io8 Our Farming. 



mon plow to prepare potato and corn stubble for wheat or rye. 

 In most cases a fitting of surface is better. I never plow but once 

 in my rotation. The clover sod is turned under and then the 

 potato stubble is surface worked for wheat. 



But now I have hinted at deep plowing ; for fear I may mis- 

 lead, let me say that for my soil for potatoes I like deep plowing ; 

 but we have been twenty years gradually increasing depth. I 

 would not plow so deep for corn. This subject will be more fully 

 treated in chapters on potato culture. How about subsoiling ? 

 I have not been able to see any good results from it on my soil. 

 I got a subsoil plow and used it on parts of fields and watched 

 results, and it now stays in the tool house, year in and year out. 

 I had my doubts whether this tool would pay. Just passing this 

 through the subsoil once, breaking it up into chunks, and leav- 

 ing it coarse and rough, which is just what it did on the clay, 

 could hardly do any good. If I could manage to thoroughly fine 

 and pulverize eight inches of subsoil, under the eight or ten 

 inches of top soil, I would do it and expect good results ; but 

 this I could not do. Some of you may not understand what this 

 subsoil plow is. It is an implement to break up the subsoil in 

 the furrow left by common plow, but does not, of course, bring it 

 to the surface. You plow right along with common plow and 

 have another team following with subsoil plow. There may be 

 soils and conditions where it will pay. I can only speak cer- 

 tainly for my own farm. 



I never " plow around," as it is called here, tramping down 

 the corners where I turn on plowed land. I back furrow, start- 

 ing in the middle of a strip and turning to right (right hand 

 plow) , leaving ten feet head lands at the ends to draw the plow on 

 until the last eight or ten times around, when I plow on ends as 

 well as sides. This plows the field without turning on plowed 

 land. Then next time it is plowed (in three years) I plow down 

 outside, turning to left (leaving ten feet headlands), drawing 

 plow across end, back up other outside, drawing across other end, 

 and so on. When I get done I plow headlands all one way, 

 throwing earth out and drawing plow back. Thus ground is kept 

 level, and tramped on after it is plowed but very little. With 

 care to come out right, the dead furrow is made right where the 

 back furrow was before, and when harrowed down the field will 

 be about level. There is a little waste of time in this, while 

 drawing plow across ends, but I will get enough more crop to 

 several times make up for it, and then one can slide across ends 

 quickly, and it rests the horses. I plow a strip fifteen or 

 twenty rods wide all in one land like this. It looks so much 

 nicer than to have a number of dead furrows. Of course, this is 

 for drained land. My next neighbor has heretofore plowed in 

 several lands. This spring he plowed the whole field next to 

 mine in one land, and it looks nice, and there is no waste and no 



