PLOWING DEEP OR SHALLOW. 89 



ed for them to relatively deep plowing. I La re since 

 suffered from frost (on my low land), from the rotting 

 of seed in the ground, from the ravages of insects, 

 etc. ; but never by drouth ; and I am entirely confi- 

 dent that Deep Plowing has done me excellent ser- 

 vice. My only trouble has been to get it done ; for 

 there are apt to be reasons (haste, lateness in the 

 season, etc.) for plowing shallowly for "just this 

 time," with full intent to do henceforth better. 



I close this paper with a statement made to me by 

 an intelligent British farmer living at Haidstone, 

 south of England. He said : 



" A few years ago there came into my hands a field 

 of twelve acres, which had been an orchard ; but the 

 trees were hopelessly in their dotage. They must be 

 cut down ; then their roots must be grubbed out ; so 

 I resolved to make a clean job of it, and give the. field 

 a thorough trenching. Choosing a time in Autumn 

 or early Winter when labor was abundant and cheap, 

 I had it turned over three spits (27 inches) deep ; the 

 lowest being merely reversed ; the next reversed and 

 placed at the top ; the surface being reversed and 

 placed below the second. The soil was strong and 

 deep, as that of an orchard should be ; I planted the 

 field to Garden Peas, and my first picking was very 

 abundant. About the time that peas usually begin to 

 wither and die, the roots of mine struck the rich soil 

 which had been the first stratum, but was now the 

 second, and at once the stalks evinced a new life 



