258 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUNR 



failure of grass seed to catch or grow ■when sown 

 with grain. Now I have never knoM'n a foihiro, 

 when good seed has been sown on good hind, with 

 barley. Two years ago this spring I sowed a field, 

 one half with oats and the other half with Ixirlcy, 

 and stocked the whole with timothy and clover. 

 At harvest, where the oats were gro\vn, there was 

 no grass, while beneath the barley there was a 

 lusuriantgrowth of it. This expei-iment, with my 

 former obson-ation, satisfied me that barky, and 

 not oats, was the grain to grow, when seeding land 

 with grass. 



I have raised repeatedly, fifty bushels, and onc-e 

 more, from an acre of land. e. j. 



Lebanon, N. H., April 18, 1854. 



Remarks. — We cannot tell our correspondent 

 what Mr. Russell meant. Tliat barley is a pro 

 fitable crop to raise, and better than oats to lay 

 down land upon, we have no doubt. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PLOWS AND PLOWING. 



Complete pulverization of th.e soil is the basis 

 of all successful culture. This is brought about 

 mainly by the use of the spade and the ploiv 

 Where personal la})or abounds, and the extent of 

 culture is limited, the spade may be advantageous- 

 ly used. Under its use, the culture may be more 

 thorough than any other. But where the power of 

 the ox or tlie horse is enlisted in aid of that of 

 man, the plow is the implement to which these 

 powers are applied. 



From earliest times, Avhenthe crooked stick was 

 first apjjlied to this purpose, to the present day, 

 the plow in some of its forms has been the imple- 

 ment of first importance, in the labors on the farm. 

 Notwithstanding its long-extended use, it has re- 

 ceived more variations in form and greater im- 

 provements within the last fifty years, than any 

 other implement. And although it now has an ad- 

 inirable fitness for its purpose, it is probably des- 

 tined to still greater improvements. 



Within a very few years, a form of plow has 

 been introduced, embracing such decided advan- 

 tages, as to entitle it to the application of the 

 plow by way of distinction. I speak of the double 

 plow, which cuts two furrow slices at the same time 

 — laying a few inches of the turf over flat, and 

 thus throwing the next substratum directly upon 

 it. On land adapted to this operation, as are all 

 cultivated gi-ounds, that have been properly freed 

 of obstructions, it is apparent that the use of this 

 plow will leave the ground in a state for much 

 easier and more perfect culture, tlian any other. 

 Suppose nine inches to be the depth of plowing 

 thought expedient — lot the first furrow be cut to 

 the depth of three inches — and the second to the 

 depth of six inches, nnd you liavc the perfection of 

 work. By the use of the liarrow or the cultiva- 

 tor, this last furrow slice can readily be broken 

 up, so as to work as easy as old ground — by which 

 we mean ground that has been under cultivation, 

 one or more years. 



J*crliaps it will bo objected, that the vegetable 

 naaterials or the richest part of the soil is buried 

 too deep J)y this operation ; and that the materi- 

 al thrown up with the subsoil will not be found 

 favorable for the growth of plants. Such objec- 



tions will be found more theoretical than practi- 

 cal, when it is known that very few plants are 

 grown the fibres of which do not extend as deep, 

 at least, as nine inches ; and M'hen it is considered 

 also, that this depth is absolutely necessary to 

 protect the plants against the scorching raj-s of 

 our summer sun. Many a plant has withered and 

 died for want of such foothold. There is no vege- 

 table or plant, Avithin our knowledge, that will not 

 grow better through the entire season, under a 

 cultui-e as deep as this, than with a more shallow 

 culture. 



Another consideration connected with this mode 

 of plowing is worthy of particular notice. It 

 places the vegetable matter in a position for de- 

 composition where its benefits will all be pre- 

 served and used by the growing plants, at a time 

 when most needed. The first impulse should be 

 given to the growing plants; by the dressirg of 

 compost applied at the time of planting. About 

 three months after this, when the vegetable fibres 

 in the buried turf begin to decay, the gases dis- 

 engaged by the process will be absorbed and taken 

 up by the growing plants, and are peculiarly well 

 fitted to aid their growth. Whereas, if the turf 

 had been broken to pieces, and much of it left 

 near the surface, as is usually done in the ordina- 

 ry process of plowing and harrowing, very much 

 of the sustenance given to the growing plants 

 would be lost by evaporation. We have seen 

 this distinctly illustrated on a field of onions 

 where the vegetable matter turned under the 

 furrow slice (green oats, for instance) were left 

 undisturbed, and right side by side, the land 

 was cultivated with like crop and like manure, 

 excepting the underlayer of oats ; — and the ei'op 

 over the oats amounted to 700 bushels to the acre, 

 when the o.thor was less than 500 bushels to the 

 acre. 



We have seen it stated that it requires more ef- 

 fort or powfr to operate a plow cutting two fur- 

 row slices, than one cutting a single furrow slice 

 of the same width and thickness as the two. Such 

 was our first impression, when we operated *he 

 double plow. But our impressions have been cor- 

 rected by the actual measurement by the di/na- 

 momctcr of the power used in the operation. 

 When we reflect upon the principles involved, 

 we think it quite clear, that the double plow will 

 go with more steadiness, and less power of draft, 

 than the single plow. If this be so, we cannot 

 imagine a single valid objection to the use of this 

 implement. We have repeatedly recommended 

 its use, and feel confident that we are doing the 

 farmer a good service in still recommending it. 



Cheerfully granting to the gentlemen who first 

 brought into use among us this form of plow, all 

 the credit that can be claimed for so doing, we as 

 heerfully grant to these other gentlemen, who 

 have so far improved upon the form first used, as 

 to olniate all the material difficulties in its first 

 operation — to wit, the want of perfect tun ing and 

 laying of the first furrow slice. Tliis we think an 

 essential element in the operation of the plow. 



While scientific men attempt to press upon la- 

 boring men uniformity in their operations in 

 breaking up tlic soil, it is curious to oI>serve how 

 they themselves differ in the fii'st elements of 

 these operations. Instance, in their mode of 

 spelling the name of the implement : one using 

 four letters as ploic — the other six letters a» 



