308 



Practice and Theory. 



Vol. V. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Practice and Theory. 



Mr. Editor, — Now how strangely people 

 will differ on the most familiar topics ! It is 

 seldom, indeed, that farmers can be brought 

 to think exactly alike on many things relat- 

 ing to their business ; the theory and practice 

 will vary a little, and conclusions will be 

 drawn from the same premises that will by 

 no means harmonize to an exactitude, al- 

 though to common observers there is no rea- 

 son why there should not be the most per- 

 fect agreement. 



To many, the very opposite accounts which 

 are given — all resulting from experience, too 

 — of the produce and value of peculiar crops, 

 the various implements of husbandry, modes 

 of management, the manner of prepar ng and 

 applying the different kinds of manure, lime, 

 plaster, &c., will appear a hopeless business 

 to reconcile ; and yet, with men wh) calcu- 

 late and examine with a view to set at rest 

 these discrepancies, it often happ(ns, that 

 they are enabled to discover mucl rhyme 

 and reason for these prejudices, whle com- 

 mon folks wonder that the same Gtensible 

 causes do not always produce the same ef- 

 fects. 



At a late meeting of practical men, a 

 strong preference was given to tl3 use of 

 Prouty & Mears' plough, its chie' recom- 

 mendation being that it takes upind lays 

 over the furrow perfectly flat; and liis pecu- 

 liarity was declared to be the perfection of 

 tillage : but I have since met with n excel- 

 lent practical observer, who, after uing this 

 plough for two years, has abandonedit, under 

 the conviction that the injury arisig to his 

 crops from the use of it, has amountd to 100 

 dollars per annum! Now, how s this] 

 Why, just thus: the first-named peions are 

 cultivators of deep, dry, free-workig soils, 

 which, when turned over flat, are till suffi- 

 ciently loose and friable to be opersed upon 

 very effectually by the harrow or dig ; and 

 then tlie advantage of casting evey thing 

 foul and weedy to the bottom of a dep, wide 

 furrow, and covering it with a ccipletely 

 flat furrow slice of fine light mould, he land 

 showing like a well-pulverized fallvv after 

 the crop is sown, is, in their estimatm, very 

 great, insuring almost double crops, aa much 

 smaller cost of management, the weds hav- 

 ing been smothered and completely cstroyed 

 in the operation of ploughing: whilehe per- 

 son opposed to the use of this plough ccupies 

 a stiff, retentive soil, which, if turnecflat, re- 

 sists the operation of the drag, and ecomes 

 an almost impenetrable surface, lyi^ dead, 

 as he terms it, and into which the rois of the 

 crops cannot make way; and thus heccounts 

 for the loss of his acreable produc to the 



amount above estimated. But all this evil he 

 finds remedied by using a plough which lay» 

 its furrow to an angle of 45 degrees ; it lies 

 lighter and drier, affording plenty of mould 

 by dragging down the aris or angular edges 

 of the furrow to cover well the grain; and 

 yet the furrow-slice is not set on edge, as the 

 enemies of this plough contend, but lies suffi- 

 ciently over to lap, so as effectually to pre- 

 vent the herbage from springing up between 

 the interstices; and in wet seasons, immedi- 

 ately after sowing the crop, such lands will 

 remain dry and pulverized ; while those turned 

 completely flat, will in such circumstances 

 become mere hard pan. Now this appears 

 perfectly rational, and carries conviction to 

 the mind of every practical man, and every 

 one can understand it. 



It is just so with the roller; the use of it 

 has been urged in the strongest manner, and 

 it has no doubt been found to be a most valu- 

 able implement on many a light land farm, 

 while the indiscriminate use of it on a clay 

 land farm would, in many cases, be the most 

 improper that could be imagined, — and this 

 is perfectly rational also. Then again, the 

 question as to the propriety of feeding off 

 wheat in the spring by stock ; a plan which 

 has been found at the same time of the great- 

 est service and injury to the future crop, 

 merely because it has been indiscriminately 

 adopted on soils and under circumstances 

 which were dissimilar in their natures and 

 properties. And then, what a difference in 

 soils with respect to their capacity to bear 

 the liberal use of lime ; for while some are 

 benefited by the lavish expenditure of 500 

 bushels per acre, others are rendered sterile 

 for years by the application of 60 or 80 bush- 

 els. And while with some the use of plaster 

 is all-important, by others no good whatever 

 has been experienced by the most careful ap- 

 plication ; the difference no doubt arising from 

 the nature, situation, and circumstances of 

 the soil. And even in the article of barn- 

 yard manure, how often do we hear persons 

 contending for the most proper season and 

 state in which to apply it; some coAsidering, 

 with Sir Humphry Davy, that the best mode 

 of using it is fresh as it falls ; while others 

 prefer to reserve it until it is dried to a. pinch 

 of snuff ! A third party, however, and more 

 rationally, it is believed, consider that until 

 fermentation has taken place, no dung can 

 properly be said to be a manure to the crop ; 

 that having passed, however, and the impure 

 gases having had time to escape, the sooner 

 it is then applied the better. Then comes 

 the question, whether it is best to turn it in 

 by a deep furrow, as has been the practice for 

 years, because " all animal manures have a 

 tendency to rise in the soil, while calcareous 

 manures sink in it ;" or whether it be not the 



