74 



Deep Ploughing. — Worms in the blood of a dog. Vol. VIII. 



the soil, from increased crops in future years. 

 I pity, most heartily, the certain ultimate con- 

 dition of the farmer who ploughs and culti- 

 vates his soil with an exclusive view to the 

 immediate crop. Deep ploughing', liming, 

 and admixture of soils, have quite a differ- 

 ent object in view — the improvement of the 

 soil for future and more permanent benefits, 

 viz.: the enhancement of its value and of 

 the interest to be derived from it hereafter. 

 Is there any other profession than that of the 

 farmer, in which great pains are not taken 

 to prepare the machinery, buildings, or mate- 

 rials out of which money is expected to be 

 made? Why then should not the farmer, 

 before he commences trying to m.ake money 

 out of his land, prepare that land and render 

 it suitable to the object in viewl If it be a 

 " light, shallow, sandy soil," the first thing 

 to be done, is to render it sufficiently stiff 

 and deep. This can only be done by the 

 admixture of clay and lime, and by deep 

 ploughing. Where there is a clay subsoil, 

 deep ploughing, alone renders the light, 

 sandy, shallow soil, both stiff and deep. In- 

 deed, I cannot conceive of a soil so naturally 

 sterile, that it cannot be made productive by 

 this means. The reader must keep in mind, 

 that I do not suppose the first, or even the 

 second season of deep ploughing, will be 

 productive of a good crop — a very scanty 

 crop will probably result from the first, se- 

 cond, and perhaps even the third deep 

 ploughing ; but, sooner or later, a deep sub- 

 stantial soil will inevitably be the result of 

 deep ploughing, — accompanied, of course, by 

 other proper management, — whatever the 

 soil may originally have been. Why have 

 we any but light, shallow soils 1 Is it not 

 because those that are deep and productive, 

 have been made so by deposits upon their 

 surfaces, by ihe accumulation of nutritious 

 matter from other than their own internal 

 natural resources ? And if the soil we hap- 

 pen to have in possession, shall not have 

 made this accumulation of productive quali- 

 ties, we must supply the deficiency by art. 

 The great amount of labour involved in 

 carrying out the principle I advocate, is no 

 argument against the principle itself. I ad- 

 mit that several years of hard labour would 

 be required in making a deep and produc- 

 tive soil of many of the light, shallow soils 

 of Maryland; but I contend, that when made, 

 they will be worth more than enough to pay 

 for all this labour. 



In my former paper, which you have done 

 me the honour to re-publish, with the note 

 of " Beginner," I expressed the opinion that 

 this deep ploughing was the main security 

 for good crops at all times. Of course I in- 

 tended to be understood as referring to cases 



where deep ploughing had been practised 

 sufficiently long to make a deep soil. I did 

 not mean to say, that one who had heretofore 

 practised shallow ploughing, would certainly 

 make a good crop the first season he tried 

 deep ploughing. He will, of course, turn 

 up much inert earth, which will so dilute 

 the nutritive matter of the soil, as pi-obably 

 to render his first, and possibly his second 

 crop, less productive than his shallow plough- 

 ing had previously done; but if he perseveres 

 he will ultimately. succeed to his full satis- 

 faction. I have no doubt, that even the first 

 crop, after deep ploughing, will be benefited 

 in one respect, and that not a trifling one, 

 to wit : in a case of drought. I have seen 

 this effect so marked, that it was the main 

 cause of my attention being called to the 

 subject. Where deep ploughing has been 

 well performed, the soil well limed, I do not 

 believe any drought to which our climate is 

 liable, can do much harm to the crop. 



One of the main obstacles to the adoption 

 of the system of deep ploughing, liming, &c., 

 in our husbandry, is the universal passion for 

 quick returns. It is a hard matter to induce 

 any one to invest either labour or capital, in 

 any thing that is not expected to return a 

 profit in a short time — a i'evf months at fur- 

 thest. As no one expects much benefit from 

 lime or deep ploughing under two or three 

 years, the investment of money in such an 

 object is not made. This is really a short- 

 sighted policy. If we live, we shall want 

 good crops and the proceeds thereof, fully 

 as much, and possibly more five years hence, 

 than now ; and if we do not live to enjoy 

 the benefit of the investment, our property 

 will be enhanced in value to our successors. 

 Yours, Gideon B. Smith. 



Baltimore, Sept. 20th, 1843. 



Worms in the Mood of a Dog^. 



Physiologists and anatomists have long 

 since detected the presence of certain en- 

 toza in the nutritive fluid of cold-blooded 

 animals, as, for instance, frogs and fish. In 

 the mammiferee, worms have sometimes been 

 found in the blood; but these worms had pro- 

 bably only come there after having perforated 

 the organs in which they had developed 

 themselves. It is of very great importance 

 to physiology, pathology, and natural history, 

 to demonstrate, not merely the existence of 

 entozoary worms in the blood, but moreover 

 to prove their constant circulation in that 

 fluid, in animals which come near to man. 

 Now, since science is not as yet in posses- 

 sion of any example demonstrating conclu- 

 sively the circulation of worms in the blood 



