EXPERDIENT IN TEENCHING. 153 



to year. The nature of the subsoil must determine 

 whether it is more advantageous to plough at once 

 very deep, or gradually to improve the condition 

 of the land by going a little deeper every year or 

 two, or to allow it to remain in its natural posi- 

 tion." 



A gentleman in the vicinity of Boston commenced, 

 about five years since, to prepare the ground for 

 an orchard. The lot consisted of two acres. One 

 acre and a half, which we will call (a), was trenched 

 with the spade three feet deep, and the remaining 

 half-acre was roughly ploughed to a depth of ten 

 inches. The whole had been thoroughly drained, 

 and was fertilized equally ; part of the manure 

 being mixed with the soil by spading and ploughing, 

 and part applied upon the surface as a dressing. 

 Pear trees were planted on the whole lot. The 

 first year those upon (a) were covered with beautiful 

 rich foliage, increased wonderfully in stock at the 

 butt, and some made a growth of a fe\f inches. 

 Those upon the ploughed ground looked sickly and 

 yellow the whole season, their foliage was small and 

 malformed, and they increased neither in shoot nor 

 stock. The owner became so dissatisfied with the 

 shallow cultivation, that he could not wait to see 

 the result of the experiment, and the next fall took 

 up one-half of the trees upon the improperly pre- 

 pared ground and trenched it thoroughly with the 

 spade, thus leaving only one-quarter of an acre 



