(93) 



Eat there is still another plan, in ease the soil has any 

 descent, and there are few lands in Tennessee without it, 

 and that is by means of a subsoil plow. Let a stout subsoil 

 plow follow in the furrow of a turning plow, both drawn by 

 stout teams, and send the subsoiler at least two feet deep. 

 Let the furrows run up and down the hill so as to give a 

 regular descent to the water, and the hard pan broken up 

 by the subsoil will carry off all superfluous water after rains 

 in a very short time. This process is so effective that it is 

 pursued in some sections to the exclusion, entirely, of reg- 

 ular draining. It will have to be repeated at intervals of 

 three or four years, and there will be but little disturbance 

 to the sod, as the subsoiler has only an iron bar for a helve, 

 ■which raises the surface so slightly it can easily be pressed 

 back with a roller. 



From all the testimony to be gathered on this subject, it 

 is pretty apparent that the cost of draining a meadow will 

 be paid the first year by the increased production of the crop. 

 The after- crops will be profits to the farmer. 



After what has been said in regard to almost every kind 

 of grass, it is almost needless to impress on the mind of the 

 farmer the necessity of thoroughly pulverizing the soil. 

 Let it be well and deeply broken up, and then with the 

 harrow, drag and roller continue to work it until it is 

 Bmooth and not a clod appears on the surface. The roots of 

 grasses are exceedingly delicate and cannot penetrate the 

 bard, dry lumps of soil, but will exhaust their energies in 

 going around or under them. Besides, in exactly the same 

 proportion as the clods exist, are the nourishing elements 

 locked up from the use of the grass. Another reason : 

 when clods exist in great numbers, the ground will be rough 

 and the seed will not get into the soil, or will get in too 

 deep to germinate. Thus seeds are lost and the stand im- 

 paired. 



It is needless to say the soil must be fertile, for nothing 

 will thrive well on poor soil. If it is not rich it must be 



