140 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
ON DEEP PJ. OWING. 
Deep plowing difiers from ordinary and sub- 
soil plowing in this— that its special object is to 
bring to the surface and to mix with the upper 
soil^a portion of that which has lain long at a 
considerable depth, and has been more or less 
undisturbed. 
The benefit of such an admixture of fresh 
soil is in many localities undoubted, while in 
others the practical farmer is decidedly opposed 
to it. On what principle does its beneficial ac- 
tion depend, and in what circumstances is it 
likely to be attended with disadvantage^ 
1. 'It is known that when a heavy shower of 
rain falls, it sinks into the soil, and carries down 
with it such readily soluble substances as it 
meets with on the surface. But other substan- 
ces, also, which are more sparingly solnble, 
slowly and gradually find their way into the sub- 
soil, and there more or less permanently remain. 
Among these may be reckoned g)''psum, and es- 
pecially those silicates of potash and soda, so 
useful to grain-bearing plants. Such substan- 
ces as these naturally accumulate beyond the 
reach of the ordinary plow. Insoluble substan- 
ces likewise slowly sink. This is well known 
to be the case with lime, when laid upon or 
plowed into land. So it is with clay, when mix- 
ed with a surface soil of sand or peat. They 
all descend ' ill they get beyond the reach of the 
common plow. Thus it happens that after the 
surface soil becomes exhausted of one or other 
of those inorganic compounds which the crops 
require, an ample supply of it may still be pre- 
sent in the subsoil, though, until turned up, un- 
available for the promotion of vegetable growth. 
There can be little question, I think, that the 
greater success which attends the introduction 
of new implements in the hands of better in- 
structed men, upon farms long held in arable 
culture, is to be ascribed in part to this cause. 
One tenant, duriug a long lease, has been in the 
habit of plowing to a depth of three, or at most, 
perhaps, four inches — and from this surface the 
crops he has planted have derived their chief 
supplies of inorganic food. He has limed his 
land in the customary manner, and has laid upon 
it all the manure he could raise, but his crops 
have been usually indifferent, and he considers 
the land of comparatively little value. But an- 
other tenant comes, and with better implements 
turns up the land to a depth of 7 or 8 inches, — 
He thus brings to the surface the lime and the 
accumulated manures which have naturally 
sunk, and which his predecessor had permitted 
year after year to bury themselves in his sub- 
soil, He thus has a new, otten a rich, and al- 
most always a virgin soil to work upon — one 
which from being long buried, may require a 
winter’s exposure and mellowing in the air, but 
which in most eases is sure to repay him for 
any extra cost. 
Again, it is known that some districts, for rea- 
sons perhaps not well understood, are more in- 
fested than others with insects that attack the 
corn or other crops. These insects, their eggs, 
or their larvae, generally bury themselves in the 
undisturbed soil, immediately beyond the ordi- 
nary reach of the plow. If they remain wholly 
undisturbed during the preparation of the soil, 
some species remain in a dormant state, and the 
subsequent crop may in a great measure escape. 
Plow the land deeper than usual, and you bring 
them all to the surface. Do this in the autumn 
and leave your land unsown, and the frost of 
winter way kill the greater part, so that the 
crops may thereafter grow in safety. But let 
this deep plowing be done in the spring, and 
you bring all these insects within the reach of 
the early sun, and thus call them to life in such 
numbers as almost to ensure the destruction of 
your coming crop. 
IMPROVEMENT OP THE SOIL BY MIXING. 
There are some soils so obviously defective 
in constitution, that the most common observer 
can at once pronounce them likely to be impro- 
ved by mechanical admixtures of various kinds. 
Thus peaty soils abound too much in vegetable 
matter; a mixture of earthy substances, there- 
fore, of almost any common kind, is readily in- 
dicated as a means ot improvement. In like 
manner we naturally impart consistency to a 
sandy soil b}" an admixture of clay, and open- 
ness and porosity to stiff clays by the addition 
of sand. 
The first and obvious effect of such additions 
is to alter ihe physical qualities of the soil — to 
consolidate the peats and sands, and to loosen 
the clays. But the fertility of a soil, or its pow- 
er of producing a profitable return of this or 
that crop, depends in Ihe first place on its chem- 
ical constitution. It must contain in sufficient 
abundance all the inorganic substances which 
that crop requires lor its daily food. Where 
this is already the case, as in a rich stiff clay, a 
decided improvement may be produced by an 
admixture with silicious sand, which mejely^ 
separates the particles mechanically, and ren- 
ders the whole more porous. But let the clay 
be deficient in some necessary constituent cf a 
fertile soil, and such an addition of siliceous 
would not produce by any means unequal bene- 
fit. It may be proper to add this sand with the 
view of producing the mere physical alteration, 
but we must add some other substance also, for 
the purpose of producing the necessary chemi- 
cal change. 
The good effects which almost invariably 
follow from the addition of clay to peaty or 
sandy soils, are due to the production at one and 
the same time, of a physical and a chemical 
change. They are not only rendered firmer or 
more solid by the admixture of clay, but they 
derive from this clay at the same time, some of 
those mineral substances which they previously 
contained in Jess abundance. 
The addition ot marl to the land acts often in 
a similar two-fold capacity. It renders clay 
lands more open and friable, and to all soils 
brings an addition of carbonate, and generally 
of phosphate of lime, both of which are proved 
by experience to be not only very influential, 
but to be absolutely necessary to healthy vege- 
tation. 
That much benefit to the land would in many 
instances accrue from such simple admixtures 
as those above adverted to, where the means are 
available, will be readily granted. The only 
question on the subject that ought to arise in the 
mind of a prudent man, is that which is con- 
nected with the economy of the case. Is this 
the mo-st profitable way in which I can spend 
my money? Can I employ the spare labor of 
my men and horses in any other way which 
will yield me a larger return? It is obvious 
that the answer to these questions will be modi- 
fied by the circumstances of the district in 
which he lives. It may be more profitable to 
drain — or labor may be in great request and at 
a high premium — or a larger return may be ob- 
tained by the investment of money in purchas- 
ing new than in impi’oving old lands. 
SALT AS A MANURE. 
We know that plants require for their suste- 
nance and growth, a certain supply of each of 
the constituents of common salt, which supply, 
in general, they must obtain from the soil. If 
the soil in any field contain naturally a suffi- 
cient quantity of common salt, or of chlorine 
and soda in any other state of combination, it 
will be unnecessary to add this substance; or if 
added, it will produce no beneficial effeci. If, 
on the other hand, the soil contain little, and has 
no natural source of supply the addition of salt 
may cause a considerable increase in the crop. 
Now there are certain localities in which we 
can say beforehand that common salt is likely 
to be abundant in the soil. Such are the lands 
that He along the sea-coast, or which are expos- 
ed to the action of prevailing sea winds. Over 
such districts the spray of the sea is constantly 
borne by the winds and strewed upon the land, 
or is lifted high in the air, from which it de- 
scends afterwards in the rains. This consider- 
ation, therefore, affords us the important prac- 
tical rule in regard to the application of com- 
mon salt — that it is most likely to be beneficial 
in spots which are remote from the sea, or are 
sheltered from the prevailing sea winds. 
This consideration, it may be hoped, will in- 
duce many practical men to proceed wilh more 
confidence in making trial of i^s effects on in- 
land situations. 
But some plants are more likely to be benefit- 
ed by the application of common salt than oth- 
ers. Observations are still wanting to show 
which of our cultivated crops is most favored 
by common salt. Some crops may delight 
more in salt than others; and if we consider 
how mnch alkaline matter is contained in the 
tops and bulbs of the potato and turnep, we are 
almost justified in concluding that generally 
common salt will benefit green crops more than 
crops of grain, and that it will promote more 
the developement of the leaf and stem than the 
filling of the ear. If this be so, we can readily 
understand how a soil may already contain 
abundance of salt to supply with ease the wants 
of one crop, and yet too little to meet the de- 
mands of another crop. — Johnston'' s Lectures. 
AGRICULTURE. 
We are highly gratified at the increased in- 
tere.st now manifested at the South generally, on 
the subject of agriculture, and we trust the day 
is not distant, when it shall be seen in the Caro- 
linas and Georgia, that we are able to make our 
own corn, raise our own mules, horses, cattle 
and hogs, as well as our numerous cotton bags. 
But if we would do this, we must abandon the 
ruinous practice, so long pursued among us, of 
wearing out our lands, throwing them away, 
and clearing more until all is wasted, and then 
decamping and seeking a new home among the 
fertile regions of the far West. We must im- 
prove our lands; we must, by improving our 
system of cultivation, learn to plant less and 
make more; we must, without extending our 
borders, increase our resources, and thus virtu- 
ally enlarge our territory. 
“He is a public benefactor, who, by the pru- 
dent and skilful outlay of his time and money, 
shall make a single field yield permanently a 
double crop; and he who does this over a square 
mile, virtually adds a square mile to the nation- 
al territory — nay, he does more: he doubles to 
this extent the territorial resources of the coun- 
try, without giving the State any larger territory 
to defend. All hail, then, to the improvers of 
the soil! Health and long life be their fortune — 
may their dreams be few and pleasant, and their 
sleep the sweet repose of the weary — may they 
see the fruits of their own labor, and may their 
sons reap still heavier harvests.” 
But if we would thus improve the soil, and so 
become public benefactors, tve must become 
acquainted with the nature and character of our 
soil, and what sort of culture, &c., is adapted to 
its nature, condition,- &e., and to do this we must 
read, yes, read as well as Avork; Jor whatever 
may be thought and said of “Book Farming” 
and “Theoretical Planting,” we will find the 
following sentences to hold good in the main: 
“ShoAv me a thrifty, pi actical and experimen- 
tal farmer, and I will show you a man who 
reads works on agriculture, or who borroAvs his 
hints Irom a neighbor who takes agricultural 
papers. 
“Show me a farmer Avhose lences are going 
to decay; whose half-starved cattle are strolling 
over a brush field; and 1 Avill show you a man 
who, if he is not on the retrograde track, takes 
too little interest in agriculture, to patronize an 
agricultural paper.” 
But if we would read, we must take a news- 
paper: aye, that’s the very thing AA^e Avould re- 
commend, for the . borrowing system we never 
did like: take a paper yourself. “But this will 
increase my expenses!” Aye, true enough, it 
will from one to two and a half, or three dollars 
a year; but then of iljincreases the yield of your 
fields two fold, and makes you a richer, happier 
and Aviser man, surely you wull not be much the 
loser in the end. — S. C. Temp. Advocate. 
Encourage youth to contend with and over- 
come difficulties. 
