534 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



FALL PLOUGHING. 



MONG farmers there 



IS much diversity 



of opinion and 



practice as to 



fall ploughing. 



Some object to 



the practice, but 



^ on the whole 



we think it is becoming 



more general. There are 



several reasons why we 



i would leoommend it, two 



or three of which we will 



mention 



1 The team is in better 

 condition in the autumn. 

 It comes from the pas- 

 tures or stalls fresh and 

 strong in the clear, cool 

 and invigorating weather, 

 instead of the weakness 

 and lassitude which seems to aifect animals as 

 well as men in the spring. 



2. The weather is cooler, and both man and 

 beast will be able to perform more labor than 

 in the warm and showery weather of April and 

 May. 



3. In the spring it seems necessary to 

 plough, whether the soil is in suitable condition 

 or not. Seed time is rapidly passing, and the 

 routine of work must go on. If one crop is 

 delayed, it is likely to delay another, and con- 

 fusion and loss is the result. In the autumn 

 no such circumstances exist. It is optional 

 with the farmer when and where to plough, 

 and he can perform the labor leisurely and do 

 it well, and not feel anxious about it. If other 

 work is suggested, the plowing may be left 

 without detriment for a day or two, and the 

 other work performed, and all things go on 

 smoothly and well. All this is the reverse of 

 our circumstances in the spring. 



4. Where it is intended to lay land to grass 

 in the spring, the work may be greatly facili- 

 tated in the fall by removing the stones, if any 

 are upon it, ploughing, harrowing, and level- 

 ing; by filling the dead furrows, mending 

 places that were missed in ploughing, and get- 

 ting the whole field into a condition fit to re- 

 ceive the best mowing machine among us, when 

 a grass crop is produced. If not washed by 

 rains, the land will be ready for the seed in 



the spring, and only require a single harrow- 

 ing and brushing to complete it. Under such 

 circumstances, oats, and other crops that re- 

 quire early seeding, may be got in with half 

 the labor required if these preparations have 

 not been made. 



The above operations all refer to the me- 

 chanical preparation of the soil for a crop. 

 There are other considerations, and among 

 them, that fall ploughing greatly 



Aasists the Pulverization of the Soil. 



The mechanical division of the parts of soil 

 is known by all farmers to be a great improve- 

 ment to it, but few, however, who admit this, 

 go far enough in this particular. No one be- 

 lieves that a heavy clay soil will produce good 

 crops unless it is thoroughly divided by some 

 mechanical means, though it be well manured. 

 Even a sandy soil may become too compact 

 for the admission of air, rain and heat, if long 

 left untouched, so that there will be no free 

 growth of roots which are started in them. 



The first object, then, in the preparation of 

 the soil, — after drainage, where it is needed — 

 is to get a deep one. The roots of many 

 plants go deeply into the earth, and often re- 

 quire all the moisture it contains. If the soil 

 be thin, water, in wet weather, will be likely 

 to lie on the subsoil, and thus injure the plants ; 

 and in dry weather it may be too suddenly 

 evaporated. When the soil is deep, in wet 

 weather the rain escapes downwards, and the 

 plants sustain no injury ; and in dry weather, 

 if the moisture is exhausted at the top, new 

 moisture arises from the bottom and makes 

 up for the deficiency. 



The next important point is to make this 

 deep soil a -fine one ; that is, its particles so 

 separated or comminuted that rain water will 

 not flow through it as it would through a col- 

 lection of pebbles or coarse sand, but be ar- 

 rested by it at once, and retained there for ac- 

 tion on the minerals and other sources of nu- 

 trition which are in the earth. In this deep 

 and fine soil another point is gained of the 

 utmost consequence to the prosperity of the 

 plant, — the roots can have a wide and unob- 

 structed range in search of the food which 

 they need. 



The food of the plants — that is, what they 

 receive from the soil, — is taken up by the 

 fibres of the roots, and the quantity taken up 

 does not depend alone upon the quantity in the 



