342 AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 



tion of an improved plow has not only liad a most favorable 

 bearing upon agriculture in every respect, by reducing the cost 

 of working the soil, and doing the work in a much better man 

 ner, but it is very doubtful, whether a very large portion of 

 America could yet have been settled, if so many animals and 

 men had been requisite to perform the operation. Plows are 

 made so as to be adapted to every sort of soil and work, and 

 are arranged upon well known and accurately ascertained prin 

 ciples. These principles every farmer should understand ; but 

 as this knowledge presupposes an acquaintance with mathemat 

 ics and mechanics we cannot enter upon it here. 



711. The object of the plowman is so to turn over the soil as 

 to render it the best adapted for the growth of plants with the 

 least expenditure of labor and time. If the soil is so turned as 

 merely to be reversed, lying, as it were, in long ribbons, friabil 

 ity is not attained, but must be produced by subsequent opera 

 tions, with the harrow, cultivator, &c. If the soil is so broken, 

 that part is reversed, and part is not, weeds are tempted to grow 

 and the crop will be uneven. If there are inequalities, and deep 

 holes, fcoine seeds will be buried too deeply, others will be too 

 shallow. The best plowmen, therefore, endeavor, while they 

 separate the soil, entirely to reverse it, to lay the furrows per 

 fectly even on the surface, and to plow as deeply, and as great a 

 width at the same time as possible. In narrow furrows, the soil 

 will be rendered friable most effectually, but time will be lost. 



Depth is of great importance in successful agriculture, under 

 nearly all circumstances. There may be subsoils of such a char 

 acter that it would be injudicious at once to turn up much of 

 them; but by annually plowing an inch or so deeper, by de 

 grees great depth is attained without injury. Deep plowing 

 acts in the same manner as thorough draining, but to a less ex 

 tent. It gives the roots of plants a larger field from which to 

 gather their food ; it allows surface water to escape ; atmospher 

 ic manures to be collected instead of running off; and it affords 



