86 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



food, and keep the horse in better condition than 

 when fed on grain alone ; they also keep his coat 

 as smooth and sleek as if it had been oiled. I can 

 keep a horse in better condition on four quarts of 

 oats and four of carrots a day, than on a peck of 

 oats. When fed to cows, they make the milk richer 

 and the butter yellower. Their fattening qualities 

 are proved to be superior to those of any other 

 roots. Six or eight hundred bushels to the acre 

 is a common crop, and larger crops have frequently 

 been obtained. myron e. tanner. 



ClarkstcHDn, Rockland Co., N. Y. 



HOW DEEP SHOTJLD WE PL0W1 



Tnis depends, first, upon the richness of the soil; 

 second, upon the depth to which it has been 

 previously plowed; third, upon the character and 

 quality of the subsoil ; and fourth, upon the crop 

 wiiich is to be planted. 



If the soil be sufficiently rich, it is best that at 

 least au inch of the soil beneath should be upturned 

 to the atmosjihere, at each successive plowing, and 

 exposed to thj action of the elements. If the land 

 has been what is called " run" pretty hard, and the 

 farmer has no manure with which to restore the 

 exliausted constituents of the soil, it can hardly be 

 said to be best to plow deeper than the previous 

 jculturists of the same fields have done. But, as 

 soon iis suitable stimulants to vegetation can be 

 ajiplied. we would advise the gradual deepening of 

 the culture, until from nine to twelve inches be- 

 comes the habitual thickness of the overtui."ned 

 furrow. 



If the subsoil be gravelly and light, there is not 

 as great call for deep working as otherwise, nor is 

 the use of a subsoil plow as much demanded. 

 But soil, no matter of what character, lying upon 

 a fiat, level subsoil of hard-pan clay, needs to be 

 made of a good depth, either by its own upturning, 

 or by a gradual encroachment upon the underlying 

 clay, the subsoil plow should also follow the 

 otlier plow, and thoroughly loosen the brick-like 

 substratum upon which the furrow rests. 



The deeper we plow, the further down we bury 

 the seeds of noxious weeds, which have often 

 gathered upon the surface about to be overturned. 

 The Tuore we allow the air to circulate among the 

 loosened particles of the soil, the better is the 

 drainage in a wet season, and the more perfect the 

 irrigation in a dry summer. By allowing the air 

 to permeate freely the texture of the soil, we also 

 bring into contact with its constituents the carbonic 

 acid in the air, the ammonia of the atmosphere, 

 the nitrogen and other elements which the soil 

 needs to maintain its integrity, and support the 

 crops we plant upon it. This deeper plowing 

 enables the roots of the plants to penetrate far 

 deeper, while the loosening gives them a wider 

 range ; and whether it be food or moisture which 

 they seek, they are far more certain to be fully 

 supplied. In seasons of excessive rain, the shallow 

 plowed fields, where the earth has only been loos- 

 ened to the depth of four or five inches, are easily 

 saturated with water, causing the death, or, at any 

 rate, the very sickly appearance of the crop ; while 

 the deeply stirred land has permitted the penetra- 

 tion of the fluids to the depth of many inches, 

 washing down richness of nourishment to the very 



deepest roots, and, while all the land has a suffici 

 ency of moisture, compelling upon none a greatei 

 than a proper amount of wetness. 



Root crops require a more thorougli upturning 

 of the soil than the almost universally cultivated 

 Indian corn._ We think that the raising of this 

 purely American product has exerted an injurious 

 influence upon the agriculture of this country. 

 Farmers can, by merely scratching the surface of 

 their land (say, not more than five inches deep), 

 raise, under most circumstances, excellent crops of 

 maize, especially upon newly-cleared soils. This 

 ease of cultivation has led our agriculturists to 

 slackness in the pre]>aration of the land for all 

 other crops, until sliallow plowing has almost 

 become the rule instead of the exception. In the 

 older countries of Europe, where land is more 

 valuable and labor more plentiful than in our 

 newly-settled hemisphere, tliey have learned to 

 improve every foot of tlie breadth of their "lands, 

 and also more inelies of the depth than we dare 

 to mention. Cultivation is for deeper tlian with 

 us, and, as a consequence, crops are both surer and 

 larger. Root crops are raised which would chal- 

 lenge admiration at any of our State Fairs, and 

 grain produced in quantities unprecedented on any 

 of our shallow-plowed and carelessly-cultivated 

 fields. 



Let us, as speedily as possible, emulate our 

 European cousins, in their careful application of 

 manures; in their use of every foot of surfiice, 

 leaving none for weeds or fence corners; and in 

 their deptli of cluture — furnishing to the growing 

 crops a land that drinks water of the rain of 

 Heaven, so that neither more nor less than thev 

 desire of the soaking moisture, of the fruitful 

 showers and the rain from Heaven, shall be sup- 

 plied to the absorbing rootlets of the growing crops. 



Eastburn. Indinna. MADISON MONTHAY. 



BEST TREES FOE A COUNTRY CEMETERY. 



The country cemetery should be a consecrated 

 grove, hallowed with respect for the dust of our 

 deceased friends, in whose deep shade their remains 

 may rest undisturbed, amid the flowers of their 

 silent city, surrounded by the most beautiful objects 

 in nature. What a dreadful thought, that our 

 remains must lie in the country cemetery, as we 

 usually see it, — a treeless and shrubless waste, 

 exposed to the glaring sun and the howling winds; 

 the most conspicuous objects being long rows of 

 tilted tomb-stones, and rude, grassless hillocks, 

 surrounded by briars and weeds, driving away all 

 those tender and lofty emotions we should feel in 

 viewing the resting place of the departed. It is 

 sad enough to turn away from life and. all we hold 

 dear, ■without rendering the grave an object of 

 disgust and dismay. 



Let us make oar burial grounds attractive — places 

 where we can go to muse upon the uncertainty of ^ 

 life, and the glorious awards after death, and 

 awaken aspirations for a better life. Here nature 

 should be beautiful in her own simplicity, grateful 

 shades, open lawns, easy curves, with graveled 

 walks leading to every grave. The trees should be 

 of many varieties, including a large share of ever- 

 greens, weeping trees and flowers, and may consist 

 1 of the following : 



