SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR 
:inues on until all the land is laid out above the first guide 
furrow. Meanwhile another boy, with the same sort of a 
plow, a scooter is following on, running one furrow al- 
ways on the lower side, running first right and then left, 
sufficiently near to break the ground perfectly into the 
track of the other or first furrow. The reason for this 
second furrow is obvious v/hen you reflect that a good 
turning plow, such as Freeborn’s No. lU will turn the 
dirt so far over a single furrow that in returning you can- 
not break the ground perfectly into the first furrow run. It 
therefore becomes necessary that your land may be per- 
fectly pulverized through, and especially in the centre of 
the bed where you intend to plant your crop. Having 
finished above the first guide row, the principal plowman 
comes down to fill the space between that and the second. 
As in the case above, he starts in below the first guide fur- 
row-followed by the other boy as before, running the 
second furrow always on the lower side and runs parallel 
to it, governed in the distance by his stick as before, until 
he runs three or four furrows — governed in the number 
by the distance of the guide furrow below — then he shifts 
to the upper side of the guide furrow below, and continues ! 
to run as many furrows as were run to the one above. By 
this time the parallel rows will more than likely approach 
each other on that part of the ground that is most abrupt, 
and leave one or more places where the ground is more 
level, not laid off or filled up, as it is technically called. 
The ballance must be filled up with short rows on that 
side which should seem to be the best level to the eye of | 
the plowman. Meanwhile the other plows may go on! 
bedding up, by running the first furrow on the lower side ; 
of the row, or a furrow, run for the purpose of bedding to ' 
and returning on the upper side of the same row or fur- 
row and thus continuing on until one-half the middle is 
taken on each side. The necessity for running the first 
furrow on the lower side is obvious to every plowman. It | 
is because having an open furrow to turn the furrow slice i 
into the resistance that would be otherwise offered to it by ! 
turning up the hill, is removed, while returning on the up- 
per side, the plow having the advantage of turning the 
furrow slice down the hill is enabled to lay the dirt up 
much better than if it was turning up hill, without the ad- 
vantage of an open furrow to receive its furrow slice. 
Thus the operation moves on till the field is completed, 
without any regard to the ditches, other than to prevent 
the plows from dragging or discharging their dirt in them 
as they cross them. 
The operator or manager may be somewhat surprised 
at his guide furrows at one end, or at some point in 
the field coming much nearer together at one point 
than another. This not unfrcquently occurs, and al- 
ways does, where the same level passes over ground 
that is a steep hill, and at some other point, over that 
which is comparatively level. In cases of this kind, much 
judgment is to be exercised by the man that is filling up, I 
and it not unfrequenily requires the judgment of the oper- 
ator or manager and sometimes the level, to know on 
which side to ihrov/ in the short rows, for the great object 
IS to keep your rows as level as possible, 1 
I am aware of the great objections that many have to j 
fne short rows that necessarily occur in the horizontal cul- 1 
iivation ; to these objections I will reply at the proper I 
place. It will be proper, however, to make one or two j 
remarks, showing how time may be saved in plowing j 
those short rows, without dragging the plow from i 
where a bunch of them may be finished in the middle ofi 
the field, if you please, to the end to begin the next row. j 
And just here I will remark, that the crop is plowed m the j 
same way that I have recommended for the bedding of 
the land, by running the first furrow on the lower side j 
of the row, and the returning furrow on the upper side, i 
IVcw to the snort rows. A hand having started a: the i 
end on the row next to the one just finished, in returning 
on the upper side he finds a bunch of short rows above 
him ; he, however, goes on until he is going back wfith his 
last furrow. When he gets to the end of the first short 
row he stops and plows it; when it is finished on. arriv- 
ing at its end and without stopping his horse he throws 
over his plow to the place from which he first turned 
round, and carries the farrow on until he comes to the 
end of another short row ; he turns and plows that and 
so on until all are plowed; he then throws his plow over 
as before and gains the end at his proper place. 
I have now, sir, gone through with the description of 
the level, the manner of using it in laying off the ditches, 
of opening them, and the guide rows, the manner of filling 
up between, and the method of plowing or bedding them, 
which ends the chapter on these subjects. I hope I have 
made myself understood ; but if I have not, all that 3 rou 
have to do is to interrogate me as to that particular point, 
point out clearly the difficulty that seems to be in the way, 
and I have no fears but that I can explain fully to yourunder- 
standing the point that may be in doubt. I had intended 
in this communication to give the whys and wherefores of 
this system, and answer a few of the most prominent ob- 
jections that are made to it, as well as to point out why 
the various systems that are intended to approximate to 
this, and the system which had suggested itself to your 
mind, and spoken of in your letter, will not do. But I 
am warned by the number of pages already %vritten, that I 
shall quite occupy the space that the editors can conveni- 
ently spare for one letter. In my next I will take up 
those subjects, when the beauty of the system vdll more 
fully appear. "With high regard, 
Your most obedient servant, 
R. S. HAUDwtcic. 
Jocasde, Hancock Co., Go. 
[To be Concluded.] 
DEE? PLOWING. 
Editors Southern Cultjv.ctor — Herewith I send a 
few lines upon an old subject — old, but not exhausted, nor 
even sufficiently appreciated here. It needs to be kept 
continually before the eyes of our '‘go-a-head” farmers 
who are too much addicted to rough and ‘•'make shift.” 
culture — killing too often the goose in search of the golden 
egg. It may arrest the attention of some one in bis pre- 
paration of the next year’s crop, and thus fulfil its mission 
of good. 
It is at your service if you think it worth a place in tb.s 
Cultivator. 
Volumes have been written to prove the advantages of 
deep plowing and thorough draining, and volumes will 
yet be written again and again to urge and recommend 
them ; for they are the cardinal principles in all good til- 
lage, and their value is too apt to be overlooked. They 
require time and labor to perform properly, and unless 
their value is truly estimated they are too often neglect- 
ed in the hurry of preparation, and the anxiety to culti- 
vate more extensively. 
Let us condense in a few lines, some of the advantages 
of deep plowing ; by which is meant not only the thor- 
ough pulverizing of the upper soil to a considerable depth, 
but also the losening of the subsoil ; for, within reeisou- 
able limits, there is no doubt that the deeper the plowing 
the more effectual it is. 
Ist. It lets in air to the roots. The roots and more es- 
pecially the small rootlets and spongelets at their ends, 
need a certain amount of atmospheric air to perform tbei.'. 
functions in a healthy manner. When the soil Is shallot' 
