1869. 



NEW ENGLAiJD FAEMER. 



161 



or left upon the surface to be dried and dissi- 

 jtated by the sun and air, or in unbroken masses 

 in the soil, the wants of the plant are not met. 

 We fahould not be satisfied until the manure 

 is thoroughly mixed with the soil. Then with 

 the soil well pulverized and disintegrated and 

 thoroughly mixed with the manure, we have 

 done what we can to prepare it for the recep- 

 tion of the seed. The season and future cul- 

 tivation must do the rest. 



But in pulterizing the soil and fitting it for 

 the seed, we may avail ourselves of the assis- 

 tance of certain natural forces. When the 

 soil is tolerably dry it crumbles more readily, 

 has less tenacity, and its particles are more 

 easily separated. If the plough is put into a 

 heavy, wet soil it converts it into mortar and 

 presses its particles more compactly together. 



A soil containing much clay should never be 

 •ploughed while it is wet. Lumps and masses 

 are formed that will scarcely be broken up and 

 separated during the entire season. Land is 

 frequently injured by inattention to this cir- 

 cumstance. 



We said that the furrows should be left in a 

 cracked and broken condition by the plough. 

 If this is done in the autumn the water and 

 snow penetrate the whole thickness of the fur- 

 row. Now every one knows that when water 

 freezes it expands. By this expansion of wa- 

 ter in the soil its particles are separated from 

 each other, and the whole mass is loosened and 

 disintegrated. This is one great advantage 

 of ploughing in the fall. The freezing and 

 thawing of the winter and spring greatly assist 

 in pulverizing compact soils, and the farmer 

 who neglects to avail himself of this aid loses 

 an impoitant advantage which nature offers 

 him. 



If the soil is a sandy loam, fill ploughing is 

 not so important. Indeed many good farmers 

 prefer to plough' such soil in the spring and 

 plant as soon as possible after ploughing. 



If green, uncomposted manure is to be ap- 

 plied to an old soil, we prefer to plough it in, 

 late in the fall, especially where the land is 

 level. In this way the manure becomes evenly 

 diffused and mixed with the soil, and it will be 

 light and friable in the spring, and admits of 

 being worked earlier. In a soil that is to be 

 used for garden crops or for roots, we think 

 there is no better mode of preparing it than 

 this. If a little fine compost or some artificial 



manure is applied to the surface and worked 

 in after the spring ploughing, with the har- 

 row or rake, we have a seed bed of the very 

 best description ; and indeed for wheat or hoed 

 crops we know of no better plan. On most 

 soils, we have thus the two essential conditions 

 required, — a well broken and pulverized soil, 

 and plant food evenly mixed and within reach 

 of the young plants. 



But some one will object that this prepara- 

 tion requires too much time and labor. Well, 

 then, apply your labor and manure to a less 

 breadth, to fewer acres, and if the work is 

 done thoroughly, you will obtain a larger crop 

 and leave the land in a better state for suc- 

 ceeding crops than if the same amount of la- 

 bor and manure was given to a larger sur- 

 face, with imperfect cultivation. 



We have said nothing about draining as a 

 means of preparing the soil. This would re- 

 quire a chapter by itself. Where this has been 

 properly done, and the conditions above spo- 

 ken of are observed, we have the foundation 

 laid for that Tiigli culture on which our success 

 in farming in New England must hereafter de- 

 pend. The importance of suitable prepara- 

 tion of the soil is not sufficiently impressed 

 upon the minds of most farmers. It is quite as 

 important as the subsequent cultivation, which 

 seems in general better understood. But upon 

 well prepared soil the after cultivation is mucb 

 easier and more effective. The cultivator and 

 the hoe work more evenly and more rapidly. 



The market gardeners understand this mat- 

 ter. We see them ploughing in manure in the 

 fall, even on light land from which two or three 

 crops have been taken, and which has been 

 constantly cultivated from the early spring. 

 The larger crops produced on a garden soil 

 are not due entirely to the larger quantities of 

 manure applied, but in great measure to the 

 constant use of the plough and spade, and the 

 intimate mixing of the manure with tne soil. 

 We not only plough our kitchen gardens deeply 

 but we follow the plough with the spade and 

 the rake. The results we daily witness, and it 

 is only by such preparation of the soil, that 

 our fields will be converted into gardens. 



— Three fftrmers came with their teams from the 

 interior of Minnesota to the river. One hauled 

 goods for a merchant and got $'40, one had 450 

 pounds of cheese, and got $80, and the other had 

 20 bushels of wheat which he sold for $30. 



