30 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



proportion of eight per cent, for every inch of mould 

 beyond the depth of six to ten inches, and to be di- 

 minished in the same proportion, from six to three 

 inches, in soils of a thinner staple. Principe* Rai- 

 sonnes Agriculture, vol. iii., p. 138, s. 735. Thc-r 

 considerations have been hitherto but little regarded 

 in our practice, though they constitute an important 

 feature in the new system of husbandry. . 



Good tillage demands also the extirpation of 

 weeds. Every plant growing upon a soil tends to im- 

 pair its fertility, and weeds generally more than cul- 

 tivated crops, because they are commonly the most 

 hardy and the greatest consumers of vegetable food. 

 They are particularly prejudicial to crops in a dry 

 season, as they exhaust the soil of moisture in pro- 

 portion to their superficies, or the surface of their 

 stems and leaves ; some species transpiring their 

 weight of moisture every twenty-four hours. The 

 drill culture and deep ploughing both lessen the evil 

 of weeds ; the first tends to destroy them, and the 

 latter to bury their seeds so deep as to prevent the 

 plants getting ahead of and choking the young crop. 

 Clean tillage has been too much neglected in our 

 practice. Many crops are diminished a fourth, a 

 third, and even a half by pestiferous weeds, which 

 are permitted to seed and propagate upon the land. 



Good tillage requires good implements, and these 

 to be kept in order, that the farm-work may be eco- 

 nomically done, and well done, and done at the prop- 

 er time. The disparity between the old and the new 

 implements of culture is great, not only in the time 

 employed, but in the manner in which they do the 

 work, and in the power which is required to perform 

 it. The%ld plough requires a four-cattle team and 

 two hands to manage it ; and the work ordinarily 

 was, after all, but half executed. The improved 

 plough is generally propelled by two cattle, requires 

 but one man to manage it, and, when properly gov- 

 erned, performs thorough work. Harrow** and other 



