THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



87 



from one to the other in veins, is always soft, more 

 (iisposeii to at^sorb water than common earth; ami, 

 as it dries, (i\lls into an ash-coloreJ powder, and 1 

 should suppose its average depth below the origi- 

 nal soil would be from 6 to S Itjet. In some speci- 

 mens there is a good deal of fine mica and sul- 

 phuret of iron. I have been thus particular in 

 describing boih the substance and the location, 

 thinking it miirht aid you in your speculations 

 on its natural history, and probably its apphcalion 

 as a fertiliser. 



There appears in this section some disposition to 

 change the old ruinous system of agriculture, and 

 lo adopt in its stead an improving one; and 

 though I am but little used to v;riiing, i( I can lur- 

 nish you vviih any facts that would enable you to 

 eti'ect the revolution, I shall be amply compensat- 

 ed for my time and labor, 



1 am but illy prepared for geological discussion ; 

 but this green-sand earth does not look to me, 

 when in place, to be a deposile. It has more the 

 appearance of" rock or some solid substance de- 

 composed ; and as it shows very {'ew or no animal 

 remains, I am very much inclined to think it an 

 older substance than marl or the carbornate of 

 lime and shell formation of the oceanic region, 

 (tliough this opinion is merely lor what it is worth.) 

 What we now desire ot you is, through the Farm- 

 ers' Register, to teli us how to use it. 

 Very respectfully, 



J. S. Whitten, 



As little as we know about green-sand, (and 

 we have as often admitted our ignorance on this 

 mysterious subject, as we have charged it on 

 others who pretend to abundant and all-sufficient 

 knowledge,) there is no difficulty in pronouncing 

 that the earth in question is certainly what geolo- 

 gists call "green-sand;" and according lo the 

 analysis, it is uncommonly rich. Besides a larger 

 proportion of potash than usual, (to which some 

 geologists ascribe the effect as manure,) there is a 

 valuable amount of carbonate of lime, and per- 

 haps of carbonate of magnesia, and a very large 

 proportion of the unusual ingredient, sulphate of 

 lime, or plaster of Paris. Now with all our disbe- 

 lief of what geological surveys state, or indicate, 

 on the effects of green-sand as manure — and with 

 our distrust of its genera! and profitable effects as 

 promised by geological "quackery," we should, 

 if inourcorrespondent's place, expect much benefit 

 from the use of this earth. If put on calcareous 

 Goil, and on suitable plants, (clover especially,) the 

 green-sand of itself will be beneficial; though to 

 what extent, and for what length of 'ime, is the 

 question yet to be settled. If put on acid soil, 

 where the green-sand of itself would be utterly 

 useless, as we think, the calcareous ingredients 

 (carbonate of lime and magnesia) of the manure 

 would neutralize the acid of the soil, and then 

 permit the green-sand and the gypsum to act be- 

 neficially. 



For our opinions, expressed at length on this 

 subject, we can here but refer our correspondent to 



the whole report on the use of green-sand and 

 green-sand marl on the Pamunkey lands, contain- 

 ed from page 679 to 691 of volume 8, Farmers' 

 Register.— En. F. R. 



ON SUBSOIL PLOUGHING. 



From the New England Farmer. 



The English agricultural journals for the last 

 few years, have contained many articles upon the 

 practice of subsoil ploughing. Our readers, we 

 suppose, understand this to be the use of a plough 

 having a narrow double share, or a small share on 

 each side of" the coulter and no mould-board. It 

 is used in eai h furrow after the common plough, 

 and breaks up and stirs the subsoil to the depth of 

 several inches, without bringing it up and incorpo- 

 rating it with the soil. Many liirmers in England 

 have derived great advantages from this process, 

 in connexion with under-draining. Others have 

 found it waste labor. Tlie January No, of the 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng- 

 land contains a communication upon this subject 

 by H. S. Thompson, Esq., pans of which we ex- 

 tract below. 



Heretofore we have received the impression 

 that our Transatlantic co-workers deemed this pro- 

 cess peculiarly suited to stiff and heavy soils, con- 

 sisting mostly of compact, adhesive clays. They 

 now begin to intimate that shallow soils of the 

 lighter kinds may be quite as susceptible of im- 

 provement under this process as any other. We 

 have often conjectured that it must be thus ; and 

 have supposed that many of" our shallow, gravelly 

 and sandy soils in New England would be ren- 

 dered more retentive of moisture and more fertile 

 by simply subsoiling without under-draining. 

 Some of the observed facts, leading lo the suppo- 

 sition are, that we have seen apple trees growing 

 better in gravel that had been moved, than in the 

 deepest and richest mould ; that grass, on a nar- 

 row strip where the subsoil had been thrown but 

 and replaced when putting down the logs of an 

 aqueduct, was much more abundant than on the 

 adjoining portions of the field; that an immense — a 

 mammoth squash had grown upon an unmanured 

 gravel heap that had been formed when digging 

 a well. The loosening of the subsoil, making it 

 more pervious to air and water — bringing many 

 particles into cohtact with panicles that have not 

 touched them before, and thus, perhaps, promot- 

 itig slight fermentations and new chemical com- 

 binations, may fit the subsoil to attract, receive and 

 nourish the roots of plants. Can our practical men 

 give us anv usefiji f"acis or observations upon this 

 subject? The matteris worthy of attention.— Ed. 

 N. E. F. 



BY H. S. TH03IPSON, ESQ, 



"Public opinion is still much divided on the sub- 

 ject of subsoil ploughing. Some very eminent 

 farmers maintain that it is lost labor ; while others, 

 equally eminent, ihink no system of" husbandry 

 complete without it. When men of sense and 

 experience differ respecting matters of fact which 

 have come under their own observation, it will 

 generally be found that, like the travellers disputing 

 about the color of a chameleon, neither would be 

 wrong if he would only allow his opponent to be 

 right. To take a case in point— one farmer of 



