164 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



out of the question for us to recommend any particular rule to 

 be applied to ploughing throughout the State generally. As 

 Mr. Ward has said, a man must be his own judge ; and a man 

 who cultivates the soil ought to have a good share of practical 

 common sense, which will enable him to judge how deep to 

 plough, and whether it is best to subsoil. I do not think it 

 would be wise for this Board to say anything which would look 

 like a condemnation of subsoiling, in toto ; for I suppose every 

 one of us can imagine soils which would be benefited by sub- 

 soiling ; and, on the other hand, all of us would have no diffi- 

 culty in seeing that there are soils which cannot be benefited 

 by subsoiling — it would be labor wasted ; and a great propor- 

 tion of the soil of this State is of such a character that it 

 cannot be benefited by subsoiling. And while this matter is 

 being discussed, I would like to have something go from the 

 Board which shall look like a sort of recommendation that 

 certain soils be subsoiled, and certain other soils not, so that, in 

 reading our discussions, those who did not hear them, and were 

 not able to listen to the minute explanations which we make, 

 shall gain some light thereby. For the reports, which used to 

 be little used years ago, are now sought for with avidity. I 

 think it is very important that we should endeavor to make 

 them instructive and interesting, so that any one who comes 

 here shall be improved by what has been said. As was said 

 last year, we all want to improve from year to year, to grow 

 more intelligent from day to day, and be gathering new facts 

 all the time. I am sure that is my desire, and if I did not feel 

 so, I would not hold a place on this Board, because I have 

 plenty of business at home to engross all my care and attention ; 

 but I desire to lear'n from what is said by others in these 

 debates, and from what is read here, in the shape of essays, and 

 I desire to take part in discussions. We are so constituted 

 that all these things, I trust, operate beneficially upon each and 

 every one of us. 



But I have wandered away from the question of ploughing. 

 My own view of ploughing is this : that on our light, sandy soil 

 we want to plough pretty deep, in order to extend the influences 

 of air and moisture through the open, porous subsoil. The 

 roots of all plants will run deep in such soil. If you will raise 

 the turf carefully, where a piece of such land has been in grass 



