farmers' miscellany. 107 



'.vhilst the surface becomes poor. Now, if the plough were to be 

 '.arried from six to twelve inches deep, this fertile portion would 

 ])(? brought to the top and furnish a new soil. 



That this is correct in principle, there can be no doubt. Yet 

 I aution is necessary in putting it into practice. Those substances 

 v.hich are valuable as food for plants are not the only ones which 

 sink down through the soil. Many will be found which are actu- 

 ally injurious, and which, if brought to the surface, would destroy 



1 hope of a crop. The solid state of the under soil prevents 

 .Iso the free access of the atmosphere, and therefore this soil wil' 

 not have undergone that thorough decomposition which is neces- 

 sary to fit it to be productive. Deep ploughing should therefore 

 be done either 



I. Gradually. Year after year the plough maybe driven deep- 

 er, bringing up and mixing with the surface soil the lower portions, 

 which will thus, without material injury, be gradually incorpora- 

 ted and form a deep soil. This will probably be found the best 

 course, as there is little risk in it of doing injury to the present 

 soil by mixing too large a quantity of noxious substances with it. 

 Or, 



II. There are many soils where, if deep ploughing is practised 

 in the fall and the lower portions exposed to the winter's freezing, 

 they will be so broken up and changed, as to be ready for a crop 

 in the following spring. In this case, the land should again be 

 ploughed crosswise in the spring, so that the old and new soils 

 may be thoroughly mixed together. By this means also, the de- 

 struction of many injurious insects whose larvae have buried them- 

 selves beneath the reach of ordinary ploughing, is insured. The 

 more thorough the draining of the soil, and the chance given to 

 the roots of plants to extend themselves deeper, are important ad- 

 vantages connected with this process. Farmers generally do not 

 seem to appreciate the fact, that plants are highly organized beings? 

 deriving their food by their roots, from the soil, and, of course, 

 growing perfect in proportion as they have a better opportunity to 

 supply themselves by reaching out their fibres in all directions. 



Where the lower portions of the soil contain such substances 

 as are injurious, and which cannot be mixed directly with the up- 

 per, thorough draining should be practised ; and this, together 

 with the use of the subsoil plough, will, after a sufficient time, 

 prepare the way for deep ploughing. 



