ESSEX SOCIETY. 21 



I could adduce numerous instances, in this and other coun- 

 tries, to show the unquestionable result of sub-soiling; but I con- 

 sider the question too well settled to admit of doubt. I should 

 as soon think of producing evidence that the light of the sun 

 was necessary to bring forward and mature the fruits of the earth. 



With great respect, I am, dear sir, 



Your obedient servant, 



E. PHINNEY. 



To J. W. Proctor, Esq. 



On Turning in Green Crops for Manure. 



This subject is one of interest, and deserves the mature con- 

 sideration of the agricultural community. The plan of renovat- 

 ing lands by turning in green crops, though not new, has not, 

 so far as I am advised, been extensively practised in Massachu- 

 setts. In Essex County a few experiments have been made, and 

 these with various success. In some parts of our country, the 

 results of experiments have been all that the best farmers could 

 reasonably wish. Worn-out lands, favorable to the use of plas- 

 ter, have, by a succession of clover, rye, or buck-wheat crops, 

 been entirely renovated, at comparatively small expense. In 

 other parts, while results have been encouraging, and in the 

 main satisfactory, they have not equalled the glowing descrip- 

 tions published by the entirely successful. These different ex- 

 periences are to be attributed, probably, to the difference in soil, 

 location, climate, &c. 



I have conversed with many of the most intelligent farmers in 

 New England on this subject, and they uniformly agree that 

 green crops will prove valuable to clayey soils, by rendering 

 them more friable, as well as retentive of moisture, and to light 

 sandy soils, by imparting to them properties of which they are 

 deficient. But they as uniformly doubt the utility of this pro- 

 cess of enriching poor lands, if a dressing of manure is required 

 to produce the green crop, or if, by the process, the lands must 



