226 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Sept. 



Plowing. 



This is the most important of the mechanical 

 operations of the farm. The time, the depth and 

 the manner of plowing must depend on the crops 

 to be raised, the fertility and character of the soil 

 and other circumstances. 



Plowing Clay Land. — Whenever practicable 

 these should be plowed in the fall for planting 

 and sowing the ensuing spring. The tenacity 

 of the soil may thus be temporarily broken up 

 by the winter frosts, its particles more thor- 

 oughly separated, and the whole mass reduced to 

 a finer tilth than can possibly be effected in any 

 other manner. There is a still further and im- 

 portant advantage from this practice which en- 

 sues from the attraction existing between the 

 clay and those gases that are furnished from the 

 atmosphere, snow, rains and dews. In conse-t 

 quence of being thus thrown up and coming in 

 contact with them, it seizes upon the ammonia! 

 and carbonic and nitric acids which are in thei 

 air, and holds them for the future use of tlie crops ; 

 while their great affinity for manures efTectually | 

 prevents the waste of such as are in it. | 



The furrows of clay soils should be turned, 

 over so as to lap on the preceding and lie at an t 

 angle of 4.5='; and for this purpose the depth of 

 the furrow slice should be about two thirds its 

 width. Thus a furrow 6 inches deep should be 

 about 9 inches wide, or if 8 inches deep, it should 

 be 12 inches wide. This will allow of the fur- 

 rows lying regularly and evenly, and in the 

 proper position for the drainage of the soil, the 

 free circulation of air, and the most efficient ac- 

 tion of frosts which in this way have access to 

 every side of them. Land thus thrown up is 

 found to be finely pulverized after the frosts leave 

 it, and it is comparatively dry and ready for use 

 some time earlier than such as is not plowed till 

 spring. For sowing, land plowed in this manner 

 requires no additional plowing, but it is better 

 fitted for the reception of seed than it can be by 

 any further operation, unless by a slight harrow- 

 ing if too rough. The different kinds of grain 

 or peas may be dibbled in or sown directly upon 

 the surface and covered by the harrow ; and if 

 sown very early, the grass and clover seeds re- 

 quire no covering, but find their best position in 

 the slight depressions which are every where 

 made by the frost, and which the subsequent 

 rains and winds fill up and cover sufficiently to 

 secure a certain growth. When a field is inten- 

 ded for planting and is thus plowed in the pre- 

 ceding autumn, in some instances, and especially 

 when the soil is full of vegetable manures, as 

 from a rich green sward, a single furrow where 

 the seed is to be dropped, is all that is necessary 

 to be plowed in the spring. 



If the land has been previously cultivated, (not 

 in sward,) and is designed for planting, a stiff 

 clay is sometimes ridged up by turning a double 



furrow, one on each side and so close as partial- 

 ly to lap upon a narrow and unbroken surface, 

 thus leaving the greatest elevations and depres- 

 sions which can conveniently be made with the 

 plow. The frost and air by this means, have a 

 greater surface to act upon than is afforded by 

 thorough plowing, unless it be in a firm sod, 

 which maintains its position without crumbling. 

 The advantage of a dry surface and early work- 

 ing are equally secured by this latter method ; 

 and to prepare for planting, the furrows need 

 only to be split by running a plow through their 

 centre, when they are ready for the reception 

 of the seed. 



Ploioing sandy or dry soils. — These require 

 flat plowing, which may be done when they are 

 either quite wet or dry, but never till wanted for 

 use. By exposure to heat, rains and atmospheri: 

 influences the light soluble manures are exhaled 

 or washed out, aud they receive little compensa- 

 tion for this waste in any corresponding fertility 

 they derive from the atmosphere in return. To 

 insure flat plowing on an old sward, the depth of 

 the furrow should be about one-half its width- 

 and the land or ridges as wide as can convenient- 

 ly be made, so as to preserve as much uniformi- 

 ty of surface over the whole field as possible. 



Depth of Ploxoing. — A.11 cultivated plants are 

 benefitted by a deep permeable soil, through 

 which their roots can penetrate in search of food ; 

 and although depth of soil is not fully equivalent 

 to its superficial extension, it is evident that there 

 must be a great increase of product from this 

 cause. For general tillage crops the depth of 

 soil may be gradually augmented to about 12 

 inches, with decided advantage. Such as are 

 appropriated to gardens and horticultural purposes 

 may be deepened to 1.5 and even 18 inches to 

 the manifest profit of their occupants. But what- 

 ever is the depth of the soil, the plow ought to 

 turn up the entire mass, if within its reach, and 

 what is beyond it should be thoroughly broken 

 up by the subsoil plow, and some of it occasion- 

 ally inco'-porated with that upon the surface. — 

 The subsoil ought not to be brought out of its 

 bed except in small quantifies to be exposed to 

 the atmosphere during the fall, winter and spring, 

 or in a summer fallow; nor even then, but with 

 the application 6f such fertilizers as are neces- 

 sary to put it at once into a productive condition. 

 The depth of the soil can alone determine the 

 depth of plowing; and when that is too shallow, 

 the gradual deepening of it should be sought by 

 the use of proper materials for improvement till 

 the object is fully attained. Two indifferent 

 soils of opposite characters, as of a stiff clay 

 and sliding sand, sometimes occupy the relation 

 of surface and subsoil towards each other; and 

 when intimately mixed and subjected to the me- 

 liorating influence of cultivation, they will fre- 

 quently produce a soil of great value. 



Cross Ploioing is seldom necessary except 



