FARMS. 27 



they can be got out and drawn to where they would be wanted 

 for building wall ; and after the stones were drawn, the ex- 

 pense of building a substantial wall would be about equal to 

 the whole expense of simply digging by the side of the rock a 

 hole twice as large, tipping it in and covering it with the earth 

 dug out, taking care that the subsoil be on the top, and the turf 

 bottom side up next to the stones. In this way the land is 

 raised above the stones ; while on the other hand, if large stones 

 are dug out and carried off, the soil is lowered, and other stones 

 are soon exposed on the surface. 



Many acres in our county of what is termed natural mowing, 

 or such as has never been ploughed, may be treated in this way, 

 and the surplus dirt used to fill up the cradle holes and make 

 all smooth for the mowing machine ; at the same time these 

 cavities act as under-drainers to a considerable extent. No 

 material equal to this subsoil can be used for the improvement 

 of the surface soil. I have used the subsoil as an absorbent in 

 all my yards, and in my barn cellars, for the last five years, not 

 from necessity, but from choice. The value of the subsoil may 

 be tested in the pig pen, sink drain, cow yard, or stable. It 

 shows itself possessed of five times the power of taking the 

 ammonia that surface soil has. A common flower pot may be 

 filled with surface soil from the cultivated field or garden, and 

 the black, turbid water from the barn yard filtered through 

 it, and it will lose but little of its color and smell; while the 

 same experiment with subsoil which has not been cultivated 

 will extract nearly all the color and odor out of the water — 

 showing that the subsoil will gather and retain ammonia from 

 both air and earth ; but the surface soil has lost this power of 

 retaining the ammonia. Hence the advantage of ploughing ten 

 inches deep on most of our worn-out hill lands. The subsoil 

 can rest, and gain strength and vigor, and the roots of grass 

 or grain are invited to a greater depth. 



I have several acres of what we call natural mowing, land 

 that has never been ploughed, and it is some of the most prof- 

 itable and productive on the farm. Nothing has ever been 

 done to it except to put on a light top dressing once in four 

 or five years. These lands were very uneven and stony,, and 

 it was quite impossible to use the horse rake. Still they gave 



