240 FARMERS' REGISTER— DEEP PLOUGHING, OYSTER SHELL LIME &c. 



have seen few instances, where uUimate success 

 has nut attenJeJ deep ploughin;^, in a judicious 

 course of niana^ement, except on arid sands. I 

 have turned up suh-soiis, of dilferent hues, mixed 

 Avilh sulistances, vuryinj^^ from tenacious chiy, to 

 loose gravel, or sparkling sand, and have found, 

 that those who condemned my " burying fertile 

 XTiouhl beneath sterile clay," confess, that at the 

 end of five years, I obtain great crops, by means 

 of deep and fine tilth, from a chestnut ridgo, and 

 gravel bottom, original!)' covered with ban an oak 

 and cedar irees. borne of my friends, who are in 

 the habit of hauling manure to the distance of 

 twelve miles, may imagine, that my proximity to 

 the town, affords a remedy for all the defects of 

 soil. Within twelve years, I have expended but 

 six hundred dollars in the purchase of manure, al- 

 Ihougli during part of the lime, large quantities of 

 hay were iold Irom my farm. Wnere the mould 

 was five inches deep, I ploughed ten in the au- 

 tumn — apj)lied caustic oyster shell lime, in quan- 

 tities, equal to eigiity or an hundred bushels per 

 acre, iln the spring, I ploughed six, reversed the 

 sub-soil, and took a v.hite crop. In tiie next au- 

 tumn, I ploughed nearly eight for a winter crop — 

 in the succeeding year, the original depth of ten 

 inches was reached by tlie plough. In some in- 

 stances, for root crops, has been gradually in- 

 creased. This day with Wood's Plougli, Js'o. 2, 

 drawn by four oxen, my land has been plouglied 

 for mangel-wurtzel more than fourteen inches 

 deep. The " caput mortuum" or sub-sod, alter 

 having in the first instance been corrected by the 

 causticity of lime, and the expansion of fiosl — im- 

 proved by the atmosphere, and the calcareous 

 matter which remained, was turned below the 

 depth of an ordinary furrow. The first crop was 

 certainly better than tliat which had preceded it, 

 as the advantages derived from the lime, the larger 

 supply of moisture, secured by the greater capa- 

 city of the loose soil for its deposite, and the in- 

 creased depth of tilth, more than compensated lor 

 the injury, that might be apprehended, from the 

 admixture of small portions of " sour soil." The 

 next crop was nearly as good — the succeeding 

 crops have gradually increased in quantity, weight 

 and value. The ingenious inventor of the sub 

 stratum plough, has adiled much to our means of 

 improvement, in this, as he has done by the ap- 

 plication of his skill to the production of various 

 implements, valuable by their simplicity and 

 cheapness — but whilst I acknowledge the benefit 

 he has conferred, by placing a substitute for deep 

 ploughing within the reach of those, who cannot 

 be tempted to reverse the sub-soil, I cannot avoid 

 thinking, that if the sub-soil in all cases be delete- 

 rious to vegetation when brpught to the surface — 

 when meliorated by the chemical act. on of lime — 

 by the expansion of frost — by exposure to the influ- 

 ences of heat and light — by the operation of various 

 agents and manures, employed for the mechanical 

 sejjaration of its particles, or the supply of its de- 

 ficiences, it must, in most cases, be injurious to the 

 tender radicles, which have been led to a " caput 

 mortuum ;" whither they never could have been 

 seduced, but by the attractions of water, to vege- 

 tate, for a time — soon after to die, and disease or 

 debilitate the plant. 



I hav e never had apprehension of the loss of ani- 

 mal manure by sinking, as its component parts 

 are generally so insoluble in water, as to cause 



them to be left by filtration sufficiently near to 

 tiie surface for all our purposes : but I have had 

 many motives to guard against its escape by eva- 

 poration, and tiierefbre invariably deposite it deep- 

 ly, and generally in its freshest slate, beneath the 

 surface of the land. My experience during near- 

 ly twenty years has taught me that in (his climatey 

 ivhere the exhalations of the sun during one season, 

 the influence of wind— the effects of melting snow, 

 and torrents of rain, during another, upon a sur- 

 face made impervious I)y frost almost to the edge 

 of an axe, top dressing, except when principally 

 composed of calcareous matter, sliould seldom be 

 apj)lietl. Old pastures remarkable for the excel- 

 lence of their herbage, or grass lands within the 

 reach of large towns, may be profitably enriched 

 by the application of animal manure to the surface 

 in the spring, when the soil is open, and the grass 

 by pushing forth its leaves, soon aftbrds some pro- 

 tection, from the sun, whilst they imbibe to a cer- 

 tain extent, the fertilizing principle, passing off in 

 a gaseous form. 



The expedients which the dearness of land, and 

 the cheapness of labor, have coerced certain Euro- 

 peans to adopt, cannot for ages become profitable, 

 where the farmer tills generally his own soil; and 

 the lal oier is paid, and protected, as being worthy 

 of regard, and the wages of his toil. Compost 

 heaps, in certain situations, may be advantageous- 

 ly formed. In very few would they repay the 

 cost of chopping, turning, and scientific commix- 

 ing, without noticing the loss, in this climate, at 

 each operation, of animal matter, by the escape of 

 its volatile parts — not the least essential of which 

 it is forme;). I am satisfied, that all animal ma- 

 nures should, if practicable, be applied in their 

 freshest state — that where this cannot be done, 

 they should be covered with earth, and exposed in 

 the fold yard, to the treading of beasts, in order 

 that the mass may be made compact — the air be 

 excluded — and consequently, decomposition re- 

 tarded, until its influence shall be directly applied, 

 to stimulate plants, and enrich the soil. 



The curious sheds, ingenious stercoraries, and 

 mellow compost " pies," of which prints are given, 

 and on which long essays have been written, I 

 have been convinced, are adapted neither to the 

 climate of Pennsy 1 vania, nor to our purses nor plans. 



I should be unwdling to shake off some of the 

 ])rejudices, which we have imbibed, with our 

 mother tongue : but although I do not object to 

 cut a heavy cloth coat in an August day, after 

 a foreign winter fashion, I am not prepared to re- 

 main a colonist in thinking, that we cannot man- 

 age our farms, without European precedent or rule. 



If any man were to cultivate a large farm in 

 this state, after the most approved scientific mode, 

 which the agricultural doctors would have us 

 adopt, he might expect to have an empty barn, 

 and ere long a light pocket. 



Science is essential to the agricrfltural art — che- 

 mistry aids it at every turn, — cooking is a chemi- 

 cal process; yet I should be unwilling to be fed, 

 with soup from the laboratory of the great Davy 

 himself, unless he had been practised in seasoning 

 his broth — even if with the aid of the whole col- 

 lege of physicians, it were scientifically com- 

 pounded, as Smollett's feast of the ancients and 

 served in classic vases of gold. I am, very obe- 

 diently , yours, &c. JOHN HARE POWELL. 



To the' President of the Pcnn. ^gri. So. 



