300 [Assembly 



past season I have noted the growth of plants on an immense pile 

 of fine charcoal dust, all of which is due to the absorption of 

 water from the atmosphere and its retention by the charcoal. 



Many instances have come to my knowledge where the depth 

 of plowing has been increased only a few inches, and the result 

 has been almost a total preventive of the evils resulting from a 

 drought. Subsoiling has, however, taken the lead in this re- 

 spect. Mr. John 0. Flood, of Patterson, N. J., informed me that he 

 was unable to subsoil his land at the time of plowing. I accord- 

 ingly advised him to run the subsoil plow in the bottom of the 

 furrow in which the corn was to be planted. He did this on a 

 portion of the field, and he now assures me that the corn so 

 treated has not suffered from drought, and that although the field is 

 level, yet the portion subsoiled appeared to stand on higher 

 ground, it was so much taller than the rest. He also states that 

 a strip of land running across the field never bore corn more than 

 three or four feet high, but that this year the portion of it sub- 

 soiled equalled the remainder of the field, while the other part 

 bore corn as usual. Potatoes gave the same good results from the 

 same mode of treatment. 



Mr. S. B. Halliday, an extensive market gardener, of Provi- 

 dence, R. I., has subsoiled extensively, and the committee of agri- 

 culture appointed by the State Agricultural Society, estimated 

 the good effects of this operation for this jeRV only , at one thousand 

 dollars— more than enough to pay three times the cost of the oper- 

 ation. 



Irrigation, and the use of liquid manures, have been spoken of 

 at large, and the benefits of each are understood by all. In many 

 districts liquid manures cannot be supplied, hence the most 

 highly soluble manures can be used with marked advantage in 

 dry seasons. 



In conclusion, we should not forget that the thorough prepara- 

 tion of the soil not only prepares us to encounter the severities of 



