^l)c lavmcv's iUoutljlij llisitor^ 



45 



ul the rate of sixty liusliels to the acre, und sow- 

 ing; tiiiiii|i-seeil, dillivtiles between the rows vviili 

 a single-horse pUjii'.'h, uhicii cannot, of eoiirsc, 

 tiiUe "a >iee|i Ihrrow. The sitoihI yrarVif the 

 conrsc, when he sows wheat, he ploiii-'lis it very 

 liirhtly with n liorse, alter liaviii',' tirst hreasl- 

 proMfihcd it, so as thoro(i<;lily to cover in the ina- 

 Miire^uhich the sheep who have liecii Ibhled up- 

 on the hind have left npoii it. The tliird year it 

 is hreasl-|iloiii;he<l, sown in Inniips, and cidtiva- 

 ted between the rows with a liorse, as hehire de- 

 scribed. The lourtli year it is simply breast- 

 ph>nf;hed for barley. The fill h and sixth years 

 it is in j-M-ass. Thns, in the whole coinse ol a 

 six years' rotation, this land is only plon-hed lonr 

 times by men, and three limes with a smf;le-horse 

 plonfih. Another hirmer in tin; same neisibbor 

 hoocPsavstliat, upon this description ofland, any 

 otiier than the breast-ploniih wonid not leave the 

 gronnd snfliciently tirm for wheat. Mr. Fnsey, 

 M. P., whose excelU-nily niaiiageil farm 1 have 

 liad the pleasure ol" repeatc<lly going over, in re- 

 marking on the above accoimrs, says, " Occupy- 

 in 



' ' ■ ■ - • •■'■ -' ■'•■■■■«, 



nilar laiiil, I may add lliat 1 never plongli 

 it deeply, but 1 repent oT so doing; and am Tai- 

 ling more and more each year, by tlie advice ol 

 ncr^hboring iarmcrs, itito the use of the breasi- 

 plongh, instead of the horse-plough. This ni:in- 

 lial labor is (piite as cheap, for a good workman 

 can pare such hollow lender huid at 4s., or even 

 3s. per acre. It is possil)le that the drought ot 

 our climate in Gloucestershire and Berkshire, 

 iriay he one cause of the success of this practice 

 in those counties, and tl:at the same soil, if trans- 

 ferred to WeslmoreUmd, would riquire deeper 

 working. 'I'heretbre, without reconunending 

 shallow cidtivalion in districts where deep 

 ploughing has been hitherto practiced, I would 

 ujerely warn beginners against plunging reckless- 

 ly inio the subsoil." These exaujplesare cerlain- 

 ly well worth considering. 1 do not umlersland 

 that these practices at all militate againsi the doc- 

 tiiiie of the advantages to be obtained from sub- 

 soiling. In cases where subsoiling and thorough 

 drainilig are not applied, this shallow ploughing 

 may be preferred, as the mingling of the cold 

 ami inert subsoil with so thin a surlace of vege- 

 table mould wouki doidjtiess be prejudicial, at 

 least for a length of time; but the improvement 

 of such land by a system of thorough draining 

 and subsoiling is another matter, to which I shall 

 refer in its proper place. There are considerable 

 tracts of this moorish land — that is, a thin, black, 

 coarse peat, not half decomposed, resting upon 

 a cold and hard pan of gravel or clay, or what 

 some jiersotis have mistaken for marl, in Massa- 

 chusetts, and other parts of the country, the im- 

 provement of which, so farasinyex|)eriencelias 

 gone, has been almost hopele.ss. 



While upon this subject, I may as well give 

 the results of the management of the first (ar- 

 mer referred to, and therefore subjoin them. "By 

 this modeofmanagecnent, an economical system 

 is followed up thro'ugh the whole course, by be- 

 iiitf nearly all performed by manual labor, by 

 which means a reuuinerating crop will be pro- 

 duced, and the land always kept firm, which is 

 the only difficulty to be overcome on this des- 

 cription of soil. The farm, when first taken by 

 me, was wet; as much out of condition, and as 

 lii;ht and weak, ns it well coidd be — parts of it 

 being merely held together by the roots of grass 

 and weeds natural to nioory land, hut which must 

 he very prejudicial to the jiroduction of those 

 crops ihat are to benefit the liirmer. I commenc- 

 ed by draiinng, and then pnrs>ued the foregoing 

 .system of cultivation, by which luy most sanguine 

 expectations have been realized, though I was 

 told that the land would he too light and too poor 

 to plant wheat after turnips. I have never found 

 any ill effects from paring and burning, experi- 

 ence having taught me that it [u-oducesa manure 

 particularly beneficial to the growth of turnips; 

 thereby enabliuir me to firm the land by sheep." 

 This farmer speaks of performing a great por- 

 tion of his work with manual labor. 1 think 

 some part of it might rather he called pedestrian 

 than manual ; for, if he ploughs his land by meu, 

 he treads it out by women. He says, " Before 

 the horse-roll can be used, 1 seiul women to tread 

 it, and if occasion require, treail it again ; after 

 which, I have it twice hoed. 1 have found 

 more benefit from this mode of pressing than 

 any other, being done at a time when wheat. 



on this description of soil, requires assist- 

 ance."* 



I have found other farmers, w ho, with their 

 wheat crops on liglil, (dialky soils, |>louglied in a 

 very shallow manner, and thi:n weie accustomed 

 to tread their land wilh sheep, in oriler to give 

 the wheat plant a firmer liioling; as, otherwise, 

 in a very light soil, it might be thrown out by the 

 wiiul. "These cases, however, luiisl all be deem- 

 ed exceptions; and the general rule in I'.ngland, 

 where the soil admits of it, and inanme is abun- 

 dant, is that of rather deep i)longhiiig. Five or 

 six inches is the average depth ; in many cases, 

 much more than this. The loam, or vegetable 

 mould, is, without question, the great source or 

 medium of noinisliment to the plants. Be it more 

 or less deep, it is always safe to go to the bottom 

 of this, and, by grailnally loosening a portion of 

 the subsoil, or lower siralnm, and incorporating 

 it yvilh the monhl, and rendering it accessible to 

 llie air ard light, it accpiiri'S the nauue of mould, 

 and the whole arable snrliice is enriched. 'I'he 

 deeper the soil, the moie deeply the loots are 

 permitted to ilescend, and the more widely they 

 are enabled to spreail themselves— unless they 

 penetrate a subsiralnm unhealthy from wet or 

 the too great prevalence of some unfiivorable 

 mineral substance — so mm h the more luxuriant 

 anil productive is the vegetation likely to prove. 

 'I'he depth to which the roots of plants will go 

 lown in search of food or moisture, where ihe 

 soil is ilia condition to be penetrated by them, is 

 much greater than a superficial observation would 

 indnce'^us to suppose. It is confidently asserted 

 that Ihe roots of sonie plants— such, forijxample, 

 as luceru and sainfoin— go to a depth of filieen, 

 twenty, and even thirty feet. This seems scarce- 

 ly credible. Red clover is known lo extend its 

 roots to the depth of three feet, and wheat to the 

 depth of two or ihree iee\, where the condition 

 of ibe soil is f-ivorable to their exiension. Von 

 Thaer, the distinguished agriculturist, says, " he 

 has pulled carrois two ami a half feet long, the 

 ta|)-root of which was probably another foot in 

 length." The tap-root of a Swedish turnip has 

 been known to extend thirty-nine inches; the 

 roots of Indian corn fiill six feet. These state- 

 ments may appear extraordinary ; but, by the free 

 and loose texture of the soil, it is obvious a good 

 husbandman will give every opportunity for the 

 roots and their ex-ireniely fine fibres, to exieiid 

 tliemselves as far as their instincts may prompt 

 them. 



Next to the depth of ploughing, the vvidtli of 

 the furrow-slice is lo be considered. This, of 

 course, depends mainly upon the construction of 

 the plough. A plough with a wide sole or base, 

 in the hands of a skilful ploughman, may he 

 made to cut a narrow furrow-slice ; but a nariow- 

 soled plough cannot be made to cut a wide fur- 

 row-slice, though it may sometimes appear to <lo 

 so by leaving a part "of the ground unturned, 

 which the furrow-slice is made lo cover. Where, 

 as in ohl ploughed land, the object is solely to 

 leave the ground loose and light, it is advisable 

 to take a very narrow furrow. Where, otherwise, 

 the object is to move greensward or stubble 

 ground, and to cover in the vegetable matter,sucli 

 a width of furrow must be taken as will cause 

 the slice, as it is raised by the share, to turn over 

 easily. This widili may generally be reckoned at 

 nearly twice the de|illi, though less will answer; 

 but a fiuTow-slice of equal sides would not turn, 

 but stand on end. The manner in which the 

 furrow-slice will be turned depends somewhat 

 upon the form of the mould-board, but more, in 

 general, upon the skill of the ploughman. Two 

 modes are adopted ; the one to lay the furrow- 

 slice entirely Hut, shulting its edge exactly in by 

 the edge of its neighbor; Ihe other, to lay it at 

 an inclination of 4.") degrees, lapifmg the one up- 

 on the other. The former mode, where land is 

 to be sown with grass seed, and, as the phrase is 



with lis, laid ilown, is undoubtedly to be prefer- 

 red. Perhaps, in any case where a grain crop is 

 to be cultivated, it should be preferred, as its ben- 

 eficial efl'ects have been well tested in the United 

 Slates. In the. United Slates, however, from a 

 higher teinperatnre, the vegetable matter thus 

 pressed down may be expected sooner to he de- 

 composed, and thus sooner furnish a pabuliirn 

 for the growing plants, than in a climate where, 

 in a much lower and more even teinperatnre, the 

 decomposition cannot he expected to take place 

 so rapidly. In other cases, and for vegetable 

 flops — I mean in contradistinction to grain crops 

 — a different mode of ploughing, that is, laying 

 the furrow-slices one iqion the other at an angle 

 of 45 degrees, or half tin iied over, wouhl leave 

 the ground more loose, as well as expose a larger 

 surliice of the inverte<l soil to be enriched by the 

 air. In Ibis way, by harrowing and rolling, the 

 vegetable matter will be completely buried. This 

 mode ofploughing is evidently preferred through- 

 out the country, as I have seldom seen the sward 

 completely inverted and laid fiat, though I know 

 the practice prevails in some counties. To avoid 

 liaviiig any of the grass protrude itself Uetweeli 

 the furrow-slices, they have here, what I have 

 never seen in the United Slates, a skim-coulter, 

 that is, a miniature ploughshare, or blade, placed 

 under the beam, and so adjusted as to cut an edge 

 from the furrow-slice as it is turned over ; this 

 piece so cut off at once dropping down, and be- 

 ing buried under the furrow-slice as it goes over. 

 Tlie consequence is, that there is no grass on the 

 edge of the furrow-slice to show itself, and great 

 neatness is therefore given to the whole vyork. 

 There is another mode of ploughing, which I 

 have sometimes seen practiced, by which the 

 furrow-slice is not merely lifted, hut may be said 

 to be rolled over, or twisted in a sort of hag-fash- 

 ion. This seemed to tne to be principally owing 

 to the concave Ibrm of the mould-board, for no 

 woi kman could have ilone it witli a straight or 

 convex form of mould-board. It would seem to 

 render tlie soil more friable and loose ; but every 

 departure liom a straight line, or wedge form of 

 the mould-board, evideiilly much increases the 

 dranght. 'I'he skim-coulter, to which I have re- 

 ferred above, somewhat increases the draught, 

 but in a very small degree. 



I'he great object of the English farmers in 

 ploughing, seems to be the thorough pulveriza- 

 lion of the soil ; and they are therefore very sel- 

 dom satisfied with one ploughing, but their land 

 is repeatedly ploughed, scarified, and harrowed. 

 They cross-plough their land, and think it desir- 

 able to reduce the sward land to a fine tilth, tear- 

 ing it to pieces, and bringing all the grass, and 

 roots, and rubbish, to tlie surface, that they may 

 be raked up and burned, or carried to the ma- 

 nure heaps. The propriety of this practice is, 

 in my mind, qiiile questionable. It would seem 

 lo me much better to torn the sward completely 

 over, and then cultivate on the top it, without 

 disturbing the grass smface, leaving that, when 

 thus turned over, to a gradual decomposition, 

 that it might in this way sup|dy food to the grow- 

 ing crop, whereas the" abstraction of so nincli 

 vegetable matter must itreatly diminish the re- 

 source* of Ihe soil. Where, however, the field 

 is infested with twitch grass (Iriiicum repens)— in 

 which, indeed, iii:my of the fields in England 

 abound lo a most extraordinary extent— there 

 may be no gelling rid of it hut by actually loos- 

 ening and tearing it out ; but where it is a mere 

 clover ley, or an old grass pasture or meadow,the 

 taking out and removing the vegetable matter 

 see.iis to he a serious waste. Even the twitch 

 miilht be managed where the crop is to be hoed, 

 though in grain crops, its presence is extreyiely 

 prejudicial.— Co/rtiaH's Jlgricullural Tour, .Vo. 5. 



* This is n usc< to which ivmnen have not as yet been put m 

 our "half-civilized" couiilry. 1 dare .ssy, however, many 

 persons think that it is verv well lo make such i.lever animals 

 serviceable: their "keep," agriculturally speaking, is some- 

 what expensive ; and, as lliey have their share ui the pleasure 

 -h,.., infii. fl« well take their Dart in Ihe labor ol 



I will 



proclucine. Whatever anv persons may think, however, 

 «av no such uncivil Ihini;; but since Ihe celebrated dansfuse, 

 Finny ISIlsler, returned from the United States, aTtcr a two 

 years' tour with a gain ol twenty thousand pounds, or one 

 hundred th,.usand d,.llars, it cannot be denied that the Amen- 

 cans are quite willing to pay for the use of women's feet— in a 

 wav we admit, more elegant, tasteful, and classical, but cer_ 

 taiiily not more respectable, and not half as useful, an that of 

 I treading the wheat-ground. 



The Best Medicine— pREquENT Bathino. 

 Frequent bathing— not once or twice a mouth, 

 but every day if you please— in warm or cold wa- 

 ter, is one of the grandest medicines in the world. 

 It will make one heartier, freer from disease than 

 a ton of medicine could. Read what the editor 

 of the Boston "Social Reformer" says about 



'« From one to five pounds of decayed animal 

 matter passes off daily by insensible pres|uration 

 from a human abody. The white dust which co- 

 lects on the skin, sometimes called goose flesh, 

 is refuse matter of the system. Viewed with a 

 solnr microsope it looks like a butcher's cart ot 



