242 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



FBB. 3, K4I 



such was not the case : they had all run together, 

 and were as compact as when first moved by the 

 plough, williout even the appearance of water- 

 shake or fissure. This I was not prepared to ex- 

 pect. Separated by a fence only is another fiidd 

 of a similar descri|ilion, which was fallow at the 

 same time, but not subsoilcd ; the crop on this 

 field was quite equal to the other. A neighbor 

 subsoiled one acre of a field which was sown with 

 beans; this field I frequently saw through the sum- 

 mer, and during that period the part subsoiled was 

 by no means superior to the other." 



On reading this account my attention was nat- 

 urally arrested by the great difference between the 

 produce of the two fields subsoiled by Mr Black ; 

 and as it was important to ascertain whether any 

 sufficient cause could be assigned independent of 

 the different methods adopted in subsoil-ploughing 

 them, I addressed him the following questions : — Is 

 the field which produced 35 bushels per acre of 

 better quality than the one which proiluced 27 1-2 ; 

 or was it better manured, or the seed time more 



favorable? His answer was as follows: "The 



la/id (viz., that which produced 35 bushels) is much 

 inferior. I ascribe the superior crop to the field 

 having been more recently drained than the other, 

 I have always found the first crop alter draining 

 above an average. Lime, too, was applied to this 

 field two years before, which did not appear to 

 have acted until the water was taken off: and last, 

 although not least, it was subsoiled across the 

 drains. As regards manure, I consider the fields 

 alike in that respect. Both fields were sown un- 

 der favorable circumstances," Draining after lime 

 appears quite adequate to account for this increas- 

 ed produce; but even should we attribute a por- 

 tion of it to subsoiling across instead of parallel to 

 the drains, the whole effect seems to have vanish- 

 ed before the ne.\t ploughing, as we read in Mr 

 Black's account. In confirmation of Mr Black's 

 views. I will quote the opinion of Mr Vansiltart, of 

 Kirkleaiham, whose experiments I had an opportu- 

 nity of observing whilst in progress. I need hard- 

 ly add that tirey were made in the most judicious 

 and effectual manner. "Upon subsoiling I hate 

 nearly made up my mind, and am satisfied that it is 

 not of permanent use on this soil." We have here 

 the experience of Mr Vansittart, Mr Black, and a 

 neighboring farmer, all of whom agree in thinking 

 that subsoiling is of no use on their land. The 

 quality of land is the same in all : consisting of a 

 level and uniform tract of that peculiarly tenacious 

 Boil, the lias clay, containing, as we see by the 

 analysis furnished by Mr Black (made atEdinburg,) 

 no less than J3 per cent, of alumina or pure clay. 

 The next evidence I shall adduce is that of Mr 

 Stevenson, of Rainton, nearl'oroughbridce, a verv 

 enterprising and judicious tenant-farmer; whose 

 farm chiefly consists of a stiff red clay, on the red 

 sandstone formation. He began by subsoiling 17 

 acres in the winter of 18.35-(i: the summer follow- 

 ing, these 17 acres grew a remarkable crop of tur- 

 nips, though the year was in genornl a failing one 

 for that crop. The turnips were followed by bar- 

 ley, seeds, wheat — all good crops. When ploughed 

 deep again for turnips, at the end of the course, it 

 was found to work much lighter than the laud not 

 subsoiled. The man who held the plough in both 

 instances found a great difference in the' mellow- 

 ness of the soil turned up, and consequently in the 

 labor of the horses. The subsoil, on analysis, 

 showed -M per cent, of alumina. The exact analy- 

 sis is as follows : 



Specific gravity, 2.070. 

 100 parts contain — 



Of water of absorption. 



Silica, 



.Alumina, 



Oxide iron, 



Soluble matter. 



Loss, 



7 

 55 

 24 



7 1-3 



2 



4 1-9 



liO 



Mr Stevenson found so much benefit from the 

 operation, that he has since subsoiled 27 acres, and 

 moans to continue it on a large scale. A glance 

 at the experiments above described enables us to 

 make a first approximation to the solution of this 

 much debated question. It appears probable that 

 a soil containing not inore than 24 per cent, of 

 alumina may be subsoiled with advantage, but tliat 

 when it exceeds 40 per cent, no permanent im- 

 provement is derived from the operation. Many 

 more experiments must be made before this ap- 

 proximation can be so modified as to make it of 

 general application: and I would beg to suggest 

 to those gentlemen who may feel disjioeed to as- 

 sist in the inquiry, that any account of the use of 

 the subsoil-plough on land containing more than 24 

 and less that 40 per cent, of alumina would be par- 

 ticularly valuable, as the first point to ascertain is, 

 the maximum quantity of alumina which may ex- 

 ist in land without making it unfit for subsoilino-. 

 From what has been stated aboTe, there is resaon 

 to suppose that this maximum point lies between 

 24 and 43 per cent. ; every experiment, tlierefore, 

 inade on soil containing more than the one and less 

 than the other, reduces the doubtful soils within 

 narrower limits. It would also be advisable to try 

 the effect of subsoiling on two soils containinn- 

 equal quantities of alumuia, but otherwise differino- 

 in the composition, as it is possible that other sub- 

 stances, in combination with alumnia, may in some 

 degree affect the result. 



I have thus far confined myself to stiff soils; 

 but as the subsoil-plough has been little used on 

 light land, and its effect therefore is little known, 

 the following paper from Mr Deuison, of Kilnwick 

 Percy, will be read with great interest. 



[Mr Denison's operations w«re made on a field 

 consisting of sandy hills, light, bhiw-away soil, and 

 marshy hollows — peaty soils. After having de- 

 scribed the drainage and its expense, ho says :] 



" The first process after the drains were com- 

 plete was in the months of March and April to 

 pare and burn ; and to sow rape and turnips, drilled 

 with half-inch bones and soot in the following 

 month. The crop was not at all regular; being 

 good where the soil was deep and black, but very 

 bad where it was sandy : the sole being hard and 

 the action of the sun having great power to the 

 very roots of the plants. 



" In the winter of the same year, after the tur- 

 nips and rape were consumed, I ploughed laud in 

 the direction of the old furrows, and the .^ubsoil 

 plough followed, worked by two oxen and four 

 hcjrses ; loosening the hard sandy sole on the hin-h- 

 er ground, and tearing up the roots of the rushes, 

 ite., on the low. In this state the land lay till the 

 month of April following, whan Finlayson's drag- 

 harrow was applied across the ploughings, which 

 brought up all the roots and rubbish to the surface ; 

 these were then raked off and burnt. I then sow- 

 ed the black Tartarian oats, and ploughed them in ; 



the ground was then harrowed and pressed down 

 with a clod-crushing roller, made by Mr Croskill, 

 of Beverley, which implement has been of the 

 greatest service to me in almost every stage and 

 crop. It has been the means of consolidatinu the 

 earth, which would otherwise have been too li</ht, 

 and it iias kept the moisture in also. It has a de- 

 cided advantage over every other kind of roller in 

 this respect, because it leaves an uneven surface 

 instead of a Hat one, from which the rain, in sandy 

 land especially, is apt to run oft" without nourish- 

 ing or refreshing the crop. 



" The oats came out very healthy and had no 

 check: in sixteen weeks from the time of sowing 

 they were reaped, and when thrashed yielded 10 1-2 

 quarters per acre, which were sold at 'ii'ts. per quar- 

 ter, and this from land that was let two years be- 

 fore at 2s. (W. per acre. 



" I calculjte the expense of subsoil ploughing, 

 according to my mode of using it. at 26«. per acre, 

 thus : 



Four horses and two men, per day, 14«. 

 Two beasts and one man, .5^. 



10*. 



These will do 3 roods per day. The oxen are yok- 

 ed to the plough, and the four horses precede. I 

 sowed 40 acres with oats, of the same flat of land 

 that had been pared and burnt, but not subsoiled, 

 from want of time. The produce of this was not 

 more than 3 qrs. per acre, and straw small and 

 short ; a very fair proof of the advantage of sub- 

 soiling. 



"I have now 100 acres of wheat and oats grow- 

 ing on what was the very worst part of the whole 

 property, and considered perfectly useless. It has 

 been drained, pared and burnt, and subsoiled ex- 

 actly after the mode detailed ; and it looks aa 

 promising as what was so good last year. The 

 land upon which I had potatoes exhibits as decid- 

 ed a superiority ; and I shall in another year be 

 able to state what effect subsoiling has upon the 

 turnip crop as upon the produce of the wheat. 



R. Denison." 



For the New England Farmer. 



MARL. 

 Mr Editor — We were viewing the improve- 

 ments on a farm the last autumn, and the owner 

 directed our attention to a small hollow, less proba- 

 bly than half an acre, which ho described as con- 

 taining peat of a very superior quality. Taking a 

 cursory survey of the surrounding land, and espe- 

 cially of the road which had manifestly contribu- 

 ted to the increase of substances in the hollow, we 

 suggested the expediency of searching below the 

 peat bed for marl. A distinguished literary gen- 

 tleman was standing with us, who expressed the 

 opinion that the search would be in vain there or 

 elsewhere in New Englnnd. We heard the ex- 

 pression of this opinion with great surprise, for we 

 had been applying what we supposed marl to our 



land thirty years, and with evident good effect. 



Professing tiothing beyond practical knowledge, 

 we determined to embrace an early opportunity of 

 consulting toe books in our possession, and ascer- 

 tain, if possible, what name scientific men had giv- 

 en the substances which we had used and called 

 marl. The examination has not been attended 

 with all the success desired. Under many, if not 

 all peat beds, there is an unctuous substance, 



