358 



Suhsoiling. 



Vol. VI. 



of the ear is always attended with much risk, 

 and as nitrate produces exactly that effect if 

 applied to jjrain after it has grown to the 

 heiorht of 12 or 15 inches from the ground, it 

 must always be attended, more or less, with 

 danger; and, on the other hand, when ap- 

 plied very early and before the plants had 

 covered the ground, it produced no effect at all. 



With respect to Guano, I am sensible that 

 the result of these experiments forms no test 

 of its value as manure. Being the produce 

 of sea-fowl, accumulated for ages on the 

 rocky islands of the Pacific Ocean, which 

 fowls feed on fish, it must contain a large 

 portion of organic matter of a rich and stimu- 

 lating character, and ought to be applied 

 mixed with ashes, charcoal, or some other 

 substance, so as to be accessible by the roots 

 of plants; but as I could not obtain any at a 

 proper season for using it in that way, I de- 

 termined to try it as a top-dressing in the 

 same way as the others. 



The results of numerous experiments which 

 I have made with nitrate of soda, lead me to 

 the determination to use it as much as possi- 

 ble on grass and green crops, but cautiously 

 on grain crops, and only in such situations as 

 to run no risk, be the weather as it may, of 

 the grain being lodged from too great a 

 growth of straw, I have satisfied myself, 

 that I can obtain the requisite quantity of hay 

 upon two-thirds, or rather less, of the land 

 which I have hitherto assigned to it, by the 

 application of nitrate of soda to the grass, so 

 that I have one-third of the land at liberty to 

 feed sheep. I am also satisfied, that its ap- 

 plication to pasture-land increased the pro- 

 duce, at any rate by one-third ; and to rape 

 or cole-seed, in one instance at least, by one- 

 half: the consequence of which must be, an 

 extra production in equal proportions, of mut- 

 ton and wool, and an additional return of ma- 

 nure from the sheep to the land, which will 

 produce its effects upon the succeeding crops 

 of grain, not by stimulating a rapid growth 

 at any particular stage, but by entering gra- 

 dually and regularly into the whole process, 

 from the germination of the seed onward, to 

 the maturity of the crop. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Subsoiling. 



Mr. Editor, — I owe a tribute to the Cabi- 

 net for the introduction of the subsoil plough 

 into this part of the country : by means of it 

 I have cultivated a field of ten acres for corn 

 in a way that has really delighted me, and I 

 am willing to credit its " promise to pay" at 

 90 days, in perfect confidence that its note 

 will not be dishonoured. My land is strong, 

 and so is my team — I therefore ventured upon 

 the second large size of plough, convinced as 



I am, that we have long been in error with 

 respect to the size of ploughs best suited to 

 the cultivation of the soil, they being too 

 small for general purposes; lifting out in 

 strong or stony soils, and sliding away in 

 those that are light or sandy, against which 

 they form no resistance. I therefore chose a 

 Prouty subsoil plough. No. 2, and put it to 

 the depth of about a foot, after turning seven 

 inches of the top-furrow, when the way in 

 which it operated — lifting the whole width 

 of the bottom of the furrow, which on falling 

 back became broken and pulverized, fit for 

 the reception of the most delicate crops, into 

 which they might send their fibres in search 

 of moisture to the depth of 12 inches in the 

 gravelly subsoil, " forming a perfect drain in 

 wet weather, and a retentive medium in a 

 season of drought," as has often been pointed 

 out — has convinced me that no invention at all 

 comparable to it, at least in theory, has been 

 introduced to the agricultural world within my 

 own memory, which is now pretty extended. 

 But how is it, in the name of common 

 sense and all that is rational, that we hear of 

 a single-horse subsoil plough being construct- 

 ed ! Ah ! there it is — we are never content 

 until we refine away, under the idea of sav- 

 ing expense and labour, all that is valuable 

 and useful in our agricultural improvements; 

 thus have light ploughs been introduced at 

 about four dollars expense, which only scratch 

 the ground ; small cultivators to be used by 

 hand ; drills that may be denominated toys; 

 and subsoil ploughs — whose province it ought 

 to be to open a retentive and strong subsoil 

 to the greatest depth, and which are used in 

 England, where they were first invented, 

 with the force of six or eight oxen or horses, 

 the more expense incurred, the more profita- 

 ble result — for the use of a single horse; and 

 that, of course, a small one, on the principle 

 the less expense incurred, the greater the 

 gain ! Thus, the greatest enemy to suhsoil- 

 ing will be found amongst its friends, as has 

 usually been the case in other things — wit- 

 ness merino sheep, multicaulis trees, and 

 Berkshire hogs — to which I fear may soon be 

 added other cidevant favourites, that have 

 been refined to sublimation. And yet, all 

 these, when united, are but of little import- 

 ance, when compared to the injury that will 

 be sure to follow the use of the single-horse 

 subsoil plough, which is destined to bring the 

 practice of subsoiling, the greatest improve- 

 ment of the age, into contempt; for we shall 

 soon hear that some one has tried it and has 

 found no benefit whatever from its use ; the 

 worst part of it being, the impossibility of as- 

 certaining the depth to which it had been 

 carried, possibly not more than a couple of 

 inches, at which depth the plough will be 

 found to break up a portion only of the width 



