550 Deejiening the Staple Soil. 



but little if at all inferior to that clone by the fork ; this was done 

 easily in a day. The expense stood thus : — 



£. s. d. 



Ten horses, at 2s. IfZ 1 10 



Two men, at 2s. 4(7 4 8 



Three lads, at Is 3 



Tear and wear 060 



Making a total cost per aci-e of . . . . 1 14 6 



Provin^i; the subsoiler more economical by 26i'. per acre. 



The rest of the field we did not subsoil, but ploughed the same 

 depth, except one ridge, which was ploughed 5 inches deep, 

 being the full depth of previous cultivation ; all those operations 

 were performed in the March of 1840. The whole field was after- 

 wards grubbed, harrowed, rolled, and ridged, well dunged, and 

 planted with potatoes, the ridges crossing the direction of the 

 ploughing ; the crop was four times horse-hoed, and twice 

 moulded up : they turned out an excellent crop, there being 

 no difference worth note in the subsoiled part, but the ridge 

 only ploughed 5 inches deep produced 23 cwt. less to the 

 acre than the rest, which was ploughed 10 inches deep; we 

 sold the potatoes at home for 2i\ a cwt., so that the extra crop, 

 by deep ploughing, was sold for 466*. an acre, while the extra 

 depth of ploughing cost only 95., thus leaving a profit equal to 

 rent and taxes. The whole field was sown with wheat in three 

 equal parts, one ploughed 10 inches deep, another 5, and the 

 third ploughed with one-horse ploughs 3 inches deep and 7 

 wide ; one half of this part had the seed ploughed in, the 

 other half was drilled ; also one half of each of the other two 

 parts Avas drilled, the rest sown broadcast and harrowed in. The 

 whole was done with the soil in that state we like best for 

 wheat-sowing, namely, wet enough not to smear. Each was 

 thrashed separately, giving the following results : ploughed 

 in, 344 bushels, weighing 62 lbs. ; harrowed in on 5-inch 

 ploughing, 31 bushels ; and on the 10 inches deep 29^ bushels. 

 The three drilled pieces stood thus : — - 



Three-inch ploughing 32 bushels. 



Five-inch ditto 31j „ 



Ten-inch ditto .. .: .. .. 27 „ 



The weight of straw was not taken, but the bulk was in favour 

 of deep ploughing ; the quality of the grain was decidedly in 

 favour of the shallow ploughing. As far as the eye could judge, 

 the potato crop had exhausted the whole benefit of the manure 

 on the part that had never been ploughed deep, as the straw was 

 at least a foot shorter, and the ears generally one row of grain 



