DIFFICULTIES IN FARMING. ^ 175 



by the use of money and science, and then we do not get very 

 large crops. I do not think the subsoil plough is of much use 

 with us, until some few years have passed away ; then I think 

 perhaps the results of it begin to appear, and it may be said to 

 be a very useful implement for the farmer to use, on the same 

 principle that deep spading is useful, thoiigh not for the first few 

 years. 



Mr. Brown. The difficulty with regard to ploughing; is of 

 the same character as all the difficulties which attend the busi- 

 ness of farming. Unlike all other business, we have no precise 

 mathematical rules which we can apply generally to our busi- 

 ness. The carpenter has his square and his rule, and scarcely 

 strikes a blow in the course of the day that he does not strike 

 on rule ; and when he lays out his work in the morning, he can 

 see in his mind's eye just the result of his day's labor. He 

 knows just how that door or that window-frame must come out, 

 and it will come out just as he sees it. I want to know if any 

 farmer can tell me he anticipates with any such confidence the 

 result of his labors ? There is not probably a farmer on the 

 face of the earth who can do it. Tlie business of farming is 

 the most abstruse and the most difficult business men ever 

 engaged in. It requires more learning, more experience, and 

 closer application, than any business that ever devolved upon 

 man to perform ; and therefore we can see the necessity of 

 having this Board of Agriculture in the State, to harmonize as 

 much as possible, as Mr. Clark and Mr. Birnie have said, these 

 conflicting views, that in going on with our labors we may do 

 the work that will secure the best results. 



Mr. Birnie and Mr. Clark have said, in their remarks, and it 

 is true, that the depth to which land should be ploughed 

 depends upon circumstances. Now, if I were to ask how deep 

 you would plough for a crop of carrots, there is not a man who 

 would say less than twelve inches, and some would say two 

 feet. Then, if I were to ask how deep you would plough for a 

 crop of corn, there are many wlio would say five inches is 

 enough, six at most, and others would go as high as eight or 

 even ten inches. So it would be with regard to ploughing to 

 get a good crop of English grass. Now, what I beg of you is 

 (because we are looking to you for light from all parts of the 

 Commonwealth,) not to go from one extreme to the other. In 



