214 



THE IMPORTANCE OP DEEP CULTIVATION. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF DEEP CTJITIVATION. 



So many of the ideas of the science of cultivation 

 have come from our study of English works on gar- 

 dening, that we naturally and implicitly follow them, 

 without ever reflecting upon the circumstances of our 

 position, in another and remote hemisphere — with a 

 drier atmosphere, — a clearer sky, — a brighter sun, — a 

 warmer summer, — and a colder winter; — indeed, a 

 climate so different that scarcely a species of the nat- 

 ural vegetation of one country is found indigenous in 

 the other. 



\Viih such a marked difference, therefore, in the 

 products of the New World from that of the Old, 

 should our mode of cultivation, our entire routine of 

 the practice of gardening, be guided by the rules and 

 systems laid down for the latter? A little reflection 

 will, we think, decide that they should not; for while 

 we admit that we are largely indebted to the works 

 of English writers for much or a greater part of our 

 knowledge in the art of cultivation, and the improve- 

 ment which has been the result of such information, 

 we still believe that a greater degree of advancement 

 might have been made had we taken into considera- 

 tion the character of our climate and the influences 

 which its difference exerts upon vegetation, and mod- 

 ified our practice in coDsecjuence of such variation. 



That our American climate does afi'ect to a greater 

 or less extent the physical character of our people, 

 appears to be the general opinion of those who have 

 studied the subject to any extent. A learned Swiss 

 writer, whose remarks we had occasion to notice in 

 our last volume in connection with this subject, has 

 stated that there is " something in the climate of the 

 country unfavorable to the high development and 

 vigor of the human organization." But whether this 

 is true or not, is not our purpose now to discuss: the 

 conclusion we arrived at, however, was, that our 

 American climate does not injuriously affect foreign 

 varieties of fruit when growing in our soil, and that 

 the only possible way of obviating such injury was 

 "deep and thorough trenching uf the soil" to supply 

 an abundance of moisture, and the only mode in 

 which the natural dryness of our atmosphere could 

 be overcome. 



Let us look a little into the rationale of this, and 

 learn wherein our practice should differ from that of 

 the other continent, taking, for a comparison. Great 

 Britain. 



1st. The average quantity of rain which falls in 

 New England is greater than that in most parts of 

 Great Britain, though from the proverbially moist 

 climate of that country it is supposed to be much less. 

 According to tables regularly kept in the garden of 

 the London Horticultural Society, at Chiswick, near 

 London, the yearly quantity of rain which falls there, 

 is about 28 inches; while at Boston it is about 43 

 inches, making the very gi-eat difference ol fifteen 

 inches in our favor. It is true the larger portion of 

 this great quantity falls in the early spring and late 

 autumn mouths, before active vegetation commen- 

 ces and after it is nearly suspended, when it 

 can apparently be less available than in the summer 

 Beason, during the period of rapid growth: then 

 again, our rains fall in large quantities and at remote 

 periods, as was experienced the last year, when the 

 total for 1854 was upwards of 45 inches, the average 



of the last ten years being only 42; yet the drouth 

 of last summer was considered one of the most se- 

 vere we have had for many years. The total quanti- 

 ty of rain for the three months from June to Septem- 

 ber could not have been more than four or five inches! 

 Thus, while the rains of Great Britain fall in mode- 

 rate and drizzling showers, often for several days in 

 succession, ours are sudden, deluging the ground, and 

 are invariably followed by a burning sun which soon 

 evaporates all that has not .'unk deep into the soil. 



2d. The average temperature of our summers is 

 much higher than that of Great Britain. The tables 

 at Chiswick and Boston exhibited the following ave- 

 rages : — 



CHISWICK. I BOSTON. 



June 61,7 June 6719 



July 67.7 July - 72.19 



August 6i>.3 I August 70.63 



But this very great difference in the average tem- 

 perature of London and Boston would not be so re- 

 markable, were it not that it is here accompanied by 

 an almost cloudless sky, a blazing sun, and parching 

 winds, causing evaporation at a fearful rapidity com- 

 pared with that under the murky atmosphere of 

 Great Britain. In the latter, there is a remarkable 

 uniformity in the quantity of rain which falls, the ex- 

 ception being an occasional drouth, as in 1844, when 

 we visited London, and found the grass actually brown 

 from the long continued diy weather; while with us 

 there are constant extremes of drouth and rain, the 

 exceptions being an occasional moist sunmier, as in 

 1850. Our farmers rarely, if ever, experience any loss 

 in harvesting their crops, while the British husband- 

 man is constantly sufi'ering from the dampness of that 

 climate. 



These at least are two of the important differences 

 between the climate of Great Britain and our own; 

 and indicate, to our view, that we should not be en- 

 tirely guided by English works in our system of cul- 

 tivation, but relying upon all that accords with sound 

 theory combined with practice, add thereto such 

 knowledge as our experience may suggest. We must 

 here counteract as far as possible the excessive dry- 

 ness of our climate, and strive to supply a more uni- 

 form moisture than our periodical rains afford. The 

 details of this would occupy more room than we can 

 now devote to it; but we shall refer to it in a future 

 number. 



At present we cannot occupy the attention of our 

 readers to more advantage than to give the following 

 extract from an able essay on "deep tiflagc," which 

 we find in the Transactions of the Essex Agricultu- 

 Society for 1854, by Dr. E. G. Kki.ley, Evergreens, 

 Newburyport. It will well repay a careful perusal, 

 and afford evidence, additional, if any is wanting, of 

 the importance of deep cultivation: 



It turns the drouth itself to good account, and 

 renders mulching and irrigation comparatively useless, 

 or, if used, more efficacious. During a dry spell and 

 in trenched ground, roots strike deeper in search of 

 food and moisture, become more extensively ramif e J, 

 and sooner find the rich loam and manure intermin- 

 gled deeply with the soil. The leaching process, as 

 it is called, is reversed, and takes place upwards more 

 than at any other time, or, in more scientific phrase, 

 capillary attraction is increased. As each particle of 

 moisture is evaporated from the surface, it is succeed- 



