rmn n ini iiian ii m ■ w i i 
162 THE SOUTHERN CULTiVATOR. 
loosen and stir up the under soil, without turn- 
ing it up, to the depth of Iroin eight to fourteen 
inches below the track in which that plough 
had gone.” 
The following description of it is taken from 
Mr. Morton’s prize essay, publislied in the 
'’Farmer’s Magazine,” (London,) of July last. 
Mr. Morton says, “Smith’s subsoil plow con- 
sists of tne ordinary frame-work ot a plow, 
without the mold board, made strong enougli to 
stand the shock and the strain to wnich an im- 
plement requiring the force of tour orsi.x horses 
to work it, must be subjected. The frame-work 
is of iron, and about 15 feet long. A ‘ole-plat •, 
on which a feather-shaped or pointed sock slips, 
is attached to it by means of two uprights or 
curved coulter. The height of ihe plow, when 
held in a working position, Ifom the sole-plate 
to the beam, is about 22 inches. From the far- 
row side of the sock, a spur project-, over which 
the mass of subsoil cut by the coulter and share 
is raised and broken, and falls down again.” 
Now the American subs ul plow, made at 
W‘ircester, Mass., by Messrs. Ruggles, Nourse 
& Mason, differs from Smith’s in several par- 
ticulars. The handles and beam are made of 
wood, reduced in length, and in fict the whole 
implement is reduced in size, which makes it 
much lighter, and can be turned ir the same 
space as the plow which precedes it. In place 
of the spur, as in Smith’s, this has an inclined 
plane, wnich rises from the feather of the share, 
and extends back to the heal of the plow. It is 
about three inches wide, lies against the upright, 
and rises to the height of six inches behind. By 
means of a slat in the point of attachment, it can 
be raised or lowered at pleasure. With this in- 
clined plane the soil is raised, pulverized, and 
partially mixed, leaving it in a loose, friable 
state, without bringing it to the surface. By this 
simple contrivance the draft, has been so much 
reduced that two common sized horses are am- 
ply sufficient to work it in a stiff, loamy .soil, 
from eight to ten inches below the bottom 
of the furrow of the plow that precedes it, but it 
must be free from roots and large stones. The 
greatest improvement however, and especially at 
the present time, is the price at which they are 
offered, being less than one-fifth of the price of 
the imported article. One of Smith’s was im- 
ported in 1840, by Messrs. Ellis & Boston, of 
Boston, at an expense of $80. D. D. Campbell, 
Esq., of Schenectady, imported another about 
the same period, or soon after. 
I have tried the|Worcester subsoil plows, and 
can say I was much pleased with its perform- 
ance, and more particularly with the ease in 
which the horses performed their work. Now, 
if the plow turns up a furrow six inches deep, 
and the subsoil plow penetrates and loosens the 
subsoil tenpnches below the first plow, we have 
at least sixteen inches loosened soil, which in the 
common method of plowing, and allowing that 
the plough lays the furrow two inches higher 
than the depth of the cut, we have then but eight 
inches of loose soil for the bed of the plant. 
The expense of cultivating by subsoil plow- 
ing, must be necessarily much increased by the 
present mode, as it requires an extra hand and 
team, to go over the same ground, and at the same 
time of the first plow; and to'diminish the ex- 
pense of the operation of subsoil plowing, and 
to adopt them to the wants of the small farmers, 
several attempts have been made, in England, 
to combine the two implements in one. The 
first of these, by Mr. Pusey, called the Charlbu- 
ry Subsoil Plow, “ combines in one imple- 
ment,” says Mr. Morton, “ both the plows used 
in the operation of subsoiling. It not only stirs 
the subsoil, but opens the furrow in which the 
subsoil plow works. It consists ini he attach- 
ment of a strong tine, similar to those used in 
Biddle’s Scarrifier, to the common plow, in a 
E osition in which it acts after the furrow slice 
as been turned.” 
“This implement,” continues Mr. Morton, 
“doing all the work,{ requires, according to an 
experiment recorded there, less force to work it 
than the subsoil plow, doing only one portion 
V/l CXL iWii . Jll. L-CillliUl J IIU \V C V J Uv CiJi“ 
cieiit in thoroughly stirnng the subsoil as the 
original plow” i'he other attempt at uimini.sh- 
ing expense of subsoil plowing, is by Mr Arm- 
stong, of Stirling.-hire, lor which he received 
premiums from the tStirlingsliire Agricultural 
Society, and from the iiighland Society. 
The lollowing is a descriiition ot it, as given 
by Mr. Smith, at an agricultural meeiiug. It 
appears that the inventor has adapted tne prin- 
ciple of Wilkie’s tuin-west plow to smith’s 
subsoil plow; and if 1 understand the principle 
01 ii, it is just wnat the American farmer L in 
need of, as one hand with one team can perloim 
both operations. 
The general frame work is that of a subsoil 
plow, rather under the medium size, and to it is 
attached a hinged mould-board, similar to the 
mould-board of Smith’s hill-side or turn-west 
plow. By means of this arrangement, the plow 
can be used for removing the furrow preceding 
the operation of the subsoil plow, and when tne 
furrow has been removed, the mould-board be- 
ing moved upon its hinges, from its working 
position, rests over the beam of the plow, 
whilst the instrument is used lor subsoiling in 
the bottom of the furrow just removed. Thus 
the operation of removing the furrow and sub- 
soiling, can be alternately performed with the 
same implement, with the same plowman, and 
the same team of horses, by a single movement 
of the mould-board, which is done in an instant 
by the hand of the plowman, at each turning. 
The additional weight of the mould-board 
serves to keep down tne plow whilst subsoiling 
indifferent grounds. The judges consider this 
implement well contrived, and as being an im- 
portant boon to the small farmers, and as certain 
to give great facility to the extension amongst 
them of the admirable system of subsoil plow- 
ing. 
From the Columbia (S. C.)Planter. 
FAirtFiEbD, Augu.st 30, 1843, 
Dear Sir — I feel ashamed of not having yet 
complied with your request, that I should send 
you a treaties on the manufacture, application 
and effect of manure. 1 will, however, compro- 
mise with my consciem e, by promising to do 
so in a week or two. The fact is, 1 am so con- 
scious of devoting less attention and labor to 
that department of plantation economy, than its 
importance demands, that 1 feel a repugnance 
to seeing my deficiency formally and mathema- 
tically computed. My present impulse is to 
discourse on the inexplicable subject of rust in 
cotton, and I will not thwart it. 
In this .section of country, we have two spe- 
cies of rust — the red or common rust, and the 
brown or French. I cannot give you the deri- 
vation of the latter term, but it is of general 
prevalence in this neighborhood. The red rust 
is that tu which all varieties of land in this dis- 
trict are more or le.ss liable; and the brown rust, 
or French, that which is miy found on black- 
jack soils, and on the flat lands of the descrip- 
tion of those on Dutchman’s and Wateree 
creeks. 
As Humbug jr. affirms, many theories have 
been adduced to account for the origin of the 
red rust, the partizans of each believing firmly 
in his own favorite, and denouncing those of 
others; and he accordingly treats as an absurdi- 
ty, a creed of mine, which I consider I have in- 
con testibly proven by an experience of nine 
years. 
I commenced to till my present lands, and at 
the same time to cultivate the short staple cot- 
ton, nine years ago, under the tutorage of an ob- 
servant, experienced and skilful overseer. In 
the early part of the summer, he remarked to 
me, that we should have to keep our cotton 
fields Fee of poke weeds and briars, if we meant 
to escape rust. This being a new idea to me, 
I of course ridiculed it, and so unmercifully 
too, that, as he afterwards told me, he forthwith 
determined that I should purchase belief by ex- 
pensive experience. Accordingly, towards fall, 
he carried me to three several spots of rust in 
as many different fields, which he had contrived 
, to produce by leaving poke-stalks in or around 
siu.nps, which happened tc be there located. — 
I'hey were the only spots of rust 1 bad in my 
crop, and from every other portion of it had the 
poke been carefully eradicated. 1 his coinci- 
dence staggered me, and its iepetition lor nine 
consecutive years, has confirmed my faith. 
In riding by the fields of my neighbors, I 
have seen poke-stocks suffered to grow among 
the cotton, and have predicted to a companion 
(correctly, as it was proven,) that rust would be 
the consequence. On the other hand, 1 have 
first seen rust, and on searching for it, have 
loLindpoke. 
I do not say that rust may not originate with- 
out the pre.?ence of poke; nor do I believe that, 
like the celebrated upas tiee, it exudes poison, 
deleterious to surrounding vegetation; but sim- 
ply that poke, briars, slra when les, and perhaps 
other plants, are more liable to the disease than 
cotton; and having fiist become affected, commu- 
nicate the disorder to their nmre healthy neigh- 
bor. Where poke has been repeatedly cut down 
in the early part of the season, and is suffered 
to grow at a late date, I believe it is harmless; 
lor it does not appear to be liable to the disease 
lill it has reached maturity, and commenced to 
decline. 
A friend of mine spent a part of the last sum- 
mer in this viciniiy, and occasionally delighted 
me with a visit. At our first interview, he be- 
gan, in unmeasured terms, to denounce the lolly 
and superstition of “some ignorant citizens of 
the district,” in believing that poke could pro- 
duce rust Like St. Peter, I was at first asham- 
ed to confess my faith in so despised a doctrine, 
and, il I did not deny", certainly did not avow 
that I was a disciple. At each subsequent in- 
terview, I was gratified to observe that the op- 
position of my Iriend w’as melting away under 
the influence ot accumulating proof, till at 
length, when I rallied and came to the rescue, 
his offensive warfare degenerated into mere 
defence of his doubts, and he finally determined 
to risk his remaining strength upon the issue of 
a single experiment, an opportunity lor which 
then presented itsell. In ihfe midst of a large, 
healthy, flourishing field of cotton, he saw a 
small spot of rust, and he determined to surren- 
der at dLcretion, if in the centre he should find 
poke weed. The poke was found, and he ac- 
knowledged himself a convert. 
I may properly clo.se what I hare said of red 
rust, by stating, as a corollary, that though we 
do not know what produces it in poke or cotton 
nevertheless, it poke, briars, &c., are more lia- 
ble to the disease than cotton, and can commu- 
nicate it, it is wise not to suffer them to take 
root in our fields. We know not the cause of the 
origin of yellow fever or small-pox, yet we 
know that they are communicable and infec- 
tious, and avoid persons and places suspected 
of being tainted with their influence. 
Of the French or brown rust, though I suffer 
from its effects, I have very little to say. Some 
people have attributed it to the presence of iron 
in the soil, in some one of its chemical forms. 
Others (and I among them,) believe that it is 
caused by an undue proportion of lime in th^ 
soil, causing the plant to scald under the super- 
added influences of heat and water. I once 
saw the late Dr. James Davis, of Coluipbia, 
analyze soil taken indiscriminately from the 
land that is liable to the J'rench, and the result 
was per cent of carb. of lime. Now, this is 
certainly a much stronger proportion than^even 
3l 0 bushels of rich marl would give uniformly 
to the whole mass of . an acre of soil, ii tho- 
roughly amalgamated with it. The flat creek 
lands, upon which this disease prevails, are not 
the alluvial bottoms; these are of a distinct 
character from the former, which lie between 
them and the sandy ridge. 
I have found that late plowing promotes the 
French, and that compost manure is the best 
preventive. 
Yours, very respectfully, 
Farmington, 
