174 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



seed bed will be formed, and a space left under the slice for air 

 to circulate, and cause a more rapid fermentation and decay of 

 the soil, than when turned flat or shut in. It is also important 

 that particular attention be paid to the state and nature of the 

 ground to be ploughed ; by so doing, the preparation of the 

 land may be rendered more perfect, and some of its natural 

 defects removed, or greatly modified. Some soils, if ploughed in 

 the autumnal months, are rendered more capable of imbibing, 

 and retaining a larger proportion of atmospherical influences 

 and moisture, for the succeeding crop, than if turned up in the 

 spring or summer months, when ploughing causes a greater 

 waste of fertility by evaporation of moisture, and the volatile 

 qualities of the soil. 



Ploughing and preparing lands that are dry and light, and 

 that possess too little tenacity, in autumn, and introducing the 

 seed in spring, without additional preparation, except harrowing, 

 will often preserve them in a moist, adhesive condition, and in 

 better state for the crop than if worked in any other way. Such 

 lands may be ploughed when considerably impregnated with 

 moisture ; they however exhale moisture rapidly, and should 

 not be worked too frequently in hot, dry weather. Stiff, heavy 

 soils, that are retentive of moisture, whether cloggy or loamy, 

 should never be ploughed in the spring when wet ; if turned in 

 that season in a wet condition, the parts of which they are 

 composed are liable to cake into hard lumps, requiring much 

 labor to reduce them to a fine state, suitable for a seed bed. 

 These lands may, if quite wet, be usefully ploughed in autumn ; 

 the frost of the succeeding winter will break down and pul- 

 verize the lumps, rendering them fine for the spring crop. 



There are various opinions in regard to the comparative 

 advantages of deep and shallow ploughing. Doubtless the 

 depth should vary in some degree according to the nature of 

 the soil and the crop to be grown. The seed furrow should 

 have less depth than the preceding ploughings. The character 

 of the subsoils should also be taken into accoimt. Some land 

 will be damaged, some benefited by ploughing deep. Probably, 

 in Worcester county, ploughing six or seven inches deep, except 

 for tap-rooted plants, is more generally practised than any other 

 depth ; tap-rooted plants require deeper ploughing than cereal 

 plants. By deep ploughing, weeds, instead of being thrown 



