268 



is on the upper side, the share wears sharp until it is worn out. 

 These shares are coming into very general use. 



The value of subsoiling by means of the plough of giving as 

 great a depth as possible to land under cultivation without bringing 

 the poorer raw soil to the surface cannot be overrated in a warm 

 climate. The work is effectively done with the subsoil ploughs, 

 many forms of which are made, for one, two, three, and four horses. 

 We prefer the single horse implement. It is light, handy, and 

 breaks the soil from four to seven inches deep. When run in the 

 furrow after a plough turning out a slice six inches deep, a total 

 depth of from ten to twelve inches is obtained at the lowest cost of 

 labor. Subsoiling should follow- the draining. It is absolutely 

 valueless unless the water that flows into the soil moved by the 

 subsoiler is carried off at once. Water allowed to lodge under 

 such circumstances converts the subsoil into a sour mud that is 

 destructive to every root that comes into contact with it. Beneficial, 

 then, as subsoiling is, drainage (either natural or artificial) should be 

 seen to before it is attempted. But with combined drainage and 

 subsoiling, we have the means of growing crops at all seasons, 

 whether they be very dry or very wet, or the happy medium between 

 the two. 



The depth to which the ground is to be ploughed must be 

 governed by previous tillage operations, the nature of the soil, the 

 manure to be used, and the length of time ground can be allowed 

 to lie fallow before the crop is put in. It may be said at once that 

 it is not desirable to plough previously unbroken land too deeply, 

 unless it is to lie fallo\v for some considerable time. Three or four 

 inches is quite deep enough for the first ploughing of the average 

 West Australian soil, only recently denuded of its forest growth of 

 timber, and where seeding immediately follows the plough. The 

 reason for this is that more sour soil would be turned up than could 

 be possibly sweetened by atmospheric action, and any nutriment it 

 contained be made available to the young plant. If a liberal dress- 

 ing of fertilisers is applied, especially if lime or salt are included, 

 deeper ploughing may be done with advantage. But it is advisable 

 to plough a little deeper every year, and gradually turn up a " new 

 farm " over the surface of the old one and so have " a heap of land 

 to the acre." 



Sandy soils may be ploughed deeper at once, as the air pene- 

 trates them more readily than stiff soils. If the ploughing is done 

 in the spring, and the ground can be allowed to lie fallow until seed 

 time in the autumn, then the deeper it is ploughed the better, 

 especially if it is worked two or three times during the summer with 

 the scarifier. The object of ploughing is to secure a good seed- 

 bed for the young plants, and this can only be done by thoroughly 

 pulverising the soil that is turned up, and adding the nutriment that 

 may be deficient. It frequently happens in the stiffer soils, after a 

 succession of shallow ploughings, that an impenetrable hard-pan is 



