Proceedixgs of the Farmers^ Club. ' 609 



Doubtless the Creator meant more than hits the sense wlien beneath 

 the arch of the first rainbow he told the patriarch never again should 

 the animated tribes perish by a general flood. That dispensation of 

 earthquakes and floods was necessary. By it the Creator has made 

 the earth one vast cellarage ; in its immeasurable vaults are held in 

 store all that humanity needs for coming ages. Here are the exhaust- 

 less sources of warmth and power. Here are the sunken floors of old 

 oceans, with all their long cumulated remains of animal life and 

 animal death. By these tokens the Grreat Planter has taught the 

 race that tillage need never exhaust a surface. Thus hath He pro- 

 vided for methods sounder, wiser than those we practice in that 

 magnificent agriculture by whicli the coming races areata be clothed 

 and fed. 



"When and Where to Plow Deep. 



Mr. J. F. "Wolfinger, Milton, Penn. — The time for plowing our 

 grounds for oats, corn and other crops is now near at hand; but 

 whether we should plow deep or shallow is the question asked by 

 many. Some lands are improved while others are made worse by 

 deep plowing, and hence many farmers, after all that has been said 

 upon this subject, both jwo and con, are still in doubt as to whether 

 they should plow their own grounds any deeper than they have been 

 doing. And now, to remove, so far as I can, "the perplexing mist" 

 that hangs around this ""vexed question," I send you the following 

 practical information derived from those who have tried deep plowing 

 upon various soils : 



About twenty years ago, the commissioner of our United States 

 Patent Office was desirous of obtaining trustworthy information in 

 regard to tlie subject of deep plowing and its effects upon our soils. 

 and crops ; and to obtain that information he sent out, all over our 

 land, a printed "Circular," containing, among other important agri- 

 cultural questions, this one, to wit: "How deep do you plow your 

 ground for corn, wheat, &c. ?" The following are the best answers 

 to the question received from farmers residing in seventeen of our 

 different States. The agricultural reports here referred to are those 

 of our United States Patent Office for the years named. So read 

 with care now what our deep plowing farmers say in regard to deep 

 plowing : 



1. Maine. — G. "W". Guptill, of York county, says : Farms tliat Lave 

 been long cultivated are being exhausted of many mineral manures^, 



[Inst.] 39 



