rilE FAKiVlEK'S MOiMHLy Vh^^lToK. 



136 



but even the visible eftect has been very imper- 

 fect until the subsoil plough has been applied. 

 By means of tliis plough the whole ob.Iurate un- 

 (lerci'ust of the soil has been broken up, nnd all 

 water lias instantly escaped, and after six or eight 

 months of the alternations of heat and cold, wet 

 nnd dry, a most i-eniarkable change has ajipeared 

 in the condition of the soil ; what was before ob- 

 durate and retentive, has become comjjaratively 

 mellow and friable, and the longer the time since 

 the operation lias been performed, the gi-eater has 

 been the perceptible progressive effect. Tlie op- 

 eration of the subsoil plough has produced cracks 

 and crevices and interstices to the depth of ](> in- 

 hces; through these the rain passes of with rapid- 

 ity, and these crevices are innnediaii?ly tilled by 

 the uir of the atmosphere, and during dry and hot 

 weather these cracks and crevices arc multiplied 

 to an indetiDite extent, and in clay soils to an ex- 

 tent quite remarkable. Instead of resuming its 

 oWginal tenacity, there seems to be u decided 

 change effected in the character of the compo- 

 nent parts of ilie land to the depth the plough has 

 reached. It is tor the skilful farmer to apply ma- 

 nure judiciously according to the state of each 

 field. Drilled green crop has followed a crop of 

 oats, and the land which before was unfit to grow 

 turnips, has become fitted for that crop, although 

 perhaps a little rough and cloddy during the first 

 year. Next has come a crop of wheat, and in it 

 has been seen the great and remarkable effects of 

 the system, in the condition of the soil and the 

 quantity of produce. Land which was before, in 

 truth, unfit to carry wheat from extreme wetness, 

 has become altogether the reverse, being sown 

 with wheat without ridges and furro^vs, being 

 perfectly porous ; all rain disappearing as it falls, 

 and being carried off by filtration to the many 

 drains, and each drain ba\ing little more than a 

 thread of water to cany off. Possibly the land of 

 which I speak might have previously yielded a 

 precaiious produce of 20, or at the utmost 24 

 bushels of ^^•heat per imperial acre, ^vhile in its 

 improved state, the actual produce of the cro]) of 

 1835 has been JO bushels thrashed out, a few 

 bushels of which v\ere not very good in quality, 

 owing to what is now to be mentioned. The 

 faidt of the crop was, that it was to strong, and 

 there being nuich rain while it ripened it was laid 

 down. Had this not occmied, the quality of the 

 whole would have been good, and there is no 

 doubt that six or eight bushels more per acre 

 woidd have been obtained. The facts, therefore, 

 are most satisfactory, because the result in the 

 first wheat crop may truly be said to be twenty 

 bushels of w heat extra produce, in return for an 

 expense of 10/. 10*. per acre, wliicli was tlie cost 

 of the drainage and the extra expense of subsoil 

 ploughing. It ought to be stated that with the 

 turnijis, the land was well manured, and subse- 

 quently abundantly. After the w heat was carri- 

 ed, and during the winter, the field was jilough- 

 cd about nine inches deep with the ordinary 

 plough, and remained rough until the month of 

 March, the whole rains of u inter, wliich were ex- 

 cessive, sinking as they fell. Towards the end of 

 March the field was harrowed, drilled, and sown 

 with beans without any manure. The croj) is 

 promising, and there can be no doubt that the 

 powers of the soil which have now been l)rouglil 

 into action, will render it abundant. The soil is 

 so powerful, thai it is hifended to take a cr»p 'if 

 wheat after the beans, without any manure, bur 

 taking care to make the laud perfec tly clean : and 

 there is little doubt lliat the wheat crop of 1837 

 so treated, \\ ill be iiKire productive than that of 

 18:?5, because it will be less superabundant in 

 straw, and incur less ]iiobable injmy from behig 

 laid down. 



My experience, on a moderate scale, leads me 

 to siiy, that the system is the greatest discovery 

 which has been made in agriculture, (because it 

 is applicable to soils hitherto almost intractable 

 and most expensive to cultivate,) provided it lie 

 applied only where the altitude justifies the un- 

 dertaking, by securing a climate suitable to vain- 

 able crops. It in truth converts almost the worst 

 into the best land — that is, the most powerful in 

 respect of production, because the quality of land 

 to which it is iqi)iiicable, the heavy clays and re- 

 tentive subsoils will yield heavier crops after such 

 treatment than the lighter loams and many of 

 those varielies of soil which hitherto bav(^ been 

 so pleasant to the agriculturist to cultivate. 



The reforinalion \\bichllie system effecis on 



lands which previously weft- looked on as hope- 

 less, is quite surprising, and no one believes it 

 until it is seen ; but again 1 say, that the whole 

 success depends on the pirleet and complete 

 maimer in which the operations are executed, as 

 any thing being merely an approximation to the 

 system, will end in disappointment. The ex- 

 pense of what is jierfect must not be grudged, 

 and as sin(! as it is liberally given will if be abun- 

 dantly repaid. I would also say, that the ef- 

 fects of the draining and sub^oil ploughing are 

 dependent on each other ; the one is compara- 

 tively worthless without the other; the ploughing 

 would be thrown away without the previous 

 draining, and the draining is a poor improvement 

 compared to the combined effect with the subsoil 

 ploughing. 



I may state that my bailiff and llie ploughmen 

 who worked the subsoil plough, certainly, in the 

 outset thought my orders .ilmost foolish, (who 

 nevertheless carried them into effect faithfully,) 

 but now see the effects of the system, and are ful- 

 ly sensible of the e.xtraordinai-y benefits resulting 

 from it. 



The VcU-ious views of the advantages might be 

 multiplied to any extent, but a concise statement 

 of them seems to be, that the most obdurate and 

 intractable soils assume a friable and mellow char- 

 acter, and at the same time are rendered perma- 

 nently most productive. A system which is ap- 

 plicable to ten acres is equally so, in its prin- 

 ciple, to 10,000 or 100,000 acres, and conse- 

 quently the system becomes a most important 

 national consideration. My decided impression 

 is, that capital judiciously ajiplied in the execution 

 of this system maj yield a return vai'ying from 

 10 to 40 or .50 per cent, according to the various 

 circumstances attending the infinite variety of 

 cases in which the system may be carried into 

 effect. Every thing depends on the mode and 

 perfection of execution. If any one thinks of 

 limiting the expense of complete execution, he 

 inaj' rest assured, that the recompense will be 

 still more restricted, and that it is more judicious 

 to iminove one acre well, than to deceive himself 

 by a superficial opertttiou on a more extended 

 surface. 



A remarkabli! effect is, that the haivest is con- 

 siderably earlier on land so tr"aled than on the 

 same land in its previous state, and it is scarcely 

 necessary to remark, that there will be a constjuit 

 return for the same seed and labor and mamii'e 

 far greater than when they arc apjilied to land in 

 a naturally w et condition. 



t^indfurc nf Janus Smith, Esij. inveiilur of the Sub- 

 soil Plough. 



Chairman. You live at Deantton ■ — Yes. 



Where is that ? — In the western district of 

 Perthshire in Scotland. 



Di> you oi-cupy a considerable farm in that part 

 of Scotland ? — About 300 acres. 



lla\e you improved your farm lately ? — I have. 



In w hat way ? — Chiefly by thorough draining 

 and- subsoil ploughing. 



What was the natme of the soil upon your 

 farm '■ — It was \ arioiis : there is some part of it 

 rather light soil, some of it gravelly upon the 

 edge of the river, and some lightish loam, with 

 rather a tenacious bottom, and in other parts a 

 stiff sandy clay. 



Is it a stitt" subsoil •• — Some part of it very stiff 



And it was all sidijeet very much to wet ? — The 

 greali'r part of it was covered with rushes and 

 bent before being drained. 



Will you describe to the committee your mode 

 of draining? — The principle upon which I drain 

 is to put in drains tiequently, so that there may 

 be opportunities for the water to jiass off, because 

 ! find that in our climate the chief injury arises 

 from the water that falls from the heavens. 



,\re those drains jilaced up the furrows or 

 acioss the land ? — Tliey are placed in the same 

 direction that the farrows were beffire, but I have 

 now no furrows. I lay all my fields down with- 

 out any furrows. I object to furrows, because 

 water is allowed to ..ollect in a body, and thereby 

 ruins the soil. 



The fact is, that those drains are so frequent 

 that they answxr the purpose of furrows ? — Yes ; 

 they answer the puriiose of furrows. 



How far are they apart r — Twenty-one feet, and 

 two feet six inches deep to the bottom. 



rto von dr.iin with "Stouot nr « ith tile? ? Cbief 



ly with broken stones, because I have stones up 

 on the land. 



You spoke of sub.-oil ploughing; you are the 

 inventor of a subsoil plough .' — I am. 



Do you use it afti r draining.' — After drainhig, 

 I first take a grain <'i<jp, and then after the sepa- 

 ration of that crop from the ground I subsoil 

 plough. 



How far do \ uu fill up the drain with stones ? 

 — I put ill 12 inches of stones, leaving 18 inches 

 bclweeii the upper part of the drain and the sur- 

 liice of the soil, and then I cover them most care- 

 fully with very thhi ^ods, overlapping at the join- 

 ings, because it is of the first importance to pre- 

 vent the soil which has been recently removed 

 from running into the drains. There are many 

 drains destroyed by means of the soil getting in 

 at the top, 



TIk' ^^•ater comes in at the side tff the drains ':' 

 — Yis, by fissures in the subsoil. 



AVill you describe the operation of the subsoil 

 plough ? — I have got a plate of it here, {producing 

 the same.)' The principle upon w hich 1 con- 

 structed that plough was this, that I saw it was 

 of the greatest importance to break iqj the sub- 

 soil, especially where il ^vas tenacious. I saw 

 that the comnion trench plough, when used to 

 break up the subsoil, at the same time turned over 

 the recently moved subsoil to mix with the sur- 

 fai-e soil, which induced a sort of partial sterili- 

 ty for a time. 1 then bethought me of having a 

 plough that woidd move the subsoil, still retaining 

 the active soil upon the surface, and I considered 

 how I should construct it to have the least 

 draught, so that the horses might easily draw it, 

 because I was aware that it would require con- 

 siderable force. I therefore made the plough as 

 thin as possible in its transverse section, and the 

 share of the plough, which is usually made with 

 a free point not touching upon the lower part of 

 the plough, and I found it was apt in stony land 

 to get knocked out of its place, and therefore 1 

 made a mortice in the sock, and inserted the 

 point of the share in this mortice ; then in order 

 to move the subsoil asmiich as possible, I placed 

 an oblique spur Upon the one side of the plough, 

 Avhich throvvs up the subsoil after the furrow has 

 been divided and breaks it, but does not throw it 

 fiirther iqi than the bottom of the furrow of the 

 active soil. 



Mr. Hadly. Does not the spur increase the 

 draught ? — It does not materially. 



How many horses does it require to work that 

 jilough .- — Generally four horses in ordinary sub- 

 soils, but upon some it has been necessary to use 

 eight horses. 



How deep do you plough? — Sixteen inches 

 from the surface. 



.Mr. Loch. What is the depth of the original 

 furrow ? — Six inches ; we first go on with the 

 comfnon plough and turn over a furrow of tlic 

 dejith of six or eight inches, and tfien the subsoil 

 ])lough goes and stirs up the bottom without 

 bringing the soil further up than its original po- 

 sition, then when the connnon plough comes 

 round iigain, it throws the active soil upon that 

 part which has been subsoiled. 



Then the advantage of stirring up the subsoil 

 is, tliat the water ^vhicll falls gets down to the 

 bottom of the second furrow so as to relieve the 

 upper soil Irom the effects of the rain that falls ? 

 — Yes ; besides there is a constant operation of 

 the air upon the subsoil, which converts it into 

 soil. 



.Mr. Cai/lei/. Is it with a view to draining prin- 

 cipally .'—With a view first to draining, and then 

 to converting the subsoil into a fit soil for grow- 

 ing plants. 



It makes the soil more permeable ? — Yes. 



How long have you been doing this ? — About 

 twehe years. 



In the first instance, if you «ere to turn up 

 that subsoil, it would not be a productive soil, and 

 therefore you prepare it by this course for subse- 

 quent turning up when it is prepared.' — Yes. 



When you conceive it to have come into a pro- 

 )ier state for vegetation, do yon turn it up at once 

 or graduallv ? — At once. 



Do you find that the soil will Ik; very produc- 

 tive tlic first year after it is turned up ?— I find 

 it so. 



Do you stir il up with the old soil ?— I subsoil 

 it only once. 1 then take a green crop, followed 



So.-" Fir=t t^ppori nf Agriculture of Mas^., p. 1. 



