460 [Assembly 



refilling the furrows and covering the special manure. Such 

 treatment with the suhsoil plough as before recommended being 

 to a great depth, is more than equal to twenty ordinary hoeings. 

 The uses of this subsoil cut, are various. First, it permits the 

 long roots of the corn to pass down in time of drought and obtain 

 moisture; during excessive rains, it acts partly as an under- 

 drain, and protects part of the roots at least from a surcharge of 

 moisture. As these subsoil cuts are in no instance more than 

 four feet apart — act as drains for the reception of all moisture 

 received on these four-feet spaces from rains, dews, &c.; which 

 of course contain all the fertilizing gases received from the 

 atmosphere and conveying them immediately to the roots of the 

 plants. In the corn ridge itself, these two drains being but six 

 inches apart, renders the space between them replete with fer- 

 tilizing materials. The special manure contained in the vicinity 

 of this ridge, as well as the soluble portions of that which per- 

 vades the soil generally, is brought to the spot where most 

 needed. The mere breaking of the surfj^ce of this six-inch ridge 

 by tlie hoe, between the stools is all the hoeing that will be 

 required. The after culture consists enlirely in the running of 

 the cultivator in the four foot spaces wliich will keep down all 

 weeds and insure mellowness of surface. When the corn is ripe 

 the roots will be found to occupy these subsoil cuts like two door^ 

 mats stood upon their edges, throwing numberless fibres througlV 

 the six inch ridge 5 while tlie number of roots thiown into the 

 four-foot spaces w^ill depend eniirelr upon the judicious selection 

 and quantity used of special manures in the furrows. The crop 

 of corn which your committee reported last year as equalling 75 

 bushels shelled per acre, was raised by the method above 

 described. The special manure containing those chemical re- 

 quirements of the corn which were deficient in the soil, the same 

 lot in the previous year having refused corn altogether. The 

 cost of the special manure applied being one dollar thirty-one 

 and a half cents per acre. In Monmouth and other counties of 

 New-Jersey, where the green sand marls are used, and indeed in 

 all localities where fertilizers of an inorganic character are 

 applied, an addition of cheap organic matter is always desirable, 

 as it must be evident that from a full quantity present in the 

 soil of these matters, which constitute the ashes of the intended 



