490 Transactions of the American Institute. 



land-owners and farmers, we should estimate our acres by the cubic 

 instead of the superficial foot. 



A deeply-rooted impression pervades the farming community 

 that draining and subsoiling are intended simply to assist in carry- 

 ing away stagnant water. This, of course, is an important object,, 

 but is trifling in comparison to the advantages arising from aerating 

 the soil, and hence developing the natural resources of the lower 

 stratum. There is no doubt that the man who cultivates his farm 

 to a depth of from eighteen to twenty-four inches, will produce 

 larger crojjs, at less cost for fertilizing material, than he who 

 scratches five or six inches deep. While the former insures his 

 crops against the eflfects of protracted drought, the latter leaves his 

 at the mercy of the weather. This, then, is the first important step 

 towards improving the land, by developing its natural resources, a 

 step, too, that every man may take who owns five or five hundred 

 acres. Like all other branches of industry, the art of husbandry 

 requires that care and caution should be exercised in carrying out 

 the details, in order to secure the best results without incurring 

 unnecessary outlay. Many instances could be given to prove the 

 assertion that deep culture is in every way the truest economy, but 

 perhaps one may suflSce. During the year 1865, we contracted to 

 supply three hundred tons of cabbage at a fixed rate per ton. The 

 summer proved unusually dry. No rain of any account fell for six 

 weeks, and in many sections of the country the crops utterly failed 

 for want of rain. However, our cabbages grew vigorously, form- 

 ing solid heads, certainly giving no signs of want of moisture or 

 food. This I attributed solely to deep culture. The roots pene- 

 trated into the earth, out of the reach of the drying winds and hot 

 sun, to a depth where they found enough moisture and food to 

 supply the wants of the growing plants. Although already fully 

 persuaded of the fact that less manure would produce larger results 

 with deep than with shallow culture, that season's experience more 

 than convinced me on this point. With thirt3'-five dollars' worth 

 of manure to the acre, on land thoroughly drained and subsoiled, 

 the yield was 2,100 pounds more cabbages than where fifty dollars' 

 worth was used on land that had not been drained or subsoiled. 

 Every practical farmer knows that on a summer fallow more grain 

 can be produced with less extraneous fertilizers than on ground 

 constantly cropped, because during the summer the atmosphere, 

 rain and dews penetrate the loose soil, carrying with them agents 

 that facilitate the development of the plant food, rendering it 



