VOI^. XXt. so. 49. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



38. 



lilNTS FOR RENOVATING OLD SOILS. 



Heretofore, tlio tarniers of this country have cul- 

 tivated a soil enriched for ajjes l>y the yearly addi- 

 tion of a fresh stratum of nmuld. From the tirst 

 existence of vegetation upon the dry land, decayed 

 plants, leaves, &c. have contiiuially furnished a 

 supply of manure, which tlie winds liavc hhcrally 

 spread abroad. As the supply was annnully great- 

 er than the consumption, the earth, unexhausted by 

 its productions, increased in fertility. The thick 

 layer of vegetable mould which covered the face 

 of the earth, was a storehouse of food for plant-s 

 and this quantity increased by the conversion of 

 wood into ashes, by clearing. It is not wonderful 

 then, that for some years, newly cleared scttlemejits 

 should abound in produce, and require little more 

 labor than that of plowin;T und reaping ; for during 

 this period the provision is wasting which for cen- 

 turies had been accumulating. But the time will 

 come, and indeed has come in many sections, 

 where the soil has been e.vhausted by improper 

 cultivation, and is now too iveak of itself to make 

 plants grow with their former luxuriance. The 

 grand question now presents itself — "howsliall 

 the soil be renovated and brought back to its for- 

 mer richness and fertility .-" Aly answer would 

 be, in addition to manuring, to break the under 

 crust, opening and stirring the subsoil, and partial- 

 ly mixing it w'ith the upper soil, by which means 

 it BO alters and disposes the earth in which plants 

 are rooted, that the radicals shoot more easily and 

 more extensively through it, or in other words, it 

 becoiiies a better filterer for straining and applying 

 nourishment to their inhaling or absorbing vessels. 



It is a well established fact, or axiom in agri- 

 culture, that the deeper the soil is, the more favora- 

 ble will it be for the purposes of cultivation. To 

 produce this desideratum, several plans have been 

 adopted, cither by thorough trenching with the 

 spade, or by the use of the subsoil plow. Air and 

 water are the chief instruments which nature makes 

 use of to enrich the earth. 



It is by close attention to passing events, that 

 any desired object can erer be obtained. As far 

 as experiments have been made, we find the earth 

 liberally affording its produce, in ten-fold quantity, 

 and the land that now supports one hundred inhabi- 

 tants, may be made to give equal enjoyment to a 

 thousand. But in this stage, a well managed farm 

 must be carried on with more labor, expense, and 

 more exact skill. The most profitable system of 

 culture is that which pays the greatest per cent. 

 on the money laid out in cultivation, while the 

 land is greatly increasing in its productive powers, 

 13 a truth which no one will attempt to deny. 



For the last four or five years, 1 have had my 

 attention directed to the great benefits derived 

 from subsoil plowing in Europe, and have felt very 

 anxious to obtain an implement for that purpose, 

 adapted to my soil. For three years I have been 

 making some experiments with merely an apology 

 for a subsoil plow, as it only penetrated about five 

 or six inches below the bottom of the furrow made 

 by the common plow ; the share was thin and flat, 

 and only three inches wide at its broadest part. 

 Still, with this simple, and I might almost say, inef- 

 fectual machine, I could see a very perceptible 

 difference in the appearance of the crop, more es- 

 pecially in a drought. Corn in that part of the 

 field where the soil had been stirred deep with the 

 apology, (for that is the name I gave it,) maintain- 

 ed a dark healthful color, while that adjoining, that 



j had not been stirred with the skeleton or apology, 

 I turned yellow, had a sickly appearance, and iho 

 leaves curled. In fact, the differenco was soap- 

 parent, that it was noticed by those passing by on 

 the road, although at some distance. I tried it in 

 I my carrot and beet field with equal success. I 

 have also used it on stiff loam and on soil inclin- 

 inn to sand, with decided advantage. This I was 

 not prepared for, as I had always supposed such 

 soil would not be benelited by it; but on exanunn. 

 tion, I found the subsoil below the reach of the 

 common plow, very compact and nearly as hard as 

 a beaten track on the surface. 



As for myself, and from my own experience, I 

 entertain not a doubt of the utility of deep plow- 

 ing: not by turning op the under soil, but by fol- 

 lowing in the furrow made by the first plow, with 

 a real subsoil plow, which if properly constructed, 

 pulverizes and stirs the earth from I'i to 14 inches. 

 Indian corn, and all tap-rooted plants, in such a 

 mnss of loosened earth, would not, 1 am confident, 

 suffer much from an ordinary drought. Like a 

 sponge, it would absorb a vast quantity of rain wa- 

 ter, and become a reservoir to supply the wants of 

 the plants. Nothing is more common in a dry sea- 

 son, than the rolling or curling of the leaves of 

 corn, and that circumstance is often mentioned as 

 an evidence of the severity of a drought. 



There is another advantage in subsoiling. If 

 the season is wet, it has the cfiect of partially 

 draining the land, and causes the water to settle 

 and carry with it any vitriolic or other noxious mat- 

 ter. 



I am not aware that subsoil plowing has as yet 

 in this country, received much attention, or been 

 tried to any extent, but from the experiments I 

 have made, and with a very indifferent im|)lement, 

 the results have been such as to warrant the belief 

 that it will prove of very great ndvaiitago on old 

 soils that have been hmg under cultivation. — C'f?!- 

 tnd M Y. Fur. 



to kill Ihe poor harinlcsa frogs. Do such consider 

 it right to kill the innocent calves and lambs to 

 gralil'y tlieir own appetites, or to encourage Iho 

 butcher in his work of dcatruclioii ? — Boat. Cult. 



"A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE." 



Cultivators will find a great advantage in attend- 

 ing to every thing at the propei season. In weed. 

 , iiig, a few days of delay beyond the pmpor time, 

 I will frequently increase the labor one half. When 

 I weeds first start from the ground, they arc very 

 I tender, and a little stirring of the earth will readi- 

 ly (lo.-itroy them ; but if neglected, their roots soon 

 extend in every direction, and it requires much la- 

 bor to di'stroy them, and they often become so 

 rank, and spicad so wide that they not on'y shade 

 the tender plants, and rob them of nutriinent, but 

 render it difficult to distinguish the weeds from the 

 plants, and to eradicate the former without disturb- 

 ing the latter. Therefore every one should be 

 diligent and careful to do everything in the proper 

 season, especially the destroying of weeds, remem- 

 bering that "a stitch in time saves nine." — Ibid. 



ON RAISING DUCKS. 



Young ducks are very tender, and many are lost 

 by their being exposed to water in their early age. 

 If ducks arc only allowed water enough to drink, 

 and that under such arrangements that they can- 

 not get into it, until they pass their tender age, 

 say till six or eight weeks old, much better success 

 would doubtless attend this business. Large num- 

 bers have been raised without water to swim in, 

 nd care was taken to keep them dry, and ihcy 

 have had no diseases, and the losses have been 

 small, scarcely any dying, unless by accident. 



We are aware that some ara opposed to this 

 practice, and will name insiances in which they 

 have allowed young ducks to run in water, and yet 

 they have been remarkably successful, raising all 

 that were hatched. But as some have had much 

 the best success in raising without water, and have 

 made experiments on an extensive scale, raising 

 6 or 700, their opinions are entitled to much re- 

 spect, and more experiments should be made on 

 the dry plan. Will our readers who try it, let us 

 know the result 1 



Ducks should have a liberal share of animal 

 food, of which they arc very fond, and their prin- 

 cipal object in going into water seems to be to ob- 

 tain this kind of food, as they are constantly search- 

 ing for it. Frogs, cut or pounded fine, are very 

 acceptable food, and cost nothing but a little time 

 in catching them. Some will say that it is wicked 



KEEP YOUR CATTLE OUT OF THE HIGH- 

 WAY. 

 The practice of allowing cattle to run at large 

 in tho highway, is one of the greatest nuisances in 

 existence, besides being dangerous to the lives 

 and property of travellers. A sad accident oc- 

 curred from this cause, to a citizen of this town, 

 while he was passing through Lunenburg the other 

 day. It is well known that cows will always cross 

 the road when a carriage approaolies them, and 

 aenerally at or about the time it is to pass then 

 In the present ca.'se — the horse being a powei 

 ful animal, and going at good speed — the drive 

 was unable to shun the cow, and slie came in co! 

 lision with the horse, which frightened him. Th 

 carriage instantly came in contact with ilie cow 

 breaking the shafts, rendering the horse entirely 

 unmanageable. A lady sprang from the carriag( 

 with a child in her arms, and escaped without inju 

 ry. The gentleman soon found it necessary to 

 leap from the carriage, and in doing which he had 

 his leg broken. Thus the lives ol three persona 

 were put in imminent peril by the pernicious prac- 

 tice of allowing cows to run in tho road. The 

 horse and carriage, both valuable, were much dam- 

 aged. In our opinion, the owner of the cow ought 

 in justice, to be severely fined, and be obliged to 

 pay all damages done to persons and properly. — 

 Filchburg Stnt. 



Take Care of your Hens. — A correspondent of 

 the Greenfield Gazette says : — " One of tho sore 

 evils of social life is to live by the side of a neigh- 

 bor, who with a spot of ground scarcely largo 

 enough to raise a dozen cabbages, persists in keep- 

 ing a troop of hens, which with the captain of the 

 gang all billed and spurred for action, are ever 

 ready for marauding cxpeditiims upon the grounds 

 and gardens of their neighbors. From morn till 

 night the work of destruction goes on, and little 

 does the owner seem to care, provided their crop* 

 are filled from the grounds or granaries of others 

 The damage that is occasioned is considerable 

 but this is nothing in comparison to the vexatio 

 that is produced." 



A severe drought prevails in some sections • 

 Georgia — cotton and wheat discouraging. 



