PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 249 



and ploughed in, the dung acts to the best possible ad- 

 vantage in every respect, on all but the wettest and un- 

 drained soils. The manurial substances are absorbed by 

 the soil as the manure decays, rendering also, the heavy 

 soils porous, by the mechanical admixture of its heavy 

 portions. Moreover, by the application of dung at this 

 season, the manure is so tempered that the forcing of the 

 plants which, an authority says, results from mixing the 

 fresh manure with the newly ploughed land in spring, is 

 avoided, and by avoiding this, disease in the crop is not 

 so likely, he thinks, to take place ; he believes, therefore, 

 in the "innumerable advantages of winter dunging." The 

 great aim in carrying out a rotation in which the naked 

 fallow is dispensed with, and a succession of crops with 

 the bean as one of them, kept up and taken off heavy stiff 

 soils, is to keep them clean. To ensure this, the grain 

 crops preceding the bean should be well drilled, so that 

 horse or hand hoeing, or both, can be done. The beans 

 which follow are, of course, to be hoed also, the distance 

 between the rows to be regulated according to the condi- 

 tion of the soil. Beans, by a proper system, can be very 

 successfully cultivated as a cleaning crop for heavy soils, 

 however much opposed may be the opinion of some that 

 they cannot. Mr. Valleritine's experience shows that they 

 can. The first step in his system is to plough the land as 

 early as possible in the winter, and if this is properly 

 executed, no other ploughing in spring will be necessary ; 

 on the contrary, it may not even be advisable. In place 

 of a second, or spring ploughing, a simple scarifying is all 

 that is needed, and will be found to move the soil effec- 

 tually where the ameliorating influences of the weather 

 have not penetrated to the depth of four or five inches. 

 Even this scarifying, Mr. Vallentine has not found neces- 

 sary, as a working of the heaviest harrows has done all 

 that was required. The object in view in reducing the 

 soil to a proper tilth, is to allow the plants to derive the 

 greatest possible amount ' of nourishment from the soil 

 during the period of thin growth. Our authority is not, 



