1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



493 



pensed with entirely, and, although this was an 

 error, it had much truth in it. A recent series of 

 analyses, by D. A. Wells, reported in the Mass. 

 Transactions for 1851, seems to support his con- 

 clusion, that a principal difference 1)etween a very 

 fertile soil of Ohio and an almost barren soil of 

 Massachusetts consisted in the difference in the 

 fineness of their constituent particles. 



The chief value of plowing is, that it loosens 

 the texture of the soil, and thus admits a free cir- 

 culation of air and moisture, which, by chemical 

 action, disintegrate or break down the stony or 

 mineral portions of the soil, so that they may be 

 more readily dissolved and taken up by the roots. 

 By the same process, the roots are enabled to pen- 

 etrate more readily, and wander farther in search 

 of those substances, which, by instinct, they have 

 the power o( selecting for their food. 



None of these objects are attained by merely 

 tnrning over a solid mass of earth a foot square, 

 pressed together by the mould-board. The Double 

 or Michigan Plow, I regard as the greatest im- 

 provement of modern times, in this department of 

 husbandry, although by no means a recent dis- 

 covery ; for Loudon, in his Encyclopedia of Agri- 

 culture, published I think thirty years ago, gives 

 a drawing of one much like those now used, yet it 

 is new to most of our farmers. 



At most of the cattle-shows in New England, 

 the Michigan Plow has been seen in operation 

 this autumn ; and were this the only good accom- 

 plished by these gatherings, the farmer would be 

 well paid for attending them. At the recent 

 State Fair in New Hampshire, several were exhib- 

 ited in use at the plowing-match, each drawn by 

 a span of horses, or a single yoke of oxen, through 

 a tough sward, by no means free from stones, and 

 performing the work to the admiration of all, who 

 had never before seen their operation. I will not 

 say all were pleased, for one old pagan, — a word 

 which I use here of course in its primitive sense, 

 as signifying merely a person from the country, — 

 this old pagan said he did not see as this new- 

 fashioned plow was of much use, for if you would 

 only harrow the land plowed with the common 

 plows, it would be about the same ! ! He hit the 

 nail on the head by accident, for the difiFerence is 

 just about this, — that the Double Plow leaves the 

 land pulverized, as if well harrowed, without be- 

 ing trodden down, or even pressed by a single 

 foot of man or beast, while land harrowed, es- 

 pecially with oxen, is often much injured by 

 tramphng. 



Plow your land fine and deep, is the advice 

 which our farmers most need, at present. It is a 

 common idea that deep plowing is not profitable 

 unless we have a large quantity of manure. There 

 is something in this idea, though not much. — 

 Plants, as before hinted, have the power of se- 

 lecttng and of searching for manure, as they have 

 of turning towards light. Place a bone in the 

 soil, a foot from almost any plant, and the roots 

 of the plant will find it. An ordinary crop of corn 

 sends roots into every inch of soil, to the distance 

 of five or six feet from their stalks. Make the 

 land light and the manure fine, and the plant will 

 do the rest. It does not devour the barren sand, 

 but sucks up, with its thousand little mouths, the 

 elements of nutrition which it needs, and which 

 are dissolved for its use. 



I have to-day noticed, at an excavation near the 



factory in Exeter, the roots of a young elm, more 

 than twelve feet below the surface, in solid gravel. 

 Last summer, in a loose sandy soil, in this place, 

 where a well had been taken up, I saw the roots 

 of an apple tree, which penetrated to the bottom 

 thirteen feet by measure. The apple tree was 

 manifestly in search of water ; what the elm could 

 have been seeking, except a good hearty embrace 

 of mother Earth, is not so readily imagined. 



I have avoided all scientific discussion in this 

 article, because our friend and brother,^Ion. F. 

 IIolbrook,_ has, at sundry times in the Farmer, 

 given us line upon line and precept upon precept 

 as to the structure and use of plows, and in his 

 society tlie position of learner on this subject be- 

 comes me much better than that of teacher. 



Exeter, N. H.,Oct. I2th, 1853. 



H. F. F. 



THE SABBATH. 



[From the new edition of the Poetical Works of Sir Ei 



WARD BULWER LVTTON.] 



Fresh glides the brook and blows the gale, 



Yet yonder halts the quiet mill; 

 The whirring wheel, the rushing sail, 



How motionless and still. 



Six days of toil, poor child of Cain, 

 Thy strength the slave of Want may be; 



The seventh thy limbs escape the chain — 

 A God hath made thee free! 



Ah, tender was the Law that gave 



This holy respite to the breast; 

 To breathe the gale, to watch the wave, 



And know — the wheel may rest! 



But where the waves the gentlest glide, 

 What image charms, to lift thine eyes' 



The spire reflected on the tide 

 Invites thee to the skies. 



To teach the soul its nobler worth, 

 This rest from mortal toils is given; 



Go, snatch the brief reprieve from earth. 

 And pass — a guest to heaven. 



They tell thee, in their dreaming school, 

 Of Power from old dominion hurled; 



When rich and poor, with juster rule, 

 i^hall share the altered world. 



Alas! since time itself began, 



That fable hath but fooled the hour; 



Each age that ripens Power in Man, 

 But subjects Man to Power. 



Yet every day in seven, at least, 

 One bright republic shall be known; 



Man's world awhile hath surely ceased, 

 When God proclaims his own! 



Six days may Rank divide the poor, 



O Dives, from thy banquet hall! 

 The seventh, the Father opes the door. 



And holds His feast for all! 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CRANBERRY CULTURE. 



Mr. Brown : — I have on my farm a bog contain- 

 ing eight acres — soil twelve feet deep, formed of 

 decomposed vegetable matter, and in dry weather 

 I can team over any part of it. It is situated so 

 that I can plow it very easily, and I have deter- 

 mined on making a cranberry bog of it ; and my 

 purpose in addressing you at this time is to inquire 

 concerning the best way and time to render it such. 



In two or three places small patches of vines 



