~. .--, -T— . ~ - — , , 



22 



£I)C jTcmner's iftotttljlu bisitor. 



(jy To the unforgetting attention of the Hon- 

 1). P. Ki.ng, member of Congress from Essex 

 county, Massachusetts; is the editor of the Visitor 

 indebted for an early ropy of the always-welcome 

 " Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Soci- 

 ety " for the year 1847. These transactions are 

 annually issued in the shape of a well-printed 

 pamphlet, of uniform type and page, executed in 

 a style of durability which will preserve them 

 for reading a hundred years hence, and showing 

 hy what gradual and slow progress Agriculture 

 began its advances. Mr. King, although educated 

 for the learned professions, has settled down to 

 the conviction that the best and most useful pro- 

 fession of all is that of the farmer : he is so much 

 encouraged with the profits on a single article 

 which brings many thousand dollars to his own 

 town, that he intends to increase his onion crop 

 from between one and two acres in the last year 

 to a dozen acres for the next year. 



From the multitude of interesting topics and 

 practical results of the Essex Transactions of 

 1847, we have taken extracts for the Visitor re- 

 lating to these matters, to wit : Sub-soil Plough- 

 ing — the cultivation of the Onion — and the 

 growth of forest trees — -which we will notice in 

 their order. 



SUB-SOIL PLOUGHING. 



Among the still-active caterers for the benefit 

 of an improving farming interest, we are happy 

 to continue the acquaintance, in the present num- 

 ber of the Essex Transactions, of our old friend, 

 J. VV. Proctor, Esq. of Danvers: this gentleman 

 at first gave a taste for Essex Agriculture, some 

 eight years ago, by sending us the series of an- 

 ual pamphlets as far as they were then publish- 

 ed. He, as chairman of the committee on sub- 

 soil ploughing, this year remarks: — 



We could readily select from English publi- 

 cations what is there said in relation to subsoil 

 ploughing, where it seems to be deemed almost 

 indispensable to improved cultivation ; hut this 

 is not the kind of information sought in our re- 

 ports. We want the actual results on our own 

 soil. We want our practical farmers, so far to 

 try the experiment themselves, as to determine 

 whether or not it will be for their advantage to 

 continue the use of this instrument. This has 

 not yet been done by the farmers of Essex.— 

 Their sub-soil, ■ploughs, like their go-to-meetina- 

 clothes, are kept fur special occasions. They are 

 not yet naturalized. They have not yet secured 

 the entire confidence of their owners. There is 

 a jealousy respecting them. There is an appre- 

 hension, that the material which is started by the 

 deep penetration, is not altogether well adapted to 

 the growth of plants. 



"We have solicited and urged experiments on 

 this subject; but with nieagr; practical results. 

 We scarcely know the individual in the county, 

 who has sub-soiled half a dozen acres in a year. 

 We have many farmers who have hundreds of 

 acres well adapted to this operation, but they are 

 slow to apply it. And even ihose who have done 

 something at it, have not so matured their labors, 

 as to be ready and willing to speak of them." 



Mr. Proctor mentions as "among those who 

 have proved their faith by their works " in this 

 matter, none are more conspicuous than E. Phin- 

 ney, Esq., of Lexington, whose views in relation 

 to it were given in the Transactions of 1841. 

 Mr. Proctor is entitled to our thanks for bringing 

 out Mr. Phinney again upon this subject in the 

 following letter: 



Lowell, Sept. 24, 1847. 



Dear Sir:— The opinions which I expressed 

 to you some years ago on the effect of sub- 

 soiling, 1 have had no reasons to change. Every 

 experiment 1 have made has invariably strength- 

 ened my convictions of the great utility of"ihe 



years since the first introduction of this impor- 

 tant implement in English husbandry, and I now 

 recollect no instance of the expression of a doubt 

 of the advantages to be derived from its use ; so 

 far from this, it is not uncommon at this time, in 

 that country, for landlords to expend six or seven 

 thousand dollars in sub-soiling a single farm ; 

 and tenants are not unwilling to pay an increased 

 rent, equal to the interest on the outlay. In that 

 country not only soils too dry, but those too wet 

 are considered as benefitted by this process. 

 When there is a deficiency of moisture, it gives 

 the roots of the plant the means of penetrating 

 deeper in search of moisture: when there is a 

 redundancy, it is believed to furnish a means of 

 absorbing or drawing off the excess of moisture, j 



1 readily grant that tiie effect produced hy the 

 use of the sub-soil plough on soils of different' 

 textures, may vary. On a stiff clay, and particu- ! 

 larly one that is very moist, the effect is less per- I 

 manent. The tendency of the several parts in a 

 soil of this character to re-unite, is so strong, and 

 the effect of sub-soiling of so short duration, I 

 will allow it may be of doubtful expediency. 



I>ut in our hard Xew England soils, with our 

 hot New England summers, so subject to severe 

 droughts, at a season when our crops, particular- 

 ly what are called our root crops, require the 

 greatest supply of moisture, there cannot be, it 

 would seem to me, a doubt, among farmers of a 

 reflecting mind, as to the great benefits to their 

 crops of the use of the sub-soil plough. It fur- 

 nishes in my opinion an almost sure and certain 

 means of counteracting the injurious effects of 

 our sometimes severe droughts. The reasons 

 would seem too obvious to need recital. The 

 deep trench opened by the sub-soil plough forms 

 a receptacle for the surplus water that foils upon 

 the surface at one season of the year, when it is 

 retained to supply the deficiency at another. The 

 "under crust" which is formed in long cultiva- 

 ted fields, at the depth from the surface at which 

 it has usually been ploughed, has in most soils 

 become as impenetrable by roots or plants, as the 

 highway which has been travelled over, for a like 

 number of years. The increase of crops in con- 

 sequence of sub-soiling has never with me been 

 less than twenty-five per cent. The supply of 

 rains for the present season has been so abun- 

 dant that the difference in the yield upon lands 

 sub-soiled and those not sub-soiled, could not be 

 supposed to be so great on grounds naturally 

 dry, as in some of the past dry seasons: and yet 

 on a dry loo my soil, with a hard gravelly sub- 

 soil, one part of which was suhsoiled and the 

 other not, planted with the chenango potato, 1 

 have recently gathered four bushels from each of 

 the sub-soiled rows, while from the rows not 

 sub-soiled, planted side by side, and cultured and 

 inanuered, in other respects, precisely similar to 

 the sub-soiled rows, 1 have taken but three bush- 

 els. There is a difference of twenty-five per 

 cent, in quantity, and such was the improved 

 quality and appearance of those on the sub- 

 soiled part of the field, that they actually sold in 

 tiie market for twenty-five per cent, more than 

 the others. 



I could adduce numerous instances, in this and 

 other countries, to show the unquestionable re- 

 sult of sub-soiling, but I consider the question 

 too well settled to admit of doubt. I should as 

 soon think of producing evidence that the light 

 of the sun was necessary to bring forward and 

 Hint ure the fruits of the earth. 



With great respect, J am dear sir, 



Your obedient servant. 



E. PHINNEY. 

 To J. W. Proctor, Esq. 



Besides the letter of Mr. Phinney, Mr. Proctor 

 presents the following letter from a new experi- 

 menter, like ourselves, which goes to confirm 

 our experience thus far: 



IVesl .Yewbury. ,\'ov. lG/7i, 1847. 

 Mr Dear Sir: — You inquire for aiy experi- 

 ence in sub-soil ploughing, which is but small, 

 and the little 1 have is without those nice and 

 accurate observations necessary to speak with 

 entire confidence on the subject. Some of the 

 land on Pipe Stave Hill, has a very hard sub- 

 soil, composed of clay, gravel and small stones. 

 1 purchased a plough of Buggies, Nourso it Ma- 

 son I LVri vnai-fl mm .iti.t 1, ..-.:> ncad it ..■■ -.11 inv 



follow the sward plough with the sub-soil, both 

 of which stirs the earth twenty incites, leaving 

 the land much lighter, and much easier worked 

 and cultivated alter tin: ploughing. The labor of 

 ploughing I consider double. One fact is settled 

 with me from my small experience, which is, 

 that I have a full compensation for the extra la- 

 bor of ploughing, in the saving of labor in after 

 cultivation, if planted with corn or potatoes, the 

 land being much lighter for sub-soiling, barrows 

 better, and the planting and of course the hoeing 

 is much easier. I appropriated this season an 

 acre of land for a more careful experiment : sub- 

 soiled one-half, manured and otherwise cultiva- 

 ted alike, 1 was fully satisfied of the fact above 

 stated. The crop of potatoes was a failure from 

 disease, therefore I could not judge of the pro- 

 duce, whether increased by sub soiling, or nor. 

 I shall continue to use my sub-soil plough on 

 this hard pan, notwithstanding the opinion of 

 some, that the earth soon becomes more com- 

 pact from being stirred. I judge it will be lighter 

 for one season at least, and of course give the 

 roots a better chance to extend. On light land 

 1 have tried sub-soiling but do not see much 

 benefit in any way. I use my plough with great 

 saving of labor in my garden, and in laud de- 

 signed for tap roots. • i shall endeavor to make 

 more careful observations in future cultivation 

 and may soon have an opportunity to judge of its 

 effects on the grass crop, as some of my land 

 sub-soiled is now sowed down to grass. 

 Yours, very truly, 



DEAN BOBINSOX. 

 To J. W. Proctor, Esq. 



The early readers of the Visitor will not have 

 lost their recollection of the gentleman who has 

 presented his testimony in favor of sub-soil 

 ploughing. We once, from hasty memory, after 

 rapidly passing over his farm at Lexington, de- 

 scribed bis improvements. That visit was about 

 seven years ago. Col. Phinney, although actively 

 engaged in a laborious office which calls him 

 nearly every day at a distance from his home and 

 his family, is not less enthusiastic and confident 

 in his agricultural experiments titan lie was years 

 gone by. From bis position it has not been pos- 

 sible that, like other gentlemen of easy life, he 

 should overlook his work daily in person: he 

 has not even had the privilige of the common 

 farmer — laboring with his own hands — of con- 

 fining his cares to the business before him at 

 home. Called off after breakfast to ride ten 

 miles and more to his office at East Cambridge, 

 or to courts in the county still farther distant, he 

 has been obliged to plan his work before light in 

 the morning, and go over bis ground with a lan- 

 tern after night fill. In a good old age, his ex- 

 ertion and labor front the additional exercise up- 

 on his farm, give him an activity of limbs and a 

 healthiness of face enjoyed by few public men 

 of his age. 



In company with a friend, we visited Colonel 

 Phinney upon the morning of an open day last 

 fall, when we might chance to meet him at home. 

 His farm, long the residence of the very aged 

 father who had deceased since we had paid the 

 former visit, is principally made up id' that ridge 

 of originally rock-bound knolls, surrounding 

 sometimes peat meadows and low rocky grounds, 

 which is to he found seven and ten miles out of 

 Boston. Patience and perseverance, with the 

 application of what the hard-workers used to call 

 "elbow grease," were indi.~pens.ibh; to prepare 

 such a soil for the reception of the plough. 



The underground labor which Col. Phinney 

 has caused lo be done upon this farm can be re- 

 alized only by those who knew what it was. 

 Since our former visit, the cultivation of a hard- 

 faced hill side had been extended to its top in the 

 addition of about ten acres: and these ten new 



