THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 65 



vide against floods and droughts, and to a great extent, if not 

 wholly, defeat the effects of frost, but in doing this, it seems to me 

 that you are digging your trenches much wider than necessary, 

 and it would be better to sink them deeper, thus avoiding unne- 

 cessary cost, and at the same time making warm, soft, porous and 

 productive soil to greater depth." 



In discussing this point, the Professor told a story of his experi- 

 ence while in Iowa of tracing the roots of clover in their descent 

 in a gravel bank, beating the one told us by Horace Greeley as re- 

 garded the descent of the roots of trees to a depth of twenty-two 

 feet to reach the waters of a river in subterranean flow. Mr. Gree- 

 ley made his statement as one of information and belief, coming 

 from credible witnesses in California, while Professor Roberts based 

 his statement upon personal knowledge of the fact that, in order to 

 reach water, clover roots descended to a depth of either eight or 

 eighteen feet. (We are quite sure it was the latter depth but as 

 we may have misunderstood him, we will therefore refer the public 

 to the author of this last story to say whether it was eight or eigh- 

 teen feet that the clover roots found their way into the earth.) 

 Whether eight, or eighteen, it is safe to conclude that the tops of 

 that clover corresponded to the length and strength of the roots. 

 Having settled this point, every reader will not fail to discover the 

 reason why there is now growing and ripening in our garden in 

 boundless profusion more bushels of luscious strawberries to the 

 acre than the average fanner grows of potatoes, and that these are 

 in hundreds of instances, the size of ordinary peaches. Consider- 

 able numbers of these berries measure from four to eight inches in 

 circumference. We have decided, as suggested by Dr. Roberts, to 

 go down a little deeper, sinking our trenches from three to four 

 feet into the subsoil, and arranging all overflow trenches beneath 

 the surface soil out of reach of the deepest spading or plowing. 



