224 



sugar-beet seed this spring ; and after the beet seed had come 

 up, had the land dressed on the surface, merely spreading it on, 

 with fifteen cords of rich cow-yard manure. This caused the 

 young plants to grow greatly. There has been no particular 

 care given them, and indeed several patches in the ninety-three 

 rods were to be seen where the seed had failed, and which 

 should have been filled with plants if the object had been to 

 try the utmost possible. During the dry weather in August, 

 the tops of several of the rows were cut off for fodder for the 

 cows. My own belief is, it would have been possible to pro- 

 duce on the same piece of ground, if much care had been taken, 

 sixteen hundred bushels. 



" I think the crop on my land has not been caused by trench- 

 ing but by the looseness of the soil and the top-dressing of rich 

 manure of which I have spoken. The usefulness of a top-dress- 

 ing, more especially in a dry seam, is undoubtedly great." 



The whole crop was carefully weighed and sold by weight. 

 The amount 42,284 lbs. This would be at the rate of 36 tons 

 746 63-100 lbs. net weight to the acre, or about 1300 bushels 

 per acre at 56 lbs. per bushel. One of the roots, cropped and 

 cleaned, weighed 31 lbs. 



This is a highly interesting experiment and result. I have 

 long desired an opportunity of witnessing, on actual trial, the 

 beneficial effects of a thorough trenching ; — but have never 

 seen it except in the case of asparagus beds formed after the 

 prescriptions of former times. The practice of subsoil plough- 

 ing is in fact trenching. I am much better satisfied with Mr. 

 Tudor's result than with the philosophy of his explanation. I 

 believe much is due to the trenching of the soil, whereby it 

 was rendered permeable to air, moisture and warmth. The 

 partial failure of the first crop after the trenching may be in a 

 degree accounted for by the fact that the subsoil had been so 

 recently brought to the surface that it had not been acted upon 

 and enriched by atmospherical agency. The deposit of the 

 stones at the bottom in a kind of bed served to draw off and to 

 retain the moisture, which had its effects upon the growing 



