DEEP CULTIVATION. 229 



power of a pair of horses to draw the plough and do an acre 

 a day? Will any man say, if his horses can take 18 inches 

 with a pair, he would not do it ? I hnve a proof on my farm 

 at present which will astound yon as showing- the eft'ects of 

 deep cultivation, and it may assist you in coming to a })roper 

 conclusion on the subject. I ploughed one part of a field of 

 mustard with Smith's subsoil-plough, 15 inches below the 

 other, which went 9, that is, 24 inches deep altogether. The 

 other part of the field was ploughed in the usual manner. 

 Both were done on the same dn}", and both were treated in 

 the sam.e way as to manure. My bailitf prognosticated that 

 I had ruined one side of the field, and that we should grow 

 nothing — that was the part of the field subsoiled ; m}' man 

 remarking that '' diving down into that nast}' subsoil woidd 

 be the ruin of the crop.'' Now I luid occasion to come into 

 Suftblk. On my return, I asked my bailitl", " Well, how goes 

 on the mustard ?" He said, " Oh, I am done now !" " Done 

 now !" said I, " what is the matter.'' doessubsoiling answer?" 

 "Oh," said he, ''I am wholly done!" I said, " I am glad of 

 it, and I hope that many farmers who come to see the crop 

 will be ' done' too, and alter their minds." Many farmers 

 have seen the result with their own eyes. In the one case 

 the crop was 4 feet in height, and as thick as it could be ; in 

 the other case the height the crop attained was but 1 8 inches. 

 The Secretary of the Debenham Farmers' Club, Mr. Green, 

 has seen the crop, and he therefore is a witness to the dif- 

 ference. Whether I shall see the same ditference in the 

 wheat crop to follow, I don't know. I have subsoiled in other 

 cases, and I have uniformly found it answer the desired pur- 

 pose of increasing the crops. But, gentlemen, woe betide 

 the unfortunate wight who does this without deep drainage ! 

 If he subsoil without drainage, he will make his land like the 

 bottom of a pond, and ruin his crop. That is a distinction 

 which should be particularly attended to, because many 

 farmers have condemned subsoiling when they ought to 

 have condemned themselves for not having previously drained 

 the land. 



Agricultural Gazette. 



