THE SOUTH I<:HN CUI/nVATOK. 
183 
known, iri;ty tjc so iin|j iverishcd by consttini 
tillajrt.* H rid se/cre croppin;', as lo l)(,'conie coin- 
paruiivcly barren, but they may be renovated 
by unusual defiifi l<» tiie furrow and 
bfin^iriy; up a portion of soil that has never 
been robbed of its native leriility. 
Hut in my case this could not be, (br the clay 
orrath^'rthe subsoil, composed of clay atid 
sand, it) many locations almost irrificrvions to 
water, atid altogether sterile, was Ibutiil at 
riepths of from four to cijrht iticfies from the 
surface, liere th m, were i wo dilJieullies — my 
soil lacked ieitili.y, and itfacked (|e[ ih. It was 
not only poor, but there was not enough of it. 
Its ft'riiliiy might be restored by manure, but Uie 
want of deptb was alveays fatal to tfie ctofi, in 
seasons either of drougbl or moisture. 
The great desideratum, then, was to increase 
the deptli of soil. This could not be done by 
deep plowing, with the common plow, or by the 
ase of I lie subsoil filow. 
The first of tfiese modes is liatde to two ob- 
cctions, both of great piactical importance. 
And 1st, In those fields where the depth of the 
Soil varies fn in lour to eight inches, a lur'ow 
ten inches deep and of the cotnmon v^idth, 
would require the [lower of two yoke of oxen 
— and any consjder.ihlc increase in the depth of 
furrow wijuld cmjiloy the addition of a tfiird 
team. 21. Under such culture the soil is fiu- 
ried d>'ep and ilie subsoil brought to the surface, 
presenting a clay-cold, paie face. 'Fhi; great 
am Hint of manure necessary to bring sueh 
land to at once— to give it the hue of health, 
and the vigor of fertility, 1 could not at all af- 
ford; and as illy could I avail the slow natural 
proce.ss of am dioration by the frost amt the 
snow of winter, and ttie showers and the sun- 
shine of summer. My interest required that I 
should adopt some plan less expensive tlian 
the one, and more expeditious than the other, 
I had long thought of the sub.soil plow as an 
implement adapted to rny' purpose; but not un- 
til the past winter did 1 resolve to lest theory by 
experiment, and givesubsoil culturea fair trial, 
deeply impressed with the belief that it steered 
clear of those insuperable objections that exist 
to the other mode, and that it was w ell ada[iled 
to eflecl rnyobjecl in the tnost perfect manner, 
and at the least [lossihle outlay, both of labor 
and manure. 'I’hal impression bas been deep- 
ened by experience and observation. 
At our late cattle show and fair, I exhibited 
my subsoil plow, and am satisfied, not only 
from the report of a committee, making grati- 
fying mention of it as a new and valuable itn- 
plement, and awardingme a premium, but also 
fro-ni the universal curiosity exeiled by iisexfii- 
bition, and the equally universal marvel “what 
it could be for,” that it may not be out of [dace 
here, briefly to describe it and the manner of its 
working. 
The subsoil plow is perhaps best described 
as “the cjinmon plow without a mold board,” 
and having in lieu of it, a cast iron [date four 
or five inches wide, fastened to the sliare, and 
running back (with its plane at rightangles to 
the plane of the landsides) lothe heel of the 
plow, when it is elevated about four inches, 
constituting an inclined plane, over which the 
clods broken up by the share pass, and in 
their progress are still more broken and displa- 
ced. The stilts most convenient, are those com- 
monly used with the side-hill pb^w. 
It does its work entirely belov/ the range of 
the soil plow, and at the bottom of the furrow 
made by it ; and in orrjinary culture a comn:ori 
pl»w is always employed at the same lime wiili 
the subsoiler. 
- First goes the soil plow, in the usual way, 
turning over its slice of soil, and just after it 
comes the subsoiler, working in tire bottom of 
the new made furrow, thoroughly diftlurbing 
and displacing but not inverling the hard sub- 
soil, to the depth (if required) of 14 inches, 
with No. ], and 18 or 20 with larger size.s oi 
the plow. Then comes the soil plow again, on 
ilssecond round, turning over its slice rd .soil — 
covering the work of the subsoiler, (not its fur- 
row, for it make# none,) and uncovering a new 
an 1 nntiriiken line ol subsoil lor the s.etiond 
round of the sub’-oiler. 'J’hus they altertiale, 
and ex(ierience satisfies me that lwoteams(one 
toeach [dow,) will do as much wiili rcs[)i cl to 
quar.tity, more with re.s[)cct to efficient and pro- 
fiiable ullage, tfiari ifiree similar teams can, 
with the common plow, it) the oilier mode. 
'I'hns at leai-l :i third <il the team woik i.s saved 
at tlie outset, besides being ahogeiher more 
mtinagcable ami eonvenierit. 
Subt-oil culture leaves tlie soil at the surface, 
where it is wanted — inverti-d, Imt tiot biiri'ul • 
and by break!'. g up the .sub.^^oil, [jiepares it for 
the meliorating influence (d'lhe frosts ol witHer, 
and the genial watimb and st)ov;eis of summer. 
Whatever may be the culture ol the soil, 
whether it l.e iti tfie gtass, in grain, or in fal- 
low-manured or starved — no matter how dee[) 
the frost, how fierce the heat, or how ref reshing 
the rain, a stiff and unkindly s»b.soil is still ju.sl 
what it was a century ago, and what it will 
continue to be for ag<'s to eome, urdess it fic dis- 
turbed by mechanical ectiun. Hut let its natu- 
ral compactness be but once effectually broken 
up by ill'.* stilisoiler, and then the fro.sts [inlver- 
ize and rend'-r it permeable, rains earry down 
fertilizing rrial'er, superahuridaut moistnte is let 
off, the temp'-raiiire is raised, small roots [rio- 
neer downward in search of food anrl rrrom, and 
lend .‘-till further to fit materials lately so barren, 
lor an active and beneficial agency in su'^iain- 
ing vegetable life. 
It is generally thought, and seems reasona- 
ble to believe, that in porous soils 1‘ e rains 
Icar h the surface and carry down one of its va- 
luable productive qualitir s bclov/ tire reacli ol 
orriinary [dowing; and may il not be .so, to 
some extent, w iih more tenacious soibs? I.s it 
not probable that stiffsubs /ils may have receiv- 
ed and reti'ined that, which, v/hen brought to 
the surface and iricorporated with the upper 
soil, H ill add somewhat lo its fertility? 
At each successive [d'lwingtlieri, let the depth 
of furrow be gradually increased, thus bring- 
ing up to the surlace, by little and little the 
anrielioraierl material from below, and until the 
de[)iti of soil is obtained; and il seems quite 
probable that the occasional use of ilie subsidh r 
ill after years, would be am[dy rewarded by an 
increase of crop, and may indeed be indispen- 
sable, again and again, to break up the parlially 
compacted subsoil, and to keep open that kind 
of unrlerdrain, so universally needed in stiff 
soils, and especially when under grain. 
In the coursi of the summer I have had oc- 
casion to break up the gravelled wagon tra'k of 
the highway near rny dwelling, and have done 
it w'holly with the subsoiler anil a single team. 
It was severe work certainly for the horses — 
but with the soil plow, two just such teams 
would not have stirred it an inch; and with 
team enough to perform the work, no ordinary 
plow would have borne the strain lor a moment. 
V/e thus completed speedily and in the best 
manner, with the team, what would have re- 
nuired a comparatively large outlay of h; nd la- 
bor — the subsoiler bf-ing substiiin'*d f/r the 
pick, and the team performing the work ol at 
least a half dozen men. 
Wherever ditches are required, on land suffi- 
ciently firm to carry a learn, the subsoiler is 
employed to great advantage. 'J'be team need- 
ed is a yoke of oxen — the yoke, a piece of scant- 
ling long enough t'l allow each ox sufficient 
room lo travel outside of the ditch— an't length- 
ening the chain, enables you lo plow without 
inconvenience in a ditch two feet deep. 
My experiments have not been sufilciently 
accurate or extensive to epeble me to state the 
actual saving, but I am fully satisfied not only 
that the amount of hard labir i.s materially 
abridged, but that the necessity for spading, the 
hardest part of that labor, is obviated entirely, 
'I’he plow used in making the following ex 
perimenis, is of the manufacture of f{ uggles, 
Nourse & Mason, of Worcester, Mass., pro- 
cured Iro n Hrtiyn, Wilson & Vosburg, of A I 
bany. It a siibsianiial, neaf, and highly fin 
ished implement, as are all the articles of thcii 
make that 1 have happened to see: 
Jtj'.rpr'rimciU !\'o. I, — May Kith.— IMowed two 
acics — in poiatoi s last seasmi, plaiiKdoii the 
sod — .soil, a sandy loam, six or eight inehes 
deep — subsoil somewhat clayey. ( tie-hall of 
this [u’eee was siihsoiled to the depth of eight 
inches felow the bottom rd' the soil [dow fur- 
row, making the whole (i'qdfi of the culture 
about 14 incties. After a dressing of it-n loads 
of rotten riling lo the aere, one-half was sow'n 
tri V. tieal, anil the other to oats, and finislKrl v'ilh 
grass seerls and the roller. 
I'lipfirifiif.nl, !\'o. 2.--May 17ih. — Subsoilerl a 
siti[) lour rofis wiile, through a fi- Id [ilanteil 
w'iiii corn itie IDili. Hoil, derjj sandy lorirn, 
with ocrasiori.'il grave] knrdls. 
H:ij)f;ru/icnl No. ‘,i. — Uieeri-sward last year, 
and planted with polaioi s. Hoi), similar lo 
No. 1. I’low'cd 24th May, arul fialf of it snb- 
soil'-d — sown ill oats same ilay, and treated ii 
all respects like No 1. 
'I'he corn cro|i oti No, 2 was gorid, but bad 
no advantage eiifier in grow ih or yield over ad- 
jacent [larts of ihe field. Tfie experiment was 
made wiih the expectation that it would be la- 
bor lost, ami so it wa*-. Hut with respect lo 
Nos. I and d, better hopes were at first cfierish- 
ed — hopes early disaiqioinled ami soon aban- 
doned. Nobemfji to any of Ihe crops on 1 or 
y has yet been realized. 
'I’iiis shows that with a merlium deulb of wfil 
aliemly nridi'r gooil cullivation--wilh a subsoil 
not unusually fiaril and siubborn — with tm 
loads of good manure lo the acre as a ti p dren,- 
ingq and with a favorable season lo crown the 
wtiole, we nterf not )o(/k for [uofiiablc results 
from subsoil culture, at least tlic first reason. 
And yet, I confess I .' hall he rlirappoinled if the 
rjova do not feel ami show the benefit <il it the 
coming season, a fact that can be ccriairdy and 
readily determined, lor the pi'-ces subsoil'd are 
all accurately marked. 
None of that poriic-n ol my farm where ruh- 
soil culture is ex[iectcd to be most beneficial, 
has been under the plow the past seasmi— but 
in the course of the approaching spring it ia de- 
signed to try it on a more extensive scale, and 
on land lielter adapted to [irove ils value. 
There arc three sizes ol the subsoil plow. 
When selecting mine, I judged that either of 
the larg'- sizes would require more than a sin- 
gle team to work it, but from the case with 
which a single span of horses draws No. 1, in 
all ordinary work, I am satisfied that No. 2 
would have better answered my purposes — the 
g.-eaier width of ils work, and ol course the 
more complete di.s[ilacernerit of clods effected 
by it, eorisiiiming an obvious ari vantage, and at 
very trifling cost. If needed, one or more addi- 
tional learn may lie attached wiihoul risk, the 
plow being designed to resist Ihe severest strain. 
Heveral ol my neighhors witnessed rny exfie- 
ri merits, and among them were Chief Justiee 
Savage, laic ITesidentof our County Agrinil- 
liiral Society, and ])r. Fitch, ils indefatigable 
ami iriiclligcnt Secretary— all < I wiiorn with 
one accord pronounced the new plow a very 
perfect implement, admirably filled to f/erptn 
and to dry thin, hard anrl wet soils. 
My own conclusions, based on repeated tri- 
als of the plow, are 
Ist. 'I'hat subsoil culture is the only practi- 
cable mride of deepening the soil. 
2d. 'J’he expense attending il is not rnalerial- 
Iv greater than that of common plowing. 
”(J. It is entirely [iracticabb; to break up the 
rrio--t indurated subsoil, tri any rerjuired depth, 
4ih, I'lKt harder the mairrria) the more [lerfeet 
the breaking up, ami tiie more complete the dis- 
placement (il the clods. 
.fiifi. 'i’his moile of culture neither buries the 
soil nor necessarily brings the rubsoil lo the 
surface. 
G.'h. It is the most economical am] effectual 
mrHle of di.sposing of superabundant moisture , 
and, by con'-equenee, raising the ternncralure 
of the soil, dc'siroying mosses, and encourag- 
ingihegrowth nl a pr' fitable vegetation. 
kialcrn, Dec. WO ^ 1844. 
Persevete and you will ensure success. 
