(iO 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FACTS AND 0BS!;RVATI0NS P.ELATIXG TO 



AGRICULTURE ^ DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



ON Dt.FA' ANI> FP.EQll^XT I'l.OriilllXG. 



•' I entertain no doubt of the utility of deep 

 ploug'hinj ; not at once, in our l:iiuls in general, 

 but by an increase of two or three inches at 

 every annual plougliinsj, until the earth be stir- 

 rod and i>iilveriso(l to the depth often or twelve 

 inches. Indian corn planted in such a muss of 

 loosened earth, would not, I am persuaded, ever 

 suflcr by ordinary drouc;lits. Like a sponge,, it 

 would absorb a vast (piantity ol' rain water, and 

 become a reservoir to supply the >vant o! that 

 and all other i)lants. Nothina: is more common 

 in a dry sumnr'r, than the rollinc^ of the leaves 

 of corn; and that circumstance is often men- 

 tioned as an evidence of the severity of the 

 drought. This rolling- of the leaves of Indian 

 corn, is the consequence in part, of scant ma- 

 nuring-, but still more of sballow ploughing. 

 Few, perhaps, arc aware of the depths to which 

 the roots of plants will penetrate in a deeply 

 loosened earth. A gentleman much inclined to 

 agricultural irKpiiries and observations, inform- 

 ed me, near filly years ago, that seeing some 

 men digging a well, in a hollow place, planted 

 ivith Indian corn, then at its full growth, he 

 stopped to examine how far its roots had de- 

 scended, and he traced them to the depth of 

 nine feet. The soil was an accumulation of 

 earth, which had run or been thrown into the 

 hollow. 



" The seeds of the common t\irnip, sown in 

 warm weather, and on a soil siiificiently moist, 

 I have known to vegetate in about eight and 

 Ibrty hours; and in only four or live days after- 

 wards, I found the plants had sent down roots to 

 the depth of four or live inches." 



.1/r. Ptcktrmg''s Address lo the Essex Ag. Soc. 



Sir John Sinclair gives the following Maxims 



UESPECTliNli THE PROPEa DEPTH OF PLOUGdIXG. 



L The depth to which land ought to be 

 ploughed, must fust be regulated by the depth 

 of the soil. On thin soils, more especially on a 

 rocky substratum, the ploughing must necessa- 

 rily be shallow ; but when the soil, whether 

 light or strong will admit of it, the ploughing 

 ought to be as deep as a pair of horses can ac- 

 complish ; and at some seasons, it is advanta- 

 geous to plough it even with four, particularly 

 at the commencement of every fresh rotation. 



2. The depth ought likewise to depend on 

 ihe means of improving the soil ; for when the 

 land is poor, and the means of enriching it are 

 scanty, the depth of ploughing ought to be in 

 proportion to the quantity of manure which can 

 be obtained. 



3. Deep ploughing is highly advantageous 

 upon every soil, excepting those where the 

 substratum is an ochry sand. In fact, such sands 

 are scarcely worthy of being cultivated, unless 

 in situations whore much alluvial compost, 

 [marsh mud, Sic] or short town manure, can 

 be procured. 



4. It is a general rule never to plough so 

 deep as to penetrate below the soil that was 

 formerly manured and cultivated, excepting 

 upon fallow, and then only, when you have 

 plenty of lime or dung to add to, and improve 

 the new soil. 



5. Many farmers recommend, when fallowing 

 land, to go as deep as po.ssible with the lirst 

 furrow ; by which the subsequent furrows will 



be more easily done, and to expose the soil to 

 the winters frost, and to the summer's heat ; 

 but when the land is ploughed in spring for a 

 crop of oats, a strong soil cannot be ploughed in 

 safety, above five or six inches. 



(). Deep ploughing is advisable on moorish 

 cold soils, as it ali'ords a greater scope for the 

 roots of plants to procure nourishment, admits 

 the superabundant moisture to subside from 

 them, and prevents the summer drought from 

 making an injurious impression on the growing 

 crops ; for. on such land, shallow ploughing ex- 

 poses vegetation to be starved or drowned in 

 wet weather, and to be scorched or withered 

 in dry. 



7. It is unnecessary to ])lough deeper, when 

 the seed is sown, than where there is a fair 

 probability of the different kinds of plants send- 

 ing their roots ; and as beans, clover, and tur- 

 nips, the only tap-rooted kinds usually cultivat- 

 ed in this country, seldom send their shoots 

 above seven or eight inches down into the soil, 

 and the culmiferous species not so far, it is pro- 

 bable, from these circumstances, that from sev- 

 en to eight inches may be deep enough for all 

 the purposes of ordinary culture. Occasionally, 

 however, ploughing even ten inches, in the 

 course of a rotation, during the fallow process, 

 is advisable. 



Deep i)lnughing is not to be recommended, 

 1. When lime or marl has been recently ap- 

 plied, as they have such a tendency to sink, 

 from their weight, and the moisture they im- 

 bibe. 2. Where turnips have been eaten off 

 by sheep on the land where they were grown. 

 :3. When grass only two or three years old, 

 more especially where it has been pastured by 

 sheep, is broken up ; because, owing to the ex- 

 treme condensation of the soil, by the trampling 

 of the sheep, a furrow, even of a moderate 

 depth >o (ippcarci.jcc, will make the plough pen- 

 etrate below the staple that had been cleared, 

 by the culture given during the previous fallotv. 

 By this means myriads of the seeds of annual 

 weeds are raised to the surface, where they 

 vegetate, and materially injure the crop culti- 

 vated, besides replenishing the soil with a fresh 

 supply of their own seeds. In all these cases 

 from four to live inches will be found sufficient. 

 .\nd, 4. If land is infested with natural grasses, 

 which generally run much on the surface, the 

 lirst ploughing should not be deeper than is 

 necessary to turn up the roots of the grasses 

 that they may be destroyed. 



ADVANTAGES OF DEEP PLOUGHING. 



1. Bringing up new mould, is peculiarly fa- 

 vorable to clover, beans and potatoes; and, in- 

 deed, without that advantage, these crops usu- 

 ally diminish in quantity, (piality and value. 



2. Deep ploughing is likewise of great con- 

 sequence to every species of plant, furnishing 

 not only more means of nourishment to their 

 roots, but above all, by counteracting the inju- 

 rious consequences of either too wet or too dry 

 a season. This is a most important considera- 

 tion, for, if the season be wet, there is a greater 

 depth of soil to absorb the moisture, so that the 

 plants are not likely to have their roots im- 

 mersed in water ; and in a dry season it is still 

 more useful, for in the lower parts of the cul- 

 tivated soil, there is a reservoir nf moisture^ \\h'\ch 

 is brought up to the roots of the plants, by the 

 evaporation which the heat of the sun pccasicus. 



3. By deep plough ig also, the ground may 

 be more effectually cleared of root weeds of 

 every description ; in |)articular, it is the best 

 mode of eradicating thistles. 



4. By deep ploughing, animal and \cgctable 

 manures, which have such a tendency to rise 

 to the surface, are jiroperly covered. This 

 cannot be done by shallow ploughing, in conse- 

 quence of which much of the value of such ma- 

 nures is lost. 



5. By deep ploughing a heavier crop is rais- 

 ed than can be got from a shallow furrow. An 

 intelligent farmer, indeed, after pointing out 

 that deep |)Ioughing increases the st.-iplc of the 

 soil, keeps the roots of the corn from lieing in- 

 jureil by wetness, and also enables the crop 

 longer to resist drought, adds, '• / have ever 



found deep ploughing attended u-ith good crops, 

 Xi'hen riilgcs^ shalloiv ploughed, in the saute Jicldy 

 zi-ere but indi^'creiit j-" which seems a decisive 

 proof in favor of deep ploughing. 



The celebrated .\rthur Young gives the fol- 

 lowing rules relative to Ploughing. 



1. An additional depth should first be gained 

 in autumn, that successive change of seasons 

 may take effect in atmospheric influences, be- 

 fore any seed is ventured in the raw stratum 

 lirst brought up. 



2. The quality of that stratum should be ex- 

 amined ; it is sometimes sterile by reason of an 

 acid discoverable by boiling in water, and put- 

 ting that water to the test of blue infusions. 



3. Animal and vegetable manures cannot be 

 buried ; at whatever depth they are di'i)osited, 

 their constant tendency is to rise to the atmos- 

 phere. 



4. Fo.ssil manures are extremely liable to be 

 buried, having a constant tendency downwards. 

 Chalk, marl, and clay, are sufficiently soluble, 

 or so miscible with water as to sink in a regu^ 

 lar mass, and are sometimes found much below 

 the depth of the plough. 



5. In soils of a poor hungry quality, there 

 should be some proportion observed between 

 the depth of ploughing and the quantity of ma- 

 nure usually spread ; but this does not hold 

 good on better soils. 



I). Soils are rarely found that ought not to be 

 ploughed, in common, six inches deep ; many 

 ought to be stirred eight inches, and some ten. 



7. One deep ploughing (to the full depth) 

 shoidd be given once in twelve, eighteen, or 

 twenty-four months: if this be secured, shallow 

 tillage is in many cases preferable to deep 

 working oftener, especially for wheat, which 

 loves a firm bottom. 



EASY METHOD OF DISCOVERING %VHETHER. OR NOT 

 SEEDS ARE SUFFICIENTLY RIPE. 



An English pul)lication assures us, that, 

 '• Seeds, when not sufficiently ripe, will swim, 

 but when arrived at lull maturity, they will be 

 found uniformly to fall to the bottom ; a fact 

 that is said to hold equally true of all seeds."' 



SOAKING OF SEEDS. 



" In dry seasons the soaking of seeds in wa.. 

 ter, a day or two before committing- them to 

 the ground will forward their growth, as well 

 as by artificially watering the ground before or 

 after sowing them ; and the soaking of them in 

 a solution of salt and water may have another 

 advantage of giving an opportunity of rejecting- 



