No. 11. Pulverization of Soils. — Poetry of Book-Keeping. 



353 



prescnce-angel, standing between them. She 

 was the wife of the one and the sister of the 

 other. She spake not — but she had power. 

 She led her husband home, and in the morn- 

 ing he went with a brother's heart and sought 

 a reconciliation. — The Patriarch. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Pulverization of Soils. 



Mr. Editor, — Every day adds to the con- 

 viction, that the preparation for our crops is 

 most defective, and that not one-half the ne- 

 cessary labour is expended on this first and 

 most important of ail our operations. Let 

 any one but go into an examination of the 

 crops of oats, which are now beginning to 

 show the balks in ploughing and the unequal 

 and ineffectual coverings by the harrow, and 

 ho will not be at all surprised at the very 

 general complaint of the uncertainty of a crop 

 which, in other countries, is at once the safest, 

 and mo?t convenient and profitable that is 

 grown : no wonder that they are generally 

 down before they are ripe, and exhibit an in- 

 equality of growth that would otherwise be 

 unaccountable. It is easily perceived that 

 the almost universal custom is, to sow the 

 land without first harrowing it, under the 

 persuasion that otherwise, it would be impos- 

 sible to cover the seed : this accounts for the 

 many broad patches which are now to be seen 

 without a plant, while the adjoining hollows 

 are literally heaped with starved plants, with- 

 out space for thousands of them to grow, and 

 where they choak each other. But the evil 

 commences with the ploughing of the land, 

 which, being after corn and easily broken up, 

 it is thought a useless labour to turn in small 

 furrows, the very largest being easily broken 

 down by the harrows, which to the eye makes 

 all smooth — it is only to point to the fields, 

 now that the crop has sprung up, to be con- 

 vinced of the absolute robbery of the land and 

 the insanity of the practice. But no hope for 

 the better can be entertained, while it is 

 thought that agriculture will not pay for good 

 management — that it never can, while such 

 dishonesty is practised, is certain; but that it 

 never would, if a belter system were adopted, 

 is a libel on common sense and reason. If on 

 ptiff soils tiie seed-oats were put in with the 

 cultivator, I am convinced they would be 

 found to pay the extra expense ten times 

 over; while on light soils, the practice would 

 be found equally beneficial, burying the seed 

 deeper, and giving it a more compact bed, 

 from which it would spring more regularly 

 and of stronger growth, and when, too, more 

 seed per acre might be allowed, without fear 

 that the crop would fall before ripening. On 

 a more careful pulverization of our soils, more 

 depends than almost any of us can imagine; 



I and I am very much pleased with some re- 

 ' marks which I find in an address delivered 

 I by D. Thomas, of Aurora, before the Agricul- 

 tural Society at Auburn, N. Y., which I copy 

 for insertion in the Cabinet: they are simple, 

 and easy to be understood and practised. 



Your Subscriber. 



May 9, 1842. 



" Jethro Tull, observing the extraordinary 

 effects of high culture, concluded that planta 

 fed wholly on mellow earth, and Duhamel 

 adopted the same opinion — if we were to fol- 

 low tiieir example, making plenty of fine 

 earth, for the plants, not to feed on but to 

 drink from,* our crops might be greatly in- 

 creased. I am satisfied that we are too sav- 

 ing of our harrows: thirty years ago there 

 was a method of ploughing in this country, 

 called 'cut and cover,' the furrow-slice co- 

 vering the space where a furrow ought to 

 have been; and I am apprehensive that our 

 ideas of harrowing were learned in the same 

 school, for when grain is sown, is it not the 

 prevailing opinion that it is harrowed enough 

 when the seed is covered ] I have had land 

 harrowed sixteen times in a place, and was 

 satisfied the labour was well applied. For 

 beets, corn, potatoes, &c., what would be the 

 effect of turning in a heavy coat of manure, 

 harrowing twice, and repeating the operations 

 of ploughing and harrowing four times more, 

 adding each time to the depth of the soilT 

 I have not yet performed the experiment ex- 

 actly, but the nearer I have approached to it, 

 the better has been the crop. Thorough cul- 

 ture would seem to require that the lumps of 

 earth should be so broken that the roots can 

 wander and penetrate in every direction in 

 search after food and moisture, and that every 

 drop, even of a summer shower, should be 

 caught and retained for future use. Hard 

 and thin soils have some resemblance to a 

 dish turned bottom upwards." 



Poetry of Book-Keeping. 



Attentive be, and I'll impart 



What cnnstitutcs the accountant's art. 



Tliis rule is clear; what I receive 



I debtor make to what I give. 



I debit Stock with all my debts, 



And credit it for my effects. 



The poods 1 buy 1 debtor make 



To him from whom those goods I take ; 



Unless in ready cash I pay. 



Then credit what 1 paid away. 



For what I lose or make, 'tis plain, 



I debit Loss and credit Gain. 



The debtor's place is my left hand. 



Creditor on my ripht must stand. 



If to those axioms you 'II attend, 



Rnokkecping you 'il soon comprehend, 



And double entry you will find 



Elucidated to your mind. 



Honduras Oba. 



* This, the subaoil plough ia doing, precisely. — E». 



