134 



THE FARMER'S MOMHLY VISITOR. 



by a crain crop ; then it lies three years ui gi-ass ; 

 and then after that, Itai^o a crop of oats ; and then 

 after, I turn it up to the dei)th ot sixteen inches. 

 Tlien it takes about three or iour years to bnns 

 the subsoil to a proper degree of preparation?— 



It does. 



After the subsoil has been brought into a prop- 

 er dcree of preparation for vegetation, have you 

 ever tned tlie experiment of bringing in a certain 

 proportion, say a fourth part of the subsoil after 

 It is prepared, into co-operation Avitli the active 

 soil s_I have. Mid it answers very well. 



Do you consider that the bringing into play the 

 whole of the subsoil at once is a better thing and 

 more productive than holding in reserve a portion 

 of the subsoil ?— I think it is. 



After turning up the subsoil how many years 

 have you grown crops upon it ?— My mode of 

 croping is a seven years' shift, and I liave now four 

 fields undergoing a second shift. 



Have you had the experience of \vhat the con- 

 dition of the previous active soil becomes, from 

 being in a state of rest for several years ?— It is 

 all mixed togetlier. 



Then the effect of your system is to produce a 

 new soil instead of the old one ?— Yes. 



Mr. Denison. According to your plan, sup- 

 posing you were not to have turned up any of this 

 subsoil, but merely to have had your subsoil 

 plough pass through it, and were lo go on cultivat- 

 ing without any thing being turned up to the top, 

 instead of producing sterility, would even that 

 produce an improvement of the crop ?^It would, 

 and a continued improvement. 



After getting upon land tliat has been subsoil 

 ploughed, and then ])loughing it up again, do you 

 fuid that the subsoil continues friable ?— I do to 



the bottom. ^ , , 



With strong tenacious soils you do not find that 

 it is run tosether again ? — No. 



Mr. Hfoihcote. You have no furrows, and you 

 plough 16 inches deep in all parts of the farm ? 



Yes. 



Do you find that the water stands at the bot- 

 tom of the ftirrow any length of time liefore it 

 gets into the drain ?— 1 do not think it does, but I 

 cannot see the bottom of the furrow. 



When you turn it up how do you find it ? — I 

 find it particularly dry, and sometimes wiiere the 

 land has been poached in consequence of taking 

 off" a green crop, still it is perfectly dry at the bot- 

 tom of the furrow. 



You do not find that the trcadnig of horses has 

 any effect upon it at that depth ?— None whatev- 

 er; the effect of the most thorough poaching 

 does not go beyond six inches, and below that it 

 is found quite drv. 



Will this suhsoil ploughing apply to all species 

 of soils ?— I have never yet seen any soil tliat it 

 would not apply to. 



The most retentive stiff soil?— Yes and the 

 deep bog as well. 



Mr. Denison- After breaking up the subsoil, 

 but without turning it up to the top, suppose the 

 farmer was to continue to plough it seven or eight 

 inches, in that rase how long do you think the op- 

 eration on the subsoil would remain eftcctual, or 

 how soon rlo you suppose it would run together 

 again? — I thuik it woukl never run together in a 

 solid form, because when it has been turned up 

 there is a constant circulation of the water and 

 the air, which prevents running together again ; 

 and when soil is laid in a dry position and expos- 

 ed to the atmosphere, it seems to get some sort of 

 attractive quality : if you look at any mould you 

 will find that it "is all in little globules, and those 

 are gathered together in large masses, forming 

 larger ^lobides which keep the soil open. 



Do you think that the mere operation of allow- 

 ing water and air to pass among tlie soil at a con- 

 siderable depth in the ground would, to a certain 

 degree, produce that effect uiion solid clay of con- 

 verting it partially into soil ? — I think it would. 



Mr. Loch. What was the nature of that soil 

 which yon said was covered w ith bent before you 

 ploughed it iq) ? — A great part of it I did not tliink 

 worth more than 5s. an acre. 



In consequence of what you have done to it, 

 what is it worth now ? — I consider that it is worth 

 2;. an acre to any farmer. • 



What was the course of cropping tliat you 

 adopted in the improvement of land ? — At first I 

 was rather undecided with regard to the rotation 

 I should follow, till from observation 1 Ibinied a 

 judgment wluit was the l"v«t course. The inodr 



of rotation I generally followed was this : I di-ain | 

 always, if possible, in the lay or grass, because by 

 di-aiiiing in the lay the woik is more neatly done ; 

 then having completed the drains, I take a crop of 

 oats the next yeai-. Upon the greater part of that 

 farm I have been obliged lo plough very shallow 

 furrows for the first croji, because tliere was not 

 more than tliree or four inches of soil that I dar- 

 ed turn up ; then I took a crop of oats, and upon 

 some of the fields I had not more than from "24 to 

 30 bushels of oats. After the sepai-ation of that 

 first crop from the ground, I applied the subsoil 

 jilough. Then I gave it another ploughing, and 

 had a green crop ; potatoes upon some parts and 

 turni])s ujjon others. 



Could you have attempted any of those crops 

 previous 'to the iiubsail ploughing? — Not to ad- 

 vantage. 



How long had it liecn in grass before you turn- 

 ed it up.> — Some of it 15 ycais. 



What is the next crop after the turnips and po- 

 tatoes ? — I then lay down what I have had in po- 

 tatoes with wheat"; I sow wheat in the end of 

 the season; as soon us I can get the potatoes up ; 

 what I have had in turnips I grow barely upon in 

 the spring, and I sow grass seeds upon both. 



You could not have attempted barley upon that 

 soil before? — Not with any siicces.s,_ and not 

 w^heat, because the land was so full of moisture 

 that it honey-combed liy frost, and so threw out 

 the plants. There was one field especially, after 

 a vei-y severe winter, and with a frost, there was 

 sometimes a space of 20 or 30 square yards from 

 which eveiy plant or vegetable had been thrown, 

 not a bit of grass remaining upon it. 



After the wheat what do you take ? — I sow grass 

 and barley. 



Do you cut the grass (or hay ? — Some : the oth- 

 er is pastured from the beghming. 



What is the nature of the grass it produces ? — 

 Very good, and very heavy crops of hay ; I have 

 generally about 300" stone, which is about three 

 tons per acre. 



Do you think that any improvement is likely to 

 be so valuable lor general purposes as frequent 

 draining and subsoil ploughing for strong land ? — 

 None. 



That, you think, is the most important thing f^lr 

 general purposes of fanning that you are ac- 

 quainted with ? — Decidedly. 



And applicable to more qualities of soil than 

 anv thing else ? — Applicable, I should say, to all 

 qualities of subsoil. 



And equally ajiplicable to England as to Scot- 

 land ? — Equally so, and very much wanted. I 

 have a friend who has made an experiment under 

 mv directions in Cheshire, upon very stiff' land, 

 Mr. Barton ; it is the most thorough lirick clay I 

 ever saw; and extremely sterile farm in its origi- 

 nal state. ^Ir. Barton has been completely suc- 

 cessful ; he has thoroughly drained the ground 

 and suhsoil ploughed, and it is now laid down 

 without fiirro\-\ s, and I there sa^v a large field of 

 this extremely stiff' clay with a beautiftil seed sur- 

 face upon it. 



Mr. Denison. Do you think that it is apjdica- 

 ble to a soil where there is a bad gravelly substra- 

 tum ? — I think so ; I think any substratum, if it is 

 exposed to the atmosphere for a sufficient length 

 of time, will become I'ertile. In the most barren 

 country, if you see where a ilitch has been dug, 

 on the soil ^i Inch has been thrown up, you will 

 generally find a richer verdure and strong weeds 

 gi-o«ing. 



cumstances, which requires much attention, as 

 great expense might unnecessarily be incurred, 

 or the object fiiil. When the laud is ready for 

 the ojieration of the subsoil plough, a man with a 

 pair of horses turns out the first furrow from 10 

 to 12 inches wide ; then follows the subsoil plough 

 to the depth of 14 inches, taking care not to stir 

 the turf covering the stones in the drains ; it is 

 worked at right angles of the drains, and drawn 

 by six horses, two and two abreast. The plough 

 is drawn from an axletree, withdoidjle shafts and 

 low wheels ; the horses draw perfectly even, and 

 by this mode it is no more than ordinary work. 



MAIN D R A I ^ . 



;.; i/L 



H'lntt^s Account of Draining on SmitlCs Plan. 



The main or leading drains are cut 3 feet deep, 

 15 inches v.idc at the top, taper to 6 inches at 

 the bottom, ;nid tilled up with stone from 15 to 18 

 inches. The smaller drains, leading into the main, 

 are 2 feet t! inches deep, 12 inches wide at the 

 top, taper to 3 inches at the bottom, and filled 

 with stone 13 inches, with turf upon the stone. 

 The stone is first jilaced on edge, about 6 or 7 

 inches, and the remaining jiart covered with stone 

 broken to 2 1-2 inches; a section of these drains 

 is given : the drains are parallel to each other. 

 The subsoil varies much ; the price for cutting 

 the whole, breaking the stones and filling, has in- 

 vai'iably been Id. per yard ; some part has \\ork- 

 ed better than others, and, upon the whole, I 

 think the work cannot be done for le»s. With 

 regard to the distance between the drains, in this 

 part, the work must te put out according to cii- 



.Stoneslriid on tlKircdgc. 



Os' M|rr-^^3^=^s£^3=/ Turf laid on tile stones. 

 v,r-;,?i'''oy.'-..J Rrokun stones. 



5j3\il!i l{;//' Stones laiJi-n tlicir edge. 



'11 



.■- ' '; 



(Fig. 27.) 



Carpeting. 



" It is an ill wind that blows no good." The 

 effect of the compronuse act of Mr. Clay, which 

 abolished the duty on all imported wool valued 

 at the place from which it is imported at less 

 than eight cents per pound, has liecn virtually to 

 leave the wool grower without tlie protection of 

 any duty upon all kinds of wool. Large quanti3 

 ties of wool, several millicuis of pounds annual 

 ly, and the quantity jiaying no duty continually 

 increasing, are imported into the port of Boston 

 alone. We are informed at the Custom House, 

 that since the passage of the act freeing cheap 

 wool from duty no merchant's price current has 

 presented wool at the port of Smyrna in any case 

 over eight cents the pound. Considerable woo! 

 is also brought in from South America, and some 

 from New "South Wales. A numufacturer of 

 Massachusetts lately went out to that distant new 

 countiT and purrhased of the o\vners the wool 

 upon the sheeps' back, paying in advance, so as 

 to bring the average cost less than eight cents. 



If the operation of the Utr\iT compromise act 



