480 TnAxsACTToys of tue Americax Institute. 



lage, we ^vill not go largely into this debate to-day. "We hope to see 

 both these gentlemen here next week. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — The correspondent appears to have read 

 to very little purpose. 



Another Member. — Or he has foiled to read the right kind of 

 books. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller.- — I wonder Iioat he would raise beets and root 

 crops on his soil one inch deep. 



Mr. T. C. Peters.— These sidewalk farmers talk very glibly about 

 the merits of deep tillage, and the demerits of shallow tillage. I 

 have seen beets grow on land tilled only three inches in depth. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller. — I would like to know what the gentleman 

 means by sidewalk tarmers. Most of the speakers here have held 

 the plow and turned the furrow on their own land, and may be 

 presumed to knoV\' something about plowing. I, myself, have 

 tilled the soil on four farms in as many different States, and once 

 cultivated prairie land for nine successive years. The true question 

 at issue is not whether crops will grow on new land that is rich and 

 deep and comparatively loose by nature, but whether we can increase 

 the yield on old fields that have been cro])ped for years. As to Mr. 

 Peters' remarks on beets growing in three inches, what he eays may 

 hold good of mangel-wurzel that grow two-thirds out of the ground, 

 but not of a sugar beet, or common blood beets that grow ten or 

 fifteen inches below the surface and one or two above it. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman. — Tlie whole matter amounts to simply this: 

 "When land is new and strong, ])]ants may thrive upon tlie plant food 

 that lies near the surface, but this is soon exhausted. As has been 

 remarked here this afternoon, wlieat may sometimes be grown for a 

 number of years in succession on some soils with light tillage, but 

 these exceptions only prove the rule ; and even in such cases there is 

 nothing to show that the crops would not I>e heavier if the land ■were 

 pulverized to a greater depth. A soil must eventually be worn out 

 by surface cropping, and the philosophy of deep ])lo\ving is only to 

 allow the roots to go down after nutriment that they could not reach 

 without it. 



Maxagemext of Egg Plants. 



A correspondent at Bailey's Mills, Florida, says : "Will some of the 

 members of the Farmers' Club tell me of a good plan for insur- 

 ing the germination of Q(^g plant seeds ? It has ahvays been 



