•294 



N E A\' ENGLAND FARMER 



MARCH IR, IN' 



A.NI> IIORTICULTURAI/ KF.OISTER. 

 BOSTOK, Wr.DKESDAT, MarcH Hi, 1842. 



SUBSOIL PLOWING. 



But liilli! i« yel known in llils cnunlry of the etTeci of 

 •lirring lln; sulisoil of llie fi^lds wecullivale. Our read- 

 en well know lliat in England the practice had been 

 very druidi-dly advantageous. But there, undcrdrain- 

 inir guntriilly precedes the subsoil plowing. They '. 

 have in old j^iiglnnd a heavier ei>\\ than mist of our», 

 and their skies are more watery than those wliirh bend 

 oyer New Engl.ind. Consequently onr practices must 

 be in m-my respects difTerenl from those of the F.nglish 

 farmers. While we. have U)niiy spots that require under 

 draining, ii is doubtless true that il would be far from 

 economical to under-drain the mass of the fields of this 

 country. They are, in iheir natural Btate, so diy as not 

 to suffBr from encessive nioi.sture, while the relative 

 price of l.di'.r and hind liere, the former liigh and the 

 latter l"i>, compared with English rates, is a sulTicieiit 

 reason whv wc may not infer that a mode of operation 

 which p.nvs viA\ there, would involve us in loss. 



The objection against general under-draining, does 

 not lie with equal force against subsoil pli>wiug. The 

 latter is coniparatively •\ cheap operation, not costing 

 more than (rorn Tiur to six dollars per acre. In the vi- 

 cinity of Boston, the question may be a very simple one, 

 and seltled by a cheap oxperiment. Will an acre ot 

 land, well siihsoiled and dressed with six cords of good 

 manure, produce as much in the course of crops from 

 one breaking np to another, as the same acre would 

 yield if not subsoilcd, but dressed with seven cords of 

 manure ? Thii qucslion is not settled here, and it can- 

 not be until years have elapa-;d. We cannot give facta 

 as yet which will serve as a ^satisfactory basis of an ar- 

 gument in favor c»f subsoil phuving generally. But we 

 saw several different crops hist season, upon ground 

 that had the suhsoil plow run through it in the spring, 

 and as well as we could judge by tlie eye, the crops oifr 

 this land were i i;;ht or ten por cent, larger here than on 

 the contiguous land treated otherwise the same. But 

 independently of these imperfect experiments, an argu^ 

 ment, and as we judge, a strong one, may be given in 

 favor of stirring the earth below where our plows usually 

 run. 



Whoever has noticed heaps of earth that have bee>ir 

 thrown up wht^e wells have been dug, or ' where 

 ditches and trenches have beef) cut, knovfs that lh« 

 oarlh which lias been thus moveil, is far less barren 

 than similar earth l)ing in its original stale. Simply 

 throwing over soils, increases their fertility. Subsoil 

 plowing, loosening up the pan, will bring new particles 

 in contact, will facilitate the circulation of air, and 

 cause snme chemical action. Where such activn takes 

 place, the phints generally find nourishment. 



But the most obvious fact connected with this pro- 

 cesss, and the oii« which common farmers will most re- 

 gard, irt yet t(f be stated. Every plowman knows, that 

 in all olil 111 Ids which liavc been plowed many limes, 

 and at a nearly uniform depth, a hard pan or crust is 

 formed by the rubbing of the bottom ol'the plow and f>y 

 the trending uf the cattle in the furrow. This pan ope- 

 rates to keep t'lo surface waters from descending freely 

 in times of copious laiiis, and italso brinks up that com- 

 municaliun between the upper soil and the subiioil 

 which favors the drawing up of water from below, 

 sponge wise, in times of drought. Il blows hot and cold 

 with the saniu breath : In other words, if you break up 

 that crust at the bottom uf the furrow, your land will b« 



less wet when the great rains come, and will be more 

 moist during the dry periods of summer. The princi- 

 pie is precisely the same as that which lets the water 

 run through the sponge if you put upon it more than il 

 can bold by its attraction, and which at the same time 

 lets the sponge, if not very wel, tike up water to all its 

 parts, if you hold one cmd of it in water. 



This view of the matter is given In the hope that 

 many will be induced the present seantm to test the 

 value of this operation. Subsoil plows of dilTerent pal- 

 terns, may be had at the principal ngriiultural ware- 

 houses in Boston. Mr Howard has two patterns for 

 sale at Messrs. J. Breck & Co.s Waichouse, either of 

 which will do its work well, and to any depth you 

 choose, not exceeding l«n inches below the bottom of 

 thii common lijrrow. But these can lie worked only by 

 n strong ten.n ; four or six large oxen are needed. 



We have ft plan for s irring the subsoil a little by the 

 iise of a less expensive implement. The land on which 

 we propose to use it, is free ftorn stones, and is rather 

 loose than tenacious. We have looked at the cultiva- 

 tor tooth, and find it six inches long or more. We pro- 

 pose to take a stick of liaid wood limber four or five 

 feet Ion", and insert a cultivator loolh near one and, 

 and the wheel ofa plow iiPar the other. To this timber 

 wo will fix a handle or hnndles, and make this answer 

 our purpose on some of our lands, 'i'he work will be 

 but imperfectly done — but as we can do this with the 

 team that is needed to plow the surface, we shall adopt 

 it out of mercy to our oxen and our purse. We mention 

 the pUn, thinking that possibly some one on some rainy 

 day may fix for himself a simple tool of the kind. We 

 are induced to hope some good will result from this 

 scratching in the bottom of the furrow, partly by a state- 

 ment made to us by Mr Cement, of Albany. After he 

 had furrowed or marked out his corn ground last spring, 

 ho drew some simple hook or iron prong along in the 

 bottom of each furrow. His corn continued green 

 through the drought, while that in his neighbors' fields 

 rolled and almost perished The difference in the ap- 

 pearance of this field and orliers in the vicinitv, was so 

 •great as to induce travellers to stop and inquire the 

 (Saiise. Mr B. could assign no other cause than that 

 ^slight and imperfect eubsoiling to which he resorted. 

 ,Tlvs course niight be imitated at a very trifling cost. 



3 



Dr. Uana is chemist lo the Calico Works belong 

 the Merrimack Corporation in Lowell. It is well k 

 that cow dung h:ig been extensively used in calici 

 tablishments to fix the colors. In attempting to 

 what it was that gave this properly to cow dung, 

 Dana was led loan extensive analysis ■ifinanure'^ Ti 

 bearing which his results have upon agriculture 

 forth in this book. Many uf his positions arc o|i{ 

 lo the doctrines of the times. We suppose they 

 Tneet doubt and "repudiation." But what we 

 say to our intelligent fitrmers is, read and refli 

 yourselves. The whole matter is here laid befoi 

 in a nut-^>hel!. Bring it to ihn test of «ne of thow] 

 pic experiments herein detailed, which every man 

 has a patch of ground can easily make for himi 

 Perhaps your njperience will be like that uf some 

 tical farmers whose letters are given in the Apj 

 Should it be so, it would be ditliculi to estimate thi 

 to our agricultural interest whicli this little book 

 lined tu contribute. A Cokstant Readi 



We have not yet Jiad the pleasure of seeiog the 

 which a friend describes in the preceding commi 

 lion. But the subject is highly impoitant, and 

 ihur's well known skill leads us to ex|>ect to &ad 

 book much valuable information. — Bx>. 



rom tern I" 

 water i y 



i„.i;,-» . . I 



[Communicated.] 



A Muck Manual for Farmf.rs. Byt*AMUEi.L Daha. 

 Lowell : Daniel Bixby, ltf42. Duodecimo, pp. 242. 



This is said to be ," the pith of eight lectures on the 

 Chemistry of Soil and Manure," delivered at the re- 

 quest uf some citizens in Lowell, to whom the work is 

 inscribed. It has for 'its motto the following sentence 

 from Lord Bucon — "It is usual" to help the ground with 

 muck, and likewise to reconip<iat with muck, put to the 

 roots; but to water il willi muck-water, which is like to 

 be more Ion ible, is not practised " That text contains 

 a glimpse of the philosophy of the book before us, and 

 W4 have a Icacneil and a highly practical sermon. In- 

 deed, this is in truth a book for farmers. Its title — the 

 manner in which it is printed, (by sections, each of a 

 few lines, lor sake of eimy reference) — its perfectly lu- 

 lelllgible style — the happy and perspicuous application 

 of great principles of chemiatry lo the commonesl pro- 

 cesses of agriculture— the work, also, of Q aagacinus, 

 clear-headed, prai-.tnol chemist, of long experience, and 

 independent habits of thought,— these considerations 

 recummend it as a book for farmers — for nil liirmois. 

 A " Manual" it is called — and we believe that farmers 

 who study their own interests, will have it in their 

 hands, and will fix its great principles in their minds. 



CATTLE— ATTENTION TO THEM NOT 



lAct. — See thai all lice upon your oxen and cowt I ' 

 destroyed forthwith. Recently we quoted from 

 other paper a statement which averred that 

 which polaloes hare been bolted, will kill cattle 

 this be true, it is a cheap and safe remedy. Tin 

 of whale oil soap are found destructive to Ihei-f 

 There are many other remedies, some of wluciii 

 known to every farmer. We are noi anxious tol 

 scribe any particular remedy — but our purpose is toj 

 join it upon every owner of lousy stock, to app 

 ihcir backs something, that will destroy the lice : 

 urge it rs a matter of compassion and of profit. Doj 

 the speechless brutes frotn the ilchings and i 

 which the lice cause, from mercy to the beasts 

 selves — do it also because the lousy brutes will khl 

 thrive as well as others. 



The Cards. — Let the card be oflen and failiifullyj 

 plied at this season of the year, not to the ox "B\ji 

 to ihe cow also ; and if it find iis w.iy to the hug's 

 it will do him no harm. 



Care in Fee/ling. — Feed your stock carefully { 

 well — keeping Ihom from falling away at the comin 

 of warm weather, wlien the appetite often decrai 

 and the animals lose Hcsh unless well tended. 



Coirs about to Calve. — Cows that are soon to 

 should bo well fed upon good, but dry food. Much 

 fiammntion in the udder is often caused by feeding upoi 

 roots, meal, or the like before the calfhas been dr opp^i 



There is no advantage in distending ili' i 



feeding. The painful distension prixli. 

 habit, and oflen does permanent injury i a iJ 



amilker. Afler the calf Is ready lo draw ibe milk mi 

 take off the hardness of the udder, food may Im- gini 

 freely of such kind as will cause a copious Bow of mS- 



There is one great principle which with the farfli 

 should have due weight allowed it, and that is, loukitl 

 for happiness at home ; and perhaps there is no Olt 

 thing, olif o/ the house, more condueivn to this, tlitS* 

 well arianged and well cultivati d g.irdin. The InrMI 

 should remember that every tree, sliiuband flmverbs 

 cullivalos, cuustilutes a new lihk of attachment to \M 

 biin to his home, and render that homo more delijjhlAI 

 —Jib. Cult. 



I 



