REPORT ON ESSAYS. 



The Committee are of opinion that the Essay on Deep Culture, 

 is worthy of the premium. 



M. P. BRAMAN, Chairman. 



ESSAY ON DEEP TILLINQ 



BY E. G. K E L L E Y, M. D., 



NEWBUKYl'OKT. 



This is the sine qua non for both immediate and permanent suc- 

 cess in horticulture, agriculture, and particularly arboriculture. 

 Under this head we include all deep working of the earth, such as- 

 trenching, trench- soiling, trench- spading, draining, deep ploughing, 

 and subsoil ploughing ; to be followed by deep tree and seed planting. 



The principle we are about to advocate in the preparation of the 

 soil, is not entirely new. The farmer who is proverbially preju- 

 diced against any innovation on his long established customs, will 

 bear in mind that our first progenitor was expelled from the garden, 

 to " till the ground." While this word " till " may be applied to 

 general husbandry, it is susceptible, in the Hebrew, as we learn 

 from good authority, of a more special and profound signification, 

 equivalent to deep culture, digging, labor, producing the " sweat_]of 

 the face," as we often see in trenching. 



Judging from the recorded characters of this first farmer, and 

 his oldest son, who was also bred a farmer, we may infer that they 

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