No. !). 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



J3l 



Upon the application of this principle, I have been 

 aiicceestHl in »Tery inslanue. The proceeo of apply- 

 ing the eiibsoil plough ia this ; a common plough goes 

 Hlong firet, rind removes a lurrbw of tlio dciive soil. 

 After thai the subsoil plough passes along below, and 

 scarifies the subsoil to the depth of ffom twelve to six- 

 teen inches, in some instiinces eighteen inches. This 

 is continucj furro* after lurrow, the plough going 

 first to lay the active soil on the part already opened 

 up; then the plough conies a second time antj takes 

 oir a furrow from another part of ths soil, and places 

 it on that which is already ecaritied. 



As to the proper ptriod for Applying the subso.l 

 plough in pli^ces where the driiiiis have much cflect, 

 the subsoil plough may be applied the following year ; 

 but in clay soils it is important to give the clay suHi- 

 Cient time to dry, and to have it in a friable sttite ; be- 

 cause, in the application of the subsoil plough, when 

 clay svibsoil has been recently drained, and it is not 

 eutiiciently dry, more harm is done than good : the 

 clay being worlted in a wet state is almost prepared 

 for making bricks. If we once work it in that state 

 it is a long period before it recovers its frinb'.c property 

 again. Therefore, in soils rather free, the subsoil 

 plough may be used the second year after the drainage. 



The proper time to execute drains is the slimmer 

 eeasoii ; you carl thert get it miich more tidily done, 

 and the drains are prevented from running. In many 

 places there are little sandy veins and portions of run- 

 ning saiid, which are very apt to fall in before the 

 idrains are covered up. In the winter season this is 

 alrriost sure to bo so ; you may be taken with frost, 

 which drawo oflT the adhesion of the earth*, so that it 

 ifalls down, and fills up the drain. It is best to execute 

 therii in gross lend before it is broken up for cropping, 

 oiberwlse it is too soft. Executing it therefore in the 

 summer season on the lee produces very little loss, 

 because the growth of the grass in the after part of 

 the season will bo so much increased by the execution 

 of the diDilti, that you will be repaid for the time lost 

 for the use ot the pasture during the time the drains 

 were in process of execution, After the drains have 

 been completed, take a crop front the lani, ohd if the 

 land has been pretty good, it will, perhaps, afford two 

 crops ; at all events, one crop should be taken ; that 

 will pass over one summer before the subsoil is to be 

 ploughed. During this season, the earth between the 

 two surfaces has titne to dry ; it ia more friable, and 

 the subsoil plough will be more etBcocioUs in stirring 

 it up. It often happens that there are stones in the 

 soil, which must bo removed before you can proceed 

 with good husbandry ; and it will be found thot, in 

 consequence of the contraction of the soil, they have 

 become in some degree loose, and will be turr.ed out 

 very easily by the subsoil plough. In many instances 

 ■we have stones exceeding 2()0 lbs. weight, which are 

 turned out very eaaily by the subsoil plough with four 

 horses. 



With regard to tha direction ill which the subsoil- 

 ing ought to be carried, I ahould say at right angles 

 with ihe drains ; you thereby form channels, from the 

 centre to the side, in all directions. In that manner 

 you form artificial channels from the centre of the 

 ridge into the drain ; these may partially close up, 

 Btill there is on openness given to the subsoil, which 

 will permit the water to pass freely. 



Having thus applied the subsoil plough to stir up 

 the subsoil, the after cultivation may be the common 

 rotation of the country, such as the former thinks 

 suitable. When ogriculturials hove subaoiled their 

 land, tliey should lay down the land flat on the surface, 

 without any ridges or furrows. Nothing is more inju- 

 rious to the land than ridging it up. In the old modes 

 of diaining, it was quite necessary to have ridges and 

 furrows; but now, when lond is thoroughly drained, 

 there is no occasion for it, and it ie hurtful ; because 

 when water tails on a roundcd-off surface, it imme 

 diately begins to sink away to the lower level, and Ibe 

 woier which has fallen on the tops and middle parts of 

 the ridges is added to the water on the side, which 

 thus has to bear a great deol more than its own pro- 

 portion of woter ; the water c^irries portions ol the 

 soil along with it, ond the cracks are constontly filling 

 up by the running of the sond from the higher port of 

 the ridge lo the lower part. When a field is laid 

 down with ridges and furrows, especiolly on stiff land, 

 a great part of the best of the land runs down into 

 those furrows, and ia deposited in large quantities ot 

 the bottom of the ridge, thereby doing a material mis. 

 chief. If laid in a Sat form you get rid of this evil, 

 and obtain this advantage — that if the woter is bene- 

 ficial to the 8 lil, which it certainly is, you have that 

 benefit equally distributed ; every part receives its own 

 water, and the benefit which the water can give. 



It ia the Btiggeetien of wientific gentlemen that the 



laiii ill falling from the ntmoaphero nbsorbs o consid" 

 erable lirtontity of nmmonin ; ond if there is ony of 

 finity in the soil for ammonia, if the soil wants ammo- 

 nia, the DlRniiy will fextriict the ammonia from the 

 water, the ammonia remaining in tile soil for the 

 nonrishniont of pinnls. Where artificial manure is 

 put into the soil, some ol the fibrous parts of it will 

 be carticd away with the water, and be carried down 

 to the region to which it belongs ; and although not 

 so near the surtocc as it was bctore, it is near enough 

 for the plants to reach it when they put down their 

 roots, 



A peculiar Change takes place in any subsoil — it 

 does not moiter what composed of— after it is plough- 

 ed. This change begins to lake place immediately, 

 and the soil gradually goes from the state in which it 

 was before to that of a m«uld. l( you examine a soil 

 which has become mould, it is of a peculiar stiuc- 

 ture. It appear^ as if all Ilie jiarticlcs were connected 

 together, ottd it sfeems to have some attractive proper- 

 ty by gathering together in that way. Vacuities for 

 the air ore thus formed, and there is a tendency to ab- 

 sorb ond retain as much moisture as is useful to the 

 plant, if filled entirely with irioisture it ia injurious 

 to the plant, but if a certain quaiitity, becomes bene- 

 ficial ; and when a great depth of soil is attained, there 

 is great advantage indeed, in either a wet or a dry 

 season. In a wet seaso'.i the water flows away, leav- 

 ing the soil in d di-y state ; buk in conseqtience of the 

 mouldering state in which the soil is, it is retentive 

 of moisture, and there is a great tnagozine of water 

 preserved in soil for a dry seoson. Being covered by 

 the active soil, the drought moy penetrate a few 

 inches, but in consequence of the lower part of the 

 soil beingcovered with this upper siotum, itisdetend- 

 ed Ironi the e.xtreme action of the rain, and a very 

 dry Etmoephere. It will be found ihat in soil so treat 

 ed ohd converted into this mouldy condition, in dry 

 seasons sufiiciont quantity of moisture will be retain- 

 ed for the use of the plants, which will grow vigor- 

 ously when land in the same neighborhood is com- 

 pleiely dry, 



I do pot think that it is possible to drain land too 

 mutih, fiom the fact that the mould becomes an excel- 

 lent magazine for the retention oiF moisture. A cir- 

 cumstance took place in regard to this in my own dis- 

 trict, in 1826, a very dry season. In that year there 

 was so long a period of dry leather ihat the pond was 

 dried up, and there was a great deficiency of crops, 

 [ hod field which bad been treated in the woy 1 have 

 explained, and I had a crop of hay on it. The hoy 

 in the country round produced not above half a crop. 

 On this field, which I hod deepened to 16 inches, I 

 had a splfendid crop. A proprietor of land in the 

 neighborhood, one of the old school, resisted to the 

 utmost with regard to the result of thorough draining 

 ond subsoil ploughing. A person occasionally em- 

 ployed by me was also engaged in doing work for 

 him. He had asked about this hay, and the old geo- 

 tleman was rather puzzled at the state of the crop, and 

 exclaimed that he really thought I b&d drained my 

 land so much that I should haVeno crop at all. He 

 was immediately after this comp etely weed«d lo the 

 syetem, and from thot day he has been vigorously en- 

 goged in introdublng thorough draining and subeoiling 

 all over his estate ; aiid he is now having a great deal 

 of poor soil, on a very rich and productive estate, 

 treated in the same woy. Taking thfe average of that 

 gentleman's estate, he now produces double the quon- 

 tity of corn thot he uSed to obtain. He now grows 

 potatoes where ho could not grow theni before, and on 

 the old clay he produces regular and large crops of 

 turnips. 



An inqiiiry was made os to whether there was any 

 lond where subsoil-ploughing would be successful 

 without thorough draining, 



Mr. Smith — 1 am much obliged for that hint. 

 Many persons have thought that plougiiing the sub- 

 soil might do without thorough draining, but there 

 are few instances indeed in which that application of 

 the plough will not be hurtful instead of being benefi- 

 cial. If you have a retentive bottom which will not 

 allow the moisture to pass awny, it must remain till 

 absorbed by the atmosphere : therefore the greater ihe 

 chombers for receiving rain, so much the longer will 

 the land be kept in a wet state. The practice which 

 now prevails in the English cloy districts of plough- 

 ing with a shallow harrow, has arisen from the expe- 

 rience of ages, which has taught them that on such 

 soils you cannot cultivate wheat if you plough a deep 

 furrow, because you moke just so much the larger 

 chambers to receive water. Even in open soils 1 

 would not recommend the application of the subsoil 

 plough till the thorough draining had been executed. 



A gentleman oaked if it was necessary to repeat 

 the subsoil ploughing? 



Mr. Smith--lt may not be esscntiolly necesiiary to 

 repent the subsoil ploughing, but it is beneficial, 

 epcot the ploughing ot every shift, every time I break 

 up my follow. 



la it always done in the same line 7 



Mr. Smith — Generully ; eomolimes I have done it 

 ohlii|uely. 



Did you ever try it diogonnlly ^ 



Mr. Smith — Yes; perhops it is better to do it in 

 thot woy according to the drop of the lond. The first 

 ideo 1 had was to use the subsoil plough ; then I 

 thought I might ufc the trench plough, and that I 

 might, the next shift, turn up the whole soil, so as to 

 have a complete mixture. In some fields, where the 

 soil wosof a better quality, and there was more vege- 

 table motter, I had excellent crops ; on the poorer 

 soils, I found that by brinsing up the subsoil to mix 

 with the active soil, after the first shift, I did a great 

 deal of mischief. 1 found, especially with regard to 

 gross, that I could not get that growth of plants which 

 I hod before; immediately on observing that, I re- 

 solved a third time to go over those fields, and that I 

 would again use the subsoil plough ; I have now fal- 

 len into the practice of doing so every time I turn. I 

 took up at the first shift, perhaps about 3 inches, even 

 in the poorest field ; the next time 3 inches more ; 

 and by that meons I gradaally attained a thorough 

 depth of soil to the extent of sixtsen inches. On my 

 own farm I hove a thorough depth of sixteen inches, 

 but thot ie in consequence of using a trench plough on 

 the second shift ; and in some fields that was unsuo- 

 cessful. If I had bad then the experience I now i ave, 

 1 would use the subsoil plough at each shift ; instead 

 of going down the whole sixteen inches, 1 would onlv 

 take lip perhaps three inches the first time and three 

 the next, till I had completed the depth of sixteen 

 inches. 



A Geiitlemon — In draining in the summer season, 

 how do you get the level ? 



Mr, Siriith — By the spirit-level, of course, 



A Gentlemon — The great object would be to get 

 it done cheap ; but it would be much more expensive 

 if done in the summer, 



Mr, Smith — No doubt ; but if I had the choice of 

 executing drains during the winter, at an expense of 

 50 per cent less than the summer, I would prefer do- 

 ing it in summer. The efficiency is of far more im- 

 portance than the expense. 



In summer sometimes the land may e too hard 1 



Yes. In some places, but the bulk of the land will re- 

 tain os much moistureas will enable you to get through 

 it with the plough. Of course that wi 1 vary in diti'er- 

 ent parts of the country. In some places it had bet- 

 ter be done when the ground is more moist. Still, I 

 would recommend it to be done, not in the winter, 

 but in the opting or autumn. 



A Gentleman — I may he perhaps allowed to say 

 that there are cases where subsoil ploughing is effec- 

 tive without thorough draining — as, for in6lan:;e, in 

 the soils of the moorlands. I have tried it myself in 

 the moorlands, and have found that by simply break- 

 ing up that pan which holds up the water which made 

 the lands dry in summei, and wet in winter, all the 

 water escoped ; and lands before not worth 5s. an 

 acre, let for 20e. after it was done. That was cer- 

 tainly a peculiar case. 



A gentleman inquired whether the rocks under the 

 stratification were horizontal or perpendicular. 



Mr. Smith — There was very little stratification at 

 all. I am aware of what has been stated with regard 

 to destroying the pans, such as are placed upon grav- 

 el ; but, thorough draining moy be applied with ad- 

 vantage losand or to grovel ; ond though in the grav- 

 el the opening must be at a considerable distance, and 

 consequently the water will be lony in finding its way 

 out, if it gets into the channel it will go off easily. 

 These dry soils retain moisture a great deal too long 

 for agricultural purposes. A neighbor of mine was 

 draining his land — a sort of irregular subsoil — and in 

 some places had very considerable ruts or rising ground 

 with sandy ond gravel bottom ; he instructed his stew- 

 ard to stop the drain when he came to those holes. 

 This was done, and two winters alter the gentleman 

 was coursing one day, and all at once his horse sunk 

 over the fetlocks in the soft ground. He called outto 

 his steward to know the cause, and bis steward ex- 

 plained that this was the portion of land on which ha 

 had desired the drain to be stopped. This fact illus- 

 trates what I have said, that when agriculturists have 

 determined on draining a field they should resolve to 

 drain it wholly, otherwise they are only throwing the 

 expense away. Where persons have drained wet 

 parts, and left what they considered dry undrained, 

 they have soon found that the land formerly the wettest 

 ivas then driest, and when the part which had been 

 drained was ready to receive the eeed, they were d«. 



