252 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



a rich mass of decaying vegetable matter furnish- 

 ing nourishment to the little rootlets, which pene- 

 trate it in all directions, and a reservoir to retain 

 moisture through a considerable period of drought. 

 What was before plowing the poor lower stratum 

 thus remains on the surface through the whole ro- 

 tation, is altered and improved by the action of the 

 atmosphere, and enriched by contributions from 

 the atmosphere, and by the manure ; the grasses 

 form a rich sward in it, which in due time is turned 

 under to decay in it and fill it with vegetable sub- 

 stance, and thus a formerly poor and inactive sub- 

 stratum becomes as active and good a portion of 

 the soil as any. 



The statements made in the foregoing paragraph 

 are well illustrated in my own practice. Sixteen 

 years ago, I determined to commence the deepen- 

 ing of my surface soil. A description of my course 

 of management with a field of five acres, now in 

 corn-stubble and to be seeded to grass the present 

 spring, will afford an example of my practice gen- 

 erally in deepening the active soil. The field is a 

 sandy loam, portions of which are quickly suscep- 

 tible to the influence of drought. Previous to the 

 time when I commenced deeper plowing, the land 

 had never been turned up more than four to five 

 inches deep ; but it had been well farmed, and was 

 in good heart to that depth. In the month of No- 

 vember, it was broken up from grass to the depth 

 of seven inches, the furrows remaining through 

 the winter as laid by the plow, exposed to the ac- 

 tion of the elements. In May, thirty loads, or fif- 

 teen cords, of a compost made of two parts muck 

 to one of animal manure, were spread on each 

 acre, and the harrow was passed back and forth, 

 lengthwise and crosswise the furrows, until the 

 dressing was intimately mingled with the earth to 

 the depth of three or four inches. The field was 

 then planted with corn, and the crop was early 

 matured and exceeded sixty bushels to the acre. 

 The next spring the surface was made perfectly 

 level and mellow with the harrow, without disturb- 

 ing the decaying turf underneath, and grass seeds 

 were liberally sown with oats. The crop of oats 

 was highly satisfactory in amount and quality, and 

 the grass crops made better than two tons of hay 

 to the acre per year, as long as the land lay in 

 grass. The field was again broken up fijpm sod, 

 from eight to nine inches deep, in the month of 

 November, the land was manured as before, plant- 

 ed, and seeded to grass as before, leaving the de- 

 caying sod undisturbed. The crops w r ere all ex- 

 cellent. A year ago last November, the field was 

 again plowed up from grass, in furrows ten inches 

 deep. Last spring it was manured with fifteen 

 cords of compost per acre, and planted with corn. 

 The crop was very heavy, and of fine quality, not- 

 withstanding the season was not one of the best 

 for the corn crop. The present spring, the field 

 w T ill be plowed about five inches deep, in furrows 

 nine to ten inches wide, sown with spring grain, 

 and stocked to grass with one bushel of red top, 

 eight pounds of white clover and six pounds of 

 southern red clover seeds to each acre. I expect 

 t:) see a fine carpet of grass covering the field, and 

 hereafter to gather from two to three tons per 

 acre, each of four years, of as milk producing hay 

 as any body else will have. This field now pre- 

 sents a uniformly rich soil to the depth of ten 

 inches. I really believe that commencing with 

 last year's crop it will for five or six years compare 



favorably in product and profit with almost any 

 other field of equal size, excepting perhaps the 

 river-bottoms of the West. 



I have other fields, not naturally of as good soil 

 as the one above described, upon which the deep- 

 ening process has necessarily been more gradual, 

 about an inch at each rotation, and which have 

 not yet been plowed over eight inches deep. But 

 any of my land, however barren and thin, is very 

 decidedly improved in productive quality, by deep- 

 er and deeper plowing, accompanied with liberal 

 manuring. 



I have to say to the j T oung farmer, in debt for a 

 poor old exhausted farm — do not suffer yourself to 

 be fettered by old customs, but think for your- 

 selves ; and let reason rather than tradition super- 

 intend and direct your operations. Innovate at 

 once upon the old skinning system of farming. 

 Manufacture manure, apply it liberally, and deep- 

 en your plowing as fast as you can, judiciously. 

 Your lands will grow more and more productive 

 under such treatment, and furnish you the means 

 of getting out of debt ; in a few years you will 

 have a farm pleasant and profitable for cultivation ; 

 and as you grow older, and have less ability to la- 

 bor hard for bread, your farm will produce it for 

 you with less labor than is now necessary, and 

 give you the means for improving yourself and 

 your family. p. H. 



Brattleboro\ April 20, 1852. 



FARMER'S GUIDE— GRASSES. 



In looking over the pages of this excellent work, 

 we notice in that portion devoted to the discussion 

 of spring employments, that particular attention is 

 paid to the subject of grasses. This prompts us to 

 suggest to those sowing grass seeds, the impor- 

 tance of mixing such grasses as will come into 

 bloom at about the same time. Some grasses come 

 to perfection sooner than others, and when grow- 

 ing with a later kind, the former loses its leaves, 

 the nutrient portions of the stem go to perfect the 

 seed, and the grass itself is nearly worthless to cut 

 as fodder. This loss may be prevented in part by 

 a proper intermingling of seeds. 



In speaking more at length of the Farmer's 

 Guide some weeks since, we stated that there were 

 eight beautiful engravings on steel. Whether it 

 was an error of pen or press, we do not know ; but 

 the statement should have been, as the fact is, 

 that there arts fourteen elegant engravings on steel. 

 We shall have frequent occasion to refer to this 

 full and comprehensive work. 



Massachusetts Agricultural Transactions. — 

 We have received a copy of the above work through 

 the polite 1 attentions of the Hon. F. R. Gouruas, 

 of the Council. We shall take occasion to exam- 

 ine and refer to it hereafter. 



American Veterinary Journal. Boston : Geo. 

 II. Dadd, Editor. — The first article in this number, 

 on "Bone Disorder in Cows," is worth the price of 

 the magazine for the year. 



