1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



233 



too loose and porous, are best plowed in perfectly 

 flgt furrow-slices, the edges closely matchedjn, and 

 the plowed land lying smooth and firm ; and if a 

 heavy roller is passed over it, closely pressing the 

 furrows down and together, it is generally all the 

 better fa- the succeeding crop, — more particular- 

 ly if a dry season follows. I have had much to 

 do with very light, dry, sandy and gravelly lands, 

 and have succeeded best by one thorough sod- 

 plowing, as deep as circumstances would warrant, 

 turning the sod over perfectly flat, then pressing 

 the plowed hinds down with a heavy roller, then 

 raising a tilth two to three inches deep with a light, 

 fine-toothed harrow, planting one year, the next 

 year plowing quite shallow and seeding to grass 

 with grain, and leaving the turf undisturbed be- 

 neath. I have frequently observed that the new 

 seeding gained a thicker and better stand after 

 this mode of cultivation, than when the turf was 

 brought again to the surface at seeding time, and 

 there left to dry and become dissipated by sun 

 and wind. 



The soils of medium texture between the extra 

 stiff and the loose and porous, are perhaps gener- 

 ally as well plowed in flat furrows, as any way, 

 — only let the slices be as narrow in proportion to 

 depth, as will do, and turn over handsomely, be- 

 cause the soil turned over in narrow slices, is more 

 surely and readily disintegrated and broken into 

 particles. The sod and subsoil plow appears to be 

 quite well adapted to the working of these soils, 

 where the land is not too rough or too much en- 

 cumbered with obstructions. It is sometimes 

 claimed, indeed, that this kind of plow is best 

 adapted to every soil ; but the claim is perhaps 

 rather broad, and possibly it might 1)6 as well to 

 leave a slight margin for the present, at least. 



In plowing stubble or old land, it is well to use 

 a plow of shorter mould-board, more abrupt in 

 curvature than that of a first-class sod or break- 

 ing-up plow, so as to give the furrow-slices that 

 short twist in turning them, which shall break and 

 separate the soil into particles, mixing it up and 

 leaving it a mellow bed for grain and grass seeds. 



Pretty nearly all soils here in New England, 

 are rather too shallow, and may be safely and pro- 

 fitably deepened by a gradual process, ultimately 

 attaining a depth of surfiice-soil of eight or nine 

 inches, of uniformly good fertile qualify. I have 

 tried the process, and know that it will not spile 

 the land. The advantages of a deep, over what 

 can be realized from a shallow soil, ai'e too appa- 

 rent to need comment. 



In harrowing land for a crop in the spring, the 

 operation is too commonly executed in a careless 

 and superficial style, notwithstanding that such 

 style cannot well be afforded. The crop, of what- 

 ever kind, will start the quicker and be the more 

 forward and vi^^orousjif the seed-bed has been made 

 deep, fine and nicllow ; and if a planted crop, the 

 planting and first hoeing will be enough better and 

 quicker executed to more than three times pay 

 for the extra time and labor spent in thorough 

 harrowing. Great improvements have been made 

 in the construction of harrows, and it is quite sin- 

 gular to me that the coarse, uncouth implements 

 of former days, should now be used, when those 

 so very much more effective, are so readily pro- 

 cured. Some of the best-constructed, modern 

 hinge-harrows are adapted in their operation to 

 the surface of the ground in all places, and wheth- 



er going through little sharp hollows, or over 

 stones, knolls or ridges, they always hug the 

 ground closely, and produce a fine, equal pulveri- 

 zation in less time than is consumed in mangling 

 and bruising the ground with the old, clumsy, 

 coarse-toothed, ill-constructed harrow. In anoth- 

 er communication, I will give a drawing and de- 

 scription of a hinge-harrow which I use and think 

 a good one, and which every farmer can readily 

 make, or get made in his neighborhood. 



Manure to be applied to sod-land pbwed for a 

 crop in the Spring, if fine compost, generally pro- 

 duces the best results when spread on the surface 

 of the furrows, and mingled with the soil to the 

 depth of two to four inches. An ordinary coat can 

 be suitably mixed with the soil by the harrow ; 

 and if a very heavy coat is to be applied, the sod- 

 plowing may be of good depth, so that the man- 

 ure when spread on top may first be harrowed in, 

 and then turned down and mixed with the soil to 

 the depth of three or four inches by a light plow. 



If coarse, unfermented manure is to be used, 

 and the sod-plowing is to be no deeper than that 

 which generally prevails, then the manure may as 

 well be spread on the grass and turned beneath 

 the furrow, spreading it not much ahead of the 

 plowing ; but if the plowing is to be extra deep, 

 the manure may as well be spread on the surface 

 of the plowed land after it is harrowed, and then 

 buried four inches or so, with a plow guaged and 

 regulated by a wheel on the beam. Any kind of 

 manure, in any state, if to be applied to stubble 

 or old land, had better be plowed in, for it is the 

 nature of stubble plowing to turn no part of the 

 crumbling furrow-slice exclusively to the bottom 

 of the channel, but rather to mix up the various 

 parts all the way from bottom to top, so that the 

 manure will be found, on inspection, to be well 

 mixed with the soil, and not buried too deep. 



My friend, J. W. Oolburn, Esq., of Springfield. 

 Windsor Co., Vt., one of the best farmers we have 

 in Vermont, informs me that his practice is to use 

 coarse, unfermented manure, spreading it upon 

 the grass land to be plowed in the Spring, and 

 turning it under with a sod-furrow .six inches 

 deep ; he then plants the land with corn ; and 

 the next year plows it ten inches deep and seeds 

 with spring grain and grass seeds, lie has often 

 commmended the practice to me as attended with 

 satisftictory results ; and has frequently taken the 

 premiums of the Windsor County Agricultural 

 Society for fine crops. 



The earlier Spring sowing can be done after the 

 ground is fit to be worked, the better will it gener- 

 ally be for both the grain and young gnss. It is 

 customary with some to sow grass seeds with grain 

 in the spring,and with others to omit the grass seed- 

 ing at that time, and plowing the grain stuhble un- 

 der after harvest, seed with grass in August or 

 September. I have practised both modes, sou Q- 

 times succ:!eding best with the Spring, and some- 

 times with the late summer seedirg. If the foro 

 part of the season is pretty moist, the latter part 

 is often apt to be dry ; and in that case Spring 

 seeding will be likely to succeed best : on the oth- 

 er hand, if the fore part of the season is prevalent- 

 ly dry, it is often followed by a moist autumn ; 

 and then the late seeding succeeds best. As w© 

 cannot anticipate the character of the season with 

 much certainty, I have rather fdlen into the prac- 

 tice of sowing grass seeds with grain, in the Spring, 



