554 Deej)emng the Staple Soil. 



trcnclied thus : — first spitful 10 inches, and then 8 inches of 

 the gravel dug up and hiid on the top, in July and August, 

 '1834, at a cost of 5Z. the acre. The trench-ploughing was so un- 

 satisfactory, that we only had one acre done ; three acres were 

 ploughed 3 inches deep, and again 12 inches deep in October ; 

 the wltole was cross-ploughed 12 inches deep in March, and then 

 prepared for turnips, which were manured with bones and well 

 and deeply worked. The part trenched by spade produced nearly 

 double that of tlie part not trenched, and above a third more than 

 t'nat trenched by the plough : the oats after the turnips were equally 

 in favour of the spade-trenching against that plough-trenched ; and 

 the part not trenched at all had a great bulk of straw, but the grain 

 was deficient in both quantity and quality, showing the want of the 

 gravel. This part was then trenched also, and the rest ploughed 

 and subsoiled, after which it went into regular rotation and 

 cropped well. From these and other experiments we concluded in 

 favour of trenching wherever the depth of bog-earth was not more 

 than 8 inches deep, as that and less depths could be ploughed so 

 as to bring up a fair mixture of subsoil to give weight, &c., to 

 the bos-earth. The subsoilina: we have found it best to leave 

 until the second time of preparing for roots after drainage. By 

 subsoiling, the decay of the bog-earth is hastened, and the subsoil 

 sweetened, and prepared for being brought into action by future 

 deep ploughings ; the decomposition of the boggy soil permitting 

 it to be gradually reached on each return to the preparatory 

 deep ploughing for root crops. 



Inthe summer of 1827 we assisted in the draining of a field of 

 deep red bog that was not fii'm enough for horses to get upon, so 

 that all the operations were done by hand : we sunk the drains 5 

 feet deep, going through the bog and a foot into the sand below. 

 These drains had 18 inches of thorns firmly trampled into them, 

 upon which the surface-turf was laid ; they were then filled in and 

 well rammed down, to keep out the air as much as possible. The 

 total expense was 3/. IO5. per acre. The whole field was trenched 

 20 inches deep, burying the surface, spongy, mossy soil, and 

 bringing up the black, soapy, rotten under-soil, at a cost of 6/. per 

 acre ; it was then covered with 80 cubic yards per acre of a mix- 

 ture of red clay and gravel (provincially termed till in the west 

 of Scotland) at a cost of 4/. per acre. After this it was left until 

 the following March, when 50 cubic yards per acre of coal- 

 ashes and nightsoil, drawn from Glasgow, at a cost of 101. an 

 acre, was forked in and well mixed with the soil 6 inches deep, in 

 the first week of April : the whole was hand-drilled with Altring- 

 ham carrots, which Avere managed altogether by hand, at an 

 expense of Al. an acre, including the digging up. This was 



