater 

 depth than in ordinary soils, it is well known ; and likewise that the 

 more open and porous a soil is, the greater its power of capillary 

 attraction, whereby moisture is more readily drawn upwards when the 

 surface soil becomes dry ; and as the number of fibrous roots of any 

 plant are much increased in open soils, the chances of a plant suffering 

 from a dry season is materially guarded against. 



Another advantage is, that by frequently trenching to a good depth 

 a change of surface soil is often effected, the benefit of which to crops 

 of the same kind which have quickly to succeed each other can hardly 

 be overstated. I have indeed grown a crop of Potatoes by this means 

 for 25 consecutive years on the same piece of ground without the crop 

 diminishing or the crop being affected. This, I admit, is a bad 

 practice, but I name it to show what may be done by trenching and 

 changing the seed, which I did every year. 



For such vegetables as Rhubarb, Seakale, .Asparagus, &c., the 

 land can hardly be too deep, nor yet, I may add, too rich. It should 

 be a point, where these have to be planted, to trench the ground more 

 than once and to well mix throughout the whole mass of soil a good 

 mixture of the best dung you can command. The putting in dung in 

 layers for this purpose, as is often seen, is a bad method ; the dung 

 should be well incorporated with the soil, which it helps to keep open, 

 and admits the free passage of water and air through the soil. This 

 preparation is likewise necessary for Strawberries, Raspberries, and 

 the like. 



CULTOR. 



