Deepenincj the Staple Soil. 549 



arrangements are required ; therefore we have generally used 

 eight horses, three in the plough and five in the subsoiler : 

 if the work is easy, walk fast; if hard work, give more time ; 

 and if more power is required, use five horses in each ; the 

 expense we have never found more than two common plough- 

 ings requiring the same number of horses, as we have always 

 had from an acre to five roods done per day, indeed often six 

 roods. 



Our mode of keeping horses has been liberal : during the winter 

 eight months two bushels of good oats, half a bushel of beans, 

 and half a hundredweight of hay cut into chaff, with straw 

 ad libitum, weekly : and in summer a bushel of split beans, with 

 as much green Italian rye-grass and clover as they wish. By 

 looking over our books, we find that the following is about 

 what has been the average expense of ploughing and subsoiling 

 upwards of five hundred acres (tlie plough going 8 inches, and 

 the subsoiler 8 inches deep), when done with eight horses, three 

 in the plough and five in the subsoiler : — 



£. s. d. 



Eight horses a week, at 12s. GfL, inchidiiig insurance ..5 



Two men, at I4.s 1 8 



Three lads, at (5,s 18 



Tear and wear of ploughs, harness, (fcc 1 14 



Six acres, at 30s £9 



This is rather over than under the actual expense, therefore it 

 is a safe basis for calculation. We have not had any digging 

 and subsoiling done in England, but have done a little by 

 ploughing and subsoiling with strong two-tine forks, the plough 

 drawn by five horses going 10 inches deep, and the men going 

 8 inches into the subsoil with the forks ; we found that it was 

 hard work for twenty men to keep up to the plough ; we did 

 only two acres and a quarter in two days of nine hours' work. 

 each, but, the weather being fine, we think that an acre a-day 

 would be a fair average for good effectual work on sucli very 

 strong clay land, upon a stiff bhio clay subsoil. The expense 

 stood thus : — 



£. s. d. 



Five horses, at 2s. 1(7 10 5 



One ploiiglinian, at 2s. ^d 02 4 



Two lads, one leading, the other driving, at Is. ..0 2 



Twenty men subsoiling, at L's 2 



Tear and wear of tools, plough, and liarness ..0 5 8 



Making the total cost per acre . . . . ;'. 5 



In the same field alongside, we did one acre the same depth 

 with dray's subsoiler, <ha\\ii by five horses ; the work we thought 



