130 PLAIN AKD I'LEASAMT TALK 



All clays contain potash, which is indispensable to wheat, 

 but tliey may be deficient in soda, in magnesia, and in 

 other alkalies. 



A calcareous clay-loam may be regarded as the best soil 

 for wheat. And when it does not exist in a natural state, 

 all the additions in the form of manure should be with 

 reference to the formation of such a soil. If the land be 

 light and sandy, clay, and marl, and wood ashes should be 

 added, together with barnyard manure ; if the soil is a 

 tenacious clay, it should be warmed and mellowed by sand 

 and manure ; if it is deficient in lime, lime in substance, or 

 in marl must be given ; vegetable molds, if heavily 

 dressed with wood-ashes and lime, may be brought to pro- 

 duce wheat. 



To PREPAKE THE Ground, — ^This Operation depends 

 upon the condition of the soil. But, in all cases, the 

 deepest plowing is the best. The roots of wheat, if un- 

 checked, will extend more than^ye feet. Stiif, tough, soils, 

 unbroken for years, and especially if much trampled by 

 cattle, will require strong teams. Oxen are better than 

 horses to break up with. It has been said, that a yoke of 

 cattle draw a plow deeper, naturally, than a span of 

 horses. They are certainly better fitted for dull, dead, 

 heavy pulling. And if oxen have been well trained they 

 will do as much plowing in a season as horses, and come 

 out of the work in better condition. 



Fallow lands should be broken up early in summer, as 

 soon as corn planting is over ; about midsummer plow 

 again ; and the last time early in September to prepare for 

 seed. 



A grass or clover lay * may be plowed under deeply at 



* The word lay, or ley, is only a different way of spelling lea, the old 

 English word for field, not used except in poetry or by farmers ; and it 

 is one, among many instances, of old Saxon English words being pre- 

 served among the agricultural population long after they have ceased to 

 be generally used. 



