178 THE TREE PROPAGATOR AND PLANTER. 



Soot and wood ashes, two parts of the latter to one 

 of the former, will be found equal to guano in pro- 

 ducing a quick crop of Turnips, sown broadcast at the 

 same time as the seed, or drilled in with the seed, or 

 sown over and harrowed in after the seed is sown. 



Ox Natural Soils. 



There is a general idea that it is of no use to brins: 

 up to the surface the subsoils of some sorts of land ; 

 for, say those who are against it (and they are usually 

 fanners), the unproductive nature of poor gravelly 

 lands renders the subsoil of no use on the surface. 

 Now it is quite the reverse ; for if the land is gravelly 

 and poor, the only effectual remedy, as a fundamental 

 policy, for renovating such worn-out land, or for form- 

 ing a permanent foundation for new land of this class, 

 is to fetch up to the surface, by deep digging or deep 

 ploughing, the poor subsoil, so that it may be fertilised 

 by the influences of the sun and the air. And be it 

 remembered that if the land is shallow and light, the 

 deeper it is dug or ploughed the better are the chances 

 for a good crop, because it will go down into the good 

 soil below, and this is where all crops derive their 

 sustenance, and whereby they live. I have proved to 

 my own satisfaction that deep digging and deep 

 ploughing are nearly as good as a dressing of manure. 

 On very light land the deep ploughing and digging 

 should be done some time previous to cropping, espe- 

 cially for Wheat or Strawberries. I use these two as 

 illustrations — for farming on the one hand, and gar- 

 dening on the other. Each of these requires solid 

 land to get a good crop on light land, and, as a rule, 

 the lighter in texture the less time will be required to 

 settle the land after digging or ploughing ; or rather 

 heavy land may be allowed a freer drainage than light. 

 I am more than ever convinced that all lands should 

 be dug or ploughed deep once in the season. 



It is a great mistake, in either farming or garden- 

 ing, to pick out all the stones from land that is 



