496 TitAXSACTioxs OF THE American IxsTrrrrE. 



t]\e man who lias seen tlie Ifanner, ■\vlio have eo clearly proved- tiK.ir 

 value as to cause the general adoption of either of thcni by their 

 neighbors. So far, there is certainly a want of taitli in those who 

 have been looking on. 



As to trenching, I have tried it twice in my own garden. Having 

 more stable manure than I cared to nse on the surface. I buried it 

 freely by trenching to the depth pf eighteen inches, or twice tlio 

 depth of ordinary spading. Those parts of the garden have never 

 been better in any respect tlian the parts nntrenchod. In this cx]>g- 

 riment manure enough was wasted to have'made as much poor ground 

 rich. 



Mr. G-reeley describes very properly in his five fir.st propositions 

 what kinds of land should never be plowed. But' when he says, '"■ Tf 

 plants cannot fmd more anchorage, moisture, and food, Tviore certainly, 

 and more abundantly, in twelve to eighteen inches of s.dl, than in six, 

 then reason is a fool, and mathematics a conjectural science," all of 

 which appears to mc to be an assumption to avoid the question at 

 issue. As to anchorage, many of our mightieet forest trees rest only 

 on a broad expanse of roots lying just under the surface. TV ere it 

 possible to lift tliem out bodily without breaking tlio roots, and set 

 them down somewliere else, they would still stand almost as firmly as 

 before. Those who have traveled in a beech woods m "11 know what 

 is meant by a pavement of roots. I have traced tlvj roots of the 

 tulip tree for one hundred feet, and all tlie way partly above ground. 



As to the moisture^ sought for by the roots tiiat riui down many 

 feet, the moisture of the earth passes olf by evaporation. If these 

 roots will remain near the surface, the moisture will comoto tliem. 



As to the food sought after at those depths, it is possible they may 

 find something they want. 



In clearing off the forests, in many of the new Bttttlt'incnts, stump- 

 pullers are used. As far as I have observed, the roots of these fitumps 

 run the deepest in the poorest land; and the inference is that plant- 

 food could not be found near the surface. 



I can imagine that the upper stratum of drift Uu)d may be poor 

 and the subsoil rich, and that they might be transposed to advantage 

 by deep plowing. 



I can also imagine that alluvials might be ])iowed deep to advan- 

 tage, but the o\yners of such lands tell us they find it best to plow 

 only two and a half or three inches, just deep enough to cover the 

 sod. I hav'e passed many weeks on a. plantation made by drainage ia 



