1840.] SENATE— No. 36. 207 



diately filled by the air of the atmosphere, and during dry and hot 

 weather these cracks and crevices are multiplied to an indefinite ex- 

 tent, and in clay soils to an extent quite remarkable. Instead of re- 

 suming its original tenacity, there seems to be a decided change 

 effected in the character of the component parts of the land to the 

 depth the plough has reached. It is for the skilful farmer to apply 

 manure judiciously according to the state of each field. Drilled green 

 crop has followed a crop of oats, and the land which before was unfit 

 to grow turnips has become fitted for that crop, although, perhaps, a 

 little rough and cloddy during the first year. Next has come a crop of 

 wheat, and in it has been seen the great and remarkable effects of the 

 system, in the condition of the soil and the quantity of produce. Land 

 which was before, in truth, unfit to carry wheat from extreme wetness, 

 has become altogether the reverse, being sown wiih wheat without 

 ridges and furrows, being perfectly porous; all rain disappearing as it 

 falls, and being carried off" by filtration to the many drains, and each 

 drain having little more than a thread of water to carry off". Possibly 

 the land of which I speak might have previously yielded a precarious 

 produce of 20, or at the utmost 24 bushels of wheat per imperial acre, 

 while in its improved state, the actual produce of the crop of 1835 has 

 been 40 bushels thrashed out, a few bushels of which were not very 

 good in quality, owing to what is now to be mentioned. The fault of 

 the crop was, that it was too strong, and theie being much rain while 

 it ripened it was laid down. Had this not occurred, the quality of the 

 whole would have been good, and there is no doubt that six or eight 

 bushels more per acre would have been obtained. The facts, there- 

 fore, are most satisfactory, because the result in the first wheat crop 

 may truly be said to be twenty bushels of wheat of extra produce, in 

 return for an expense of 10^. 10s per acre, which was the cost of the 

 drainage and the extra expense of sub-soil ploughing. It ought to be 

 stated, that with the turnips, the land was well manured, and subse- 

 quently abundantly. After the wheat was carried, and during the 

 winter, the field was ploughed about nine inches deep with the ordi- 

 nary plough, and remained rough until the month of March, the whole 

 rains of winter, which were excessive, sinking as they fell. Towards 

 the end of March, the field was harrowed, drilled, and sown with 

 beans, without any manure. The crop is promising, and there can be 

 no doubt that the powers of the soil which have now been brought into 

 action, will render it abundant. The soil is so powerful, that it is in- 

 tended to take a crop of wheat after the beans, without any manure, 



