GENERAL RULES FOR PLOUGHING. 449 



plough always to break up this pan, which, after being broken 

 up and exposed to the air, gradually crumbles and becomes min 

 gled with the upper soil. 



This is subsoiling, as it is here termed, of which every modern 

 treatise of English husbandry is full. It can scarcely be said to 

 be an absolutely new practice,* for passing a second plough in 

 an open furrow may be considered as a species of subsoiling ; 

 yet the credit of introducing the practice, and establishing it 

 upon just principles, as connected with draining the land, must 

 be fully accorded to Mr. James Smith, of Deanston, in Scotland, 

 a man of whose sound understanding and practical skill I might 

 speak in the highest terms, if my humble voice would add any 

 thing to the distinguished and substantial reputation which he 

 enjoys throughout the kingdom. I have been over the estate in 

 Scotland which was under his care ; and, though the land may 

 be considered as inferior, yet its fine appearance, the regular 

 arrangement of his fields, the condition of his fences, and the 

 perfect cleanness and productiveness of his grounds, present an 

 eminent and beautiful example of the most improved husbandry. 

 A great portion of his labors are indeed under ground, and out of 

 sight ; but the results of them are obvious. 



Mr. Smith was the active manager of an extensive cloth or 

 cotton factory, in the neighborhood of which was the farm on 

 which he effected such improvements. The condition of the 

 factory in all its departments, the buildings for the persons who 

 are employed in the factory, the whole arrangement of the facto 

 ry village, the condition and reputable conduct of the operatives, 

 and the measures taken for their educational improvement, are 

 very much in advance of what is to be found in many places both 

 in England and the United States, and, while they do Mr. Smith 

 himself the highest honor, present a beautiful example for imita 

 tion. Mr. Smith is entitled to the high merit, not of applying 



* Worledge, in his Mystery of Husbandry, describes (A. D. 1677) very 

 clearly the first rude attempt to construct a subsoil-plough. He tells us of &quot; an in 

 genious young man of Kent, who had two ploughs fastened together very firmly, 

 by which he ploughed two furrows at once, one under another, and so stirred the 

 land twelve or fourteen inches deep. It only looseneth or lighteneth the land to 

 that depth, but doth not bury the upper crust of the ground so deep as is usually 

 done by digging.&quot; Quoted in Ransomc g excellent work on the Implements of 

 Agriculture, p. 12. 



38* 



