ESSEX SOCIETY. 19 



plough was drawn by three horses, and completely stirred and 

 loosened nine inches deeper ; so that it could be penetrated with 

 a cane, as readily as could a chest of meal. Every one who 

 saw it was astonished at the ease with which the plough was 

 held, and the perfection of the work accomplished by it. This 

 work left the same material on the surface of the ground, as 

 was before the ploughing. For all those crops where the fibres 

 of the plants have a tendency to descend more than six inches 

 (and we scarcely know any that do not), such a preparation of 

 the soil must unquestionably be serviceable. We can scarcely 

 conceive of a case where it will be considered prejudicial. 



The committee take pleasure in awarding the premium of 

 ten dollars to Mr. Worcester, for his enterprise in exhibiting this 

 experiment. 



J. W. PROCTOR, Chairman. 



Lowell, Sept. 24, 1847. 



Dear Sir : — The opinions which I expressed to you some years 

 ago on the effect of sub-soiling, I have had no reason to change. 

 Every experiment I have made has invariably strengthened my 

 convictions of the great utility of the sub-soil plough. It is now 

 more than twenty years since the first introduction of this im- 

 portant implement in English husbandry, and I now recollect 

 no instance of the expression of a doubt of the advantages to be 

 derived from its use ; so far from this, it is not uncommon at 

 this time, in that country, for landlords to expend six or seven 

 thousand dollars in sub-soiling a single farm ; and tenants are 

 not unwilling to pay an increased rent, equal to the interest on 

 the outlay. In that country, not only soils too dry, but those too 

 wet, are considered as benefited by this process. When there is 

 a deficiency of moisture, it gives the roots of the plant the means 

 of penetrating deeper in search of moisture : when there is a re- 

 dundancy, it is believed to furnish a means of absorbing or draw- 

 ing off the excess of moisture. 



I readily grant that the effect produced by the use of the sub- 



