1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



227 



to break up tough sward or tenacious soils; and 

 the former is more effectually subdued by one 

 thorough plowing in which the sod is so placed 

 that decomposition will rapidly ensue ; and the 

 latter is more certainly pulverized by incorpora- 

 ting with it such vegetables, and long or unfer- 

 niented manures and the like, as will take the 

 place of the decaying sod. The presence of 

 these in the soil, lessens the labor of cultivation 

 and greatly increases the products. 



Suhsoil Plowing. — This is a practice of com- 

 paratively recent introduction, and it has been 

 attended with signal benefit from the increase 

 and certainty of the crop. It is performed by 

 subsoil plows made exclusively for this purpose. 

 The objects to be accomplished are to loosen the 

 hard earth below the reach of the ordinary plow 

 and permit the ready escape of the water which 

 falls upon the surface; the circulation of air; 

 and a more extended range for the roots of the 

 plants, by which they procure additional nourish- 

 ment, and secure the crop against drought by 

 penetrating into the regions of perpetual moisture. 

 When all the circumstances are favorable to the 

 use of the subsoil plow, an increase in the crop 

 of 20, 30, and sometimes even 50 per cent, has 

 been attributed to its operations. Its maximum 

 influence on stiff soils is reached, only where 

 underdraining has been thoroughly carried out. 

 Its benefits have been more than doubted when 

 used in an impervious clay subsoil, where it 

 makes further room for storing up stagnant water; 

 and it is evident they can only aggravate the 

 faults of such subsoils as are naturally too loose 

 and leachy. — American Agriculture. 



Draining of Marshes and Wet Arable Lands. 



By being drained, marshes which are now un- 

 sightly sources of disease, and as unproductive 

 as unhealthy, may be converted into beautiful 

 meadows, at once the fountains of wealth and the 

 guaranties of health. All who have such lands 

 upon their estates, should, at once, set about to 

 transform them into arable soils — the improve- 

 ment may cost time, labor and money, but it will 

 pay 20 per cent, upon the outlay in products, 

 besides adding largely to the intrinsic value of 

 such estates. 



The facts here presented for consideration, are 

 worthy of mature reflection. Mr. F. Pym, of 

 England, a farmer of great practical experience, 

 used the following emphatic language with re- 

 spect to the value of draining lands : — " Without 

 that necessary operation— draining — the profita- 

 ble occupation of heavy land cannot be car 

 ried on." 



F. Falkland, Esq., also of England, the author 

 of several agricultural works of merit, thus sums 

 up his views upon the importance of draining : 



"In conclusion it should be observed, that 

 every attention which can be paid to the prepar- 



tion and application of manures will be ineffec- 

 tual in rendering soils fertile unless due regard 

 be given to the removal of excess of moisture 

 by draining, when needful. When a soil is 

 saturated with water, air is excluded from the 

 roots of the plants, and prevented from acting 

 upon the manure ; while the low temperature 

 produced, by continued evaporation from the sur- 

 face, has an additional powerful effect in retar- 

 ding the progress of vegetation. 



" To lay manure upon wet soils, is, in truth, 

 to throw money away ; but were draining uni- 

 versally effected, the whole of the now unpro- 

 ductive soil of the country would, to a vast extent, 

 be rendered capable of receiving the benefit of 

 the numerous modes of fertilizing it. Its returns 

 are immediate, as well as compensative; and to 

 hesitate to drain the land, is to hesitate to confer 

 a benefit upon one's self, of which a strong proof 

 has been lately brought forward in a statement 

 of the profit resulting from the drainage of 467 

 acres, and the employment of the drain water 

 over 89 acres of land, on the estate of Lord 

 Hatherton, in StrafFordshire — affording a clear 

 annual interest on the outlay of full thirty-seven 

 per cent." 



Remarkable Cows. 



The most remarkable cow of which we have 

 any account, for the production of butter, is the 

 "Uramp cow," so called, owned by a man of the 

 name of Cramp, in Lewes, England; she was 

 of the Sussex breed, and was calved in 1799. — 

 For five years, from 1805 to 1810, the butter 

 produced from her milk, was from 450 to 675 

 pounds per year; the latter quantity was affor- 

 ded in fifty-one weeks and four days, from April 

 6th, 1807, to April 4th, 1808. The greatest 

 quantity of butter she afforded in any one week, 

 was 18 pounds ; and the greatest quantity of 

 milk given in any one day, was 20 quarts. 



The next most remarkable cow in this res- 

 pect, was the " Oaks cow," of Massachusetts; 

 nothing was known of her blood — she was bought 

 out of a drove when she was young. Caleb 

 Oaks, ofDanvers, Mass. owned her while the 

 greatest quantity of butter was made from her. 

 In 1813, she made 180 pounds, in 1814, 300, 

 in 1815, 400, and in 1816, 484 1-4 pounds.— 

 The greatest quantity of butter made in any one 

 week, was 19 1-4 pounds, and the greatest quan- 

 tity of milk she gave in any one day, was 18 

 quarts. Mr. Josiah Quincy, sen., bought her 

 after this trial by Mr. Oaks, but she never affor- 

 ded so large a yield of butter after she passed 

 into Mr. Q's hands, though she gave 16 pounds 

 per week, and her milk was of such extraordi- 

 nary richness, that five quarts of it frequently 

 afforded a pound of butter. — Trans. 



Keep your tools under shelter, if not in use. 



