366 Transactions of the American Institute. 



How they Plow in England. 

 The Club was favored with the following interesting and impor- 

 tant statements made by Mr. Henry Taylor: Various opinions 

 still exist as to the required depths. This operation must be regu- 

 lated according to the nature of the soil and the kind of crop intended 

 to be grown. For instance, for the wheat crop the depth varies 

 from five to six inches ; barley and oats, four to five inches ; beans 

 and peas, six to eight inches ; and for mangel-wurzel, turnips, kohl 

 rabbi, carrots, parsnips and cabbages, the soil should be plowed from 

 ten to fourteen inches. But once in four years it is undoubtedly 

 essential to thoroughly plow or smash up the soil to the depth of 

 two or more feet, where the depth of the soil will allow the imple- 

 ment to penetrate ; and without the least hesitation I say that this 

 depth cannot be uniformly done, only by that best of all agricultural 

 implements, the steam-plow or cultivator, on strong or heavy soils. 

 But the fens or the black lands in Lincolnshire, which have been 

 reclaimed from the sea, can be cultivated to the depth named by 

 horse-power. I know of large tracts in England that have been 

 farmed by the same family for upward of thirty or forty years, and 

 this land has been all but ruined, and would scarcely produce eight 

 bushels per acre of any kind of corn in consequence of being plowed 

 so shallow for many years. The best instance I know of this kind 

 is the Britannia farm, the property of the Messrs. J. & F. Howard, 

 the eminent manufacturers of all kinds of modern agricultural imple- 

 ments, at Bedford, England. Previous to the Messrs. Howard pur- 

 chasing their home or steam-cultivated farm, it had been occupied 

 for many years by a very respectable tenant, who used to drain shal- 

 low and plow shallow. The consequence was, his crops were upon 

 an average fair .crops, but in indifferent seasons the crops were quite 

 inferior. The Messrs. Howard purchased this farm for about $150 

 per acre, which price will at once tell you that it was not first-class 

 land in England, where many places cannot be bought for $500 per 

 acre. After the purchase, the spirited proprietors drained the whole 

 of the farm four feet deep, and about thirty-three feet apart from 

 drain to drain. They then smashed the whole tract of land up, to 

 the depth of twelve to eighteen inches — and they still continue to 

 cultivate very deep, and I have no hesitation in saying that, take 

 their crops upon an average during the past eight years, no better or 

 finer could be produced in England, on the best soils. Also, I am 

 sure if the same property was to be sold it would bring $500 an acre. 

 All this vast improvement was entirely brought about by thorough 



