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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



portant ; one with which every person working 

 upon a farm must have more or less acquaintance, 

 and which but few fully understand. He was 

 confident that the more any man investigated the 

 subject, the less confident would he be in his 

 knowledge in regard to it — the more would he 

 find to be learned respecting it. He was satisfied 

 that there is great room for improvement as re- 

 spects the ordinary practice of this department of 

 husbandry. As ordinarily practised it is found 

 quite too shallow, and he would suggest that ev- 

 ery farmer may find upon his own farm a demon- 

 stration of this fact. Take the garden spot which 

 is prepared with special reference to securing a 

 much larger yield than is expected from the ordi- 

 nary field, by increased and deeper pulverization. 

 The farmer expects as a result of this extra labor, 

 to raise from two to three times as much as from 

 the same amount of ground in his ordinary field, 

 and expects it because of the better preparation of 

 the ground. If he would apply the same prepar 

 ation to his fields he might double his crops. The 

 complete pulverization of the soil is the essential 

 consideration for good culture. This practice we 

 learn from other countries — from England and 

 from Holland. The great crops there obtained arc 

 the result of perfect pulverization. Gardeners in 

 tliis country who raise vegetable products have re 

 alized from one to two and even three hundred dol 

 lars an acre net, mainly from perfect cultivation. 

 Here he mentioned a fact which came under hi 

 own observation in Beverly, in Essex County, 

 where a practical man named Mason, raised on a 

 two-and-a-half acre lot, 18,000 cabbages per acre, 

 the net receipts for which averaged £450 an acre. 

 This was done by extra care in cultivation, and the 

 use of a compost manure of his own manufacture 



There were, he said, many things in connection 

 with plowing which might be suggested, which 

 are not now fully understood. First — what width 

 shall be given the furrow-slice 1 Of late, the ten 

 dency has been to make it as wide as possible in 

 order to save time ; and this tendency has in- 

 creased sometimes until it is made from 14 to 16 

 and 18 inches wide. In this way the land could 

 be plowed soonest, but would it be the best man- 

 ner ? He thought not. The furrow-slice should 

 be made as wide as can be turned completely over 

 and made to lay flat, and no wider. With a fur- 

 row 8 inches in depth, 10 inches in width would 

 be sufficient — or at the extent, twelve inches in 

 width. Another point is — how shall the furrow 

 be laid — flat or set on edge, at an angle of 45 de- 

 grees 1 This would depend upon what the land 

 is to be used for — if for grass, it would be better 

 to have it flat. If it is to be broken in pieces so 

 that the air may penetrate it, it would be better 

 to set it partly on edge. So it is not in our pow- 

 er to lay down any rule, except in connection with 

 the use to which the land is to be applied. An- 



other question is, what kind of a team is it the 

 most profitable to use 1 Here a great variety of 

 opinions exist. In Worcester county, the pub- 

 lished opinion is in favor of one pair of cattle on- 

 ly, without a driver — and only this kind of team 

 is encouraged at the plowing matches. Such, how- 

 ever, is not the practice throughout the county, or 

 in other counties. In most counties where they 

 plow grass lands to the depth of 8 or 9 inches (and 

 it should never be less than that) they use at least 

 two pair of cattle. Many use one pair and a 

 horse. So far as he had any opinion upon the sub- 

 ject, he thought the best team was a horse and a 

 yoke of cattle, or two pair of cattle. The addi- 

 tional power which this team possesses, he be- 

 lieved was better apphed in deepening the furrow 

 than to be omitted. A horse and one yoke of ox- 

 en might be trained to be driven by the plowman, 

 and thus the expense of a driver saved ; but with 

 two pairs of cattle this is seldom done. 



Mr. Proctor, in conclusion, alluded to the 

 kind of plow used as another important considera- 

 tion. The "Michigan Sod and Subsoil Plow" he 

 recommended very highly. It is so constructed 

 as to turn two furrows at the same time. The 

 theory is to lay the sod to the depth of three inch- 

 es, perfectly flat, and then turn up some five inch- 

 es of earth upon it. This he had seen done to 

 perfection in a furrow 8 inches deep and 10 inches 

 wide. It is guided with more ease than the ordi- 

 nary plow, because it balances itself. In regard to 

 the amount of power required to operate it — ho 

 had seen it fairly tested with a dynamometer, and 

 the result was that it was drawn without any ad- 

 ditional power than was necessary to operate a 

 plow cutting a single furrow. A practical farmer 

 who had used it, told him that he considered land 

 operated on one year by this plow, as well fitted 

 for the seed as land operated on two years by the 

 ordinary plow. If this is so, the matter is worthy 

 the attention of farmers. 



Mr. B. V. French, of Braintree, next addressed 

 the meeting strongly in favor of the complete dis- 

 integration or pulverization of the soil. First, he 

 asked, what are we to gain by this, over the com- 

 mon methods of culture ! In his first efforts at 

 orcharding, he remarked in the hearing of an able 

 gardener that -with two men he had set out one 

 hundred apple trees in a day. The gardener 

 looked astonished, and said, why, I set out ten 

 trees in a day with eight men and worked hard at 

 that. My trees, said Mr. French, cost me about 

 two cents apiece to set them, and his cost hini 

 about eighty cents, his trees were trenched two 

 feet in depth and ten feet in diameter. Some- 

 time afterwards Mr. French went to see these trees 

 and was satisfied that the gardener's husbandry 

 was the best. He also alluded to some very extra 

 pears, which he saw in NewYork State, and which 

 gained their superior quality by deep trenching the 



