LIFTING SUB-SOIL PLOW. 21 



it should be remembered, that when a tree is plant- 

 ed, it is not for a crop of one year alone. When the 

 soil is properly prepared before the trees are put into 

 place, annual crops for a lifetime may be realized 

 with little care or expense. For the amateur, or one 

 who only plants in his garden enough for family use, 

 and who will take pride in having his trees do well 

 and bear fine specimens, the preparatory step of 

 draining should not be overlooked. 



In case the land selected for the orchard or fruit 

 garden is a heavy clay, locate the drains forty feet 

 apart and four feet deep, if fall enough can be had 

 to carry off the water. If circumstances will admit, 

 it is better to have them at least this depth, for if 

 shallow, the roots of the trees may penetrate, and very 

 soon render them useless. 



In the field, the expense of opening drains may 

 be lessened one-third, by loosening the upper two 

 feet of earth with the lifting sub-soil plow. This 

 may be readily done with a pair of oxen or horses ; 

 for the former make a long yoke, so that one of the 

 animals can walk on either side of the ditch. When 

 the plow has been run three or four times in the 

 same line, the loose earth is shoveled out, and the 

 operation of the plow repeated in the bottom, until 

 its full depth is reached. A few inches more earth 

 may be loosened by fastening a heavy weight at the 



