AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BV JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (AanicoLTDEAL Waeehouse.)— ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



Ul,. XXII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 0, 1843. 



[NO. C. 



N. E. FARMER. 



OF DEEP PLOWING. 



D"ep plowinfj dift'ers from ordinary nnd subsoil 

 owinsr in tlii.s — tlmt its special object is to bring 



the surface and to mix with the upper soil a por- 

 an of that which has lain long at a considerable 

 ;pth, and has been more or less undisturbed. 



The honetit of such an admixture of fresh soil 

 in many localities undoubted, while in others 

 6 practical farmer is decidedly opposed to it. 

 n what principle does its beneficial action depend, 

 id in what circumstances is it likely to be attend- 

 I with disadvantage ? 



1. It is known that when a heavy shower of rain 

 lis, it sinks into the soil, and carries down with 



such readily soluble substances as it meets with 

 1 the surface. But other substances, also, which 

 c more sparingly soluble, slowly and gradually 

 id their way into the subsoil, and there more or 

 ss permanently remain. Among tliese may be 

 ckoned gypsum, and especially tliosc silicates of 

 jtash and soda, so useful to grain-bearing plants, 

 uch substances as these naturally accumulate be- 

 )nd the reacli of the ordinary plow. Insoluble 

 ibstances likewise slowly sink. This is well 

 lown to be the case with lime, when laid upon or 

 owed into land. So it is with clay, when mixed 

 ith a surface soil of sand or peat. They all de- 

 ;end till they get beyond the reach of the coni- 

 on plow. Thus it happens that after the surface 

 lil becomes exhausted of one or other of those 

 lorganic compounds which the crops require, an 

 nple supply of it may still be present in the sub- 

 )il, though, until turned up, unavailable for the 

 rornntion of vegetable growth. 



There can be little question, I think, that the 

 reator success which attends the introduction of 

 2w implements in the hands of better instructed 

 len, upon farms long held in arable culture, is to 

 D Escribed in part to this cause. One tenant, 

 uring a long lease, has been in the habit of plow- 

 ig to a depth of three, or at most, perhaps, four 

 iches — and from this surface the crops he has 

 Inntod have derived their chief supplies of inor- 

 anic food. He has limed his land in the customa- 

 r manner, and has laid upon it all the manure he 

 nnld raise, but his crops have been usually indif- 

 ;rent, and he considers the land of comparatively 

 ttle value. But another tenant comes, and with 

 ettor implements turns up the land to a depth of 



or 8 inclies. He thus brings to the surface the 

 me and jthe accumulated manures which have 

 oturnlbj sunk, and which his predecessor had pcr- 

 iitted year after year to bury themselves in his 

 ubsoil. He thus has a new, often a rich, and al- 

 lost always a virgin soil to work upon — one which 

 rom being long buried, may require a winter's ex- 

 osure and mellowing in the air, but which in 

 lost cases is sure to repay him for any extra cost. 



Again, it is known that some districts, for rea- 

 ons perhaps not well understood, are more infest- 

 d than others with inflects that attack the corner 

 ithcr crops. These insects, their eggs, or their 



larva;, generally bury themselves in the undisturb- 

 ed soil, immediately beyond the ordinary reach of 

 the plow. If they remain wholly undisturbed dur- 

 ing the preparation of the soil, some species re- 

 main in a dormant state, and the subsequent crop 

 may in a great measure escape. Plow the land 

 deeper than usual, and you bring them all to the 

 surface. Do this in the autumn, and leave your 

 land unsown, and the frost of winter may kill the 

 greater part, so that the crops may thereafter grow 

 in safety. But let this deep plowing be done in 

 the spring, and you bring ail these insects within 

 the reach of the early sun, and thus call them to 

 life in such numbers as almost to ensure the de- 

 struction of your coming crop. 



Improvemtnt of the Soil by Mixing. 



There are some soils so obviously defective in 

 constitution, that the most common observer can 

 at once pronounce thorn likely to be improved by 

 mechanical admixtures of various kinds. Thus 

 peaty soils abound too much in vegetable matter; 

 a mixture of earthy substances, therefore, of al- 

 most any common kind, is readily indicated as a 

 means of improvement. In like manner we natu- 

 rally impart consistence to a sandy soil by an ad- 

 mixture of clay, and openness and porosity to Etiff 

 clays by the addition of sand. 



The first and obvious effect of such additions is 

 to alter She physical qualities of the soil — to con- 

 solidate the peals and sands, and to loosen the 

 clays. But the fertility of a soil, or its power of 

 producing a profitable return of this or that crop, 

 depends in the first place on its chemical consti- 

 tution. It must contain in sufficient abundance 

 all the inorganic .substances which that crop re- 

 quires for its daily food. Where this is already 

 the case, as in a rich stiff clay, a decided improve- 

 ment may be produced by an admixture with sili- 

 cious sand, which merely separates the particles 

 mechanically, and renders the whole more po- 

 rous. But let the clay be deficient in some neces- 

 sary constituent of a fertile soil, and such an addi- 

 tion of siliceous sand would not produce by any 

 means an equal benefit. It may be proper to add 

 this sand with the view of producing the mere phy- 

 sical alteration, but wo must add some other sub- 

 stance also, for the purpose of producing the ne- 

 cessary chemical change. 



The good effects which almost invariably follow 

 from the addition of clay to peaty or sandy soils, 

 arc due to the production at one and the same 

 time, of a physical and a chemical change. They 

 arc not only rendered firmer or more solid by the 

 admixture of clay, but they derive from this clay 

 at the same time, some of those mineral substances 

 which they previously contained in less abundance. 



The addition of marl to the land acts often in a 

 similar two-fold capacity. It renders clay lands 

 more open and friable, and to all soils brings an 

 addition of carbonate, and generally of phosphate 

 of litne, both of which are proved by experience to 

 be not only very influential, but to be absolutely 

 necessary to healthy vegetation. 



That much benefit to the land would in many 



instances accrue from such simple admixtures as 

 those above adverted to, where the means are avail- 

 able, will be readily granted. The only question 

 on the subject that ought to arise in the mind of 

 a prudent man, is that which is connected with the 

 economy of the case. Is this the most profitable 

 way in which I can spend my money ? Can I em- 

 ploy the spare labor of my men and horses in any 

 other w«y which will yield me a larger return .^ 

 ]t is obvious that the answer to these question.? 

 will be modified by the circumstances of the dis- 

 trict in which he lives. It may be more profitable 

 to drain — or labor may be in great request and at 

 a high premium — or a larger return may be ob- 

 tained by the investment of money in purchasing 

 new than in improving old lands. 



Salt as a Manure. 



We know that plants require for their sustenance 

 and growth, a certain supply of each of the con- 

 stituents of common salt, which supply, in general, 

 they must obtain from the soil. If the soil in any 

 field contain naturally a sufficient quantity of com- 

 mon salt, or of chlorine and soda in any other state 

 of combination, it will be unnecessary to add this 

 sub.stance ; or if added, it will produce no bene- 

 ficial effect. If, on the other hand, the soil contain 

 little, and has no natural source of supply, the ad- 

 dition of salt may cause a considerable increase in 

 the crop. 



Now there are certain localities in which we 

 can say beforehand that common salt is likely to 

 be abundant in the soil. Such are the lands that 

 lie along the sea-coast, or which are exposed to 

 the action of prevailing sea winds. Over such 

 districts the spray of the sea is constantly borne 

 by the winds and strewed upon the land, or is lift- 

 ed high in the air, from which it descends after- 

 wards in the rains. This consideration, therefore, 

 affords us the important practical rule in regard to 

 the application of common salt — that it is most 

 likely to be beneficial in spots which are remote 

 from the sea or are sheltered from the prevailing 

 sea winds. 



This consideration, it may be hoped, will induce 

 many practical men to proceed with more confi- 

 dence in making trial of its effects on inland situa- 

 tions. 



But some plants are more likely to be benefited 

 by the application of common salt than others. 

 Observations are still wanting to show which of 

 our cultivated crops is most favored by common 

 salt. Some crops may delight more in salt than 

 others ; and if we consider how much alkaline mat- 

 ter is contained in the tops and bulbs of the pota- 

 to and turnip, we are almost justified in concluding 

 that generally common salt will benefit green crops 

 more than crops of grain, and that it will promote 

 more the dcvelopemeiit of the leaf and stem than 

 the filling of the ear. If this be so, we can readi- 

 ly understand how a soil may already contain abun- 

 dance of salt to supply with ease the wants of one 

 crop, and yet too little to meet the demands of 

 another crop. — Johnston's Lectures on the Jjpplicci- 

 lion of Chemislrij to .Agriculture. 



