504 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Having spread our organic manure over the soil we should pro- 

 ceed to plow it, and in this work we have certain rules for our 

 guidance. No lands, except very light sands, should ever be 

 plowed while wet, as they work more easily, and are left in 

 much better condition when tolerably dry. For Spring work the 

 more completely sod can be covered, and the more smooth the 

 surface can be left the better will be the plowing — other things 

 being equal ; because the object being to produce an even and 

 friable surface, free from grass or weeds, the course to be jjursued 

 .is just the opposite of that which should be employed in the Fall, 

 when the object of plowing is simply to leave the surface so 

 rough that the largest possible amount of soil shall be exposed to 

 the action of frosts. 



In spring-plowing the surface-plow should be run as deep as 

 may be without interfering with the smoothness of its furrow, 

 provided, in case the subsoil is much poorer than the surface 

 soil, that so much of this be not elevated as will interfere with 

 the early growth of the plant. When this marked distinction 

 exists between the surface soil and the subsoil, the surface fur- 

 row may in all cases be run one or two inches deeper than at the 

 previous plowing with advantage. 



The jee-about system of i:)lowing, supposed to have been in- 

 vented by Mr. Levi Durand, of Derby, and so lucidly described 

 by him, may be adopted with advantage at alternate plowings, as 

 it prevents the continued turning of the soil towards the fence. 

 The loosening of the subsoil by the use of the subsoil plow may 

 be made highly profitable in all soils not containing an excess of 

 water. The subsoiler should follow in the furrow of the surface- 

 plow, and be run as deep as possible. This will insure to any 

 crop a full supply of water, and will greatly extend the feeding 

 sui'face offered to its roots. 



In no case should the aggregate depth of the surface furrow 

 and the subsoil cut be less than fifteen inches when the depth is 

 attainable. Harrowing, as a means of attaining an even surlace, 

 is, on a majority of soils, a condemnable practice. Still, as nearly 

 every farmer in America employs this means, and as they cannot 

 be made to abandon it by coaxing or driving, we can only recom- 

 mend that the surface of the soil be left in plowing so as to re- 

 quire as little of it as possible. The wedge shape of the harrow 

 tooth causes the soil to be compacted below the immediate surlace 

 which is pulverized, while the necessity for passing repeatedly 

 over the soil to complete the operation causes further compact- 



