1865.J 
AMERICAN AG-RIGULTURIST 
181 
SUBSOIL PLOW. 
Fleece-folding Table. 
A lot of wool wejl folded and neatly tied up, 
all the fleeces being of about the same size and 
shape, has a great advantage in market over 
that which is carelessly and irregularly done 
up. To secure this uniformity and neatness, 
folding tables, or wool-boxes, are used, and are, 
in fact, indispensable. We present below a plan 
for one forwarded to the American Agricultur¬ 
ist, by “ J. C. V.,” of Orleans Co., N. Y., “in 
the hope that it may be of use to some of its 
readers,” as it doubtless will be. He thus de¬ 
scribes it: “ It is made of 3 boards, 6 feet long, 
the middle one 8 inches wide, and the others 
12 inches. The middle board is sawed into 4 
pieces, 12,8,12, and 40 inches long respectively, 
which are connected together, and with the 
sides, by 6 pairs of hinges as shown in the en¬ 
graving. When used, the twine, in 6 pieces, is 
FLEECE-FOLDING TABLE. 
drawn between the notches (m) in the sides and 
end pieces {A, G, E, and F ,); then the fleece is 
laid on the table, the shoulders being placed on 
the centre piece {B). The sides of the fleece 
are then folded in, and the side pieces {E, and F^ 
raised and made fast in a perpendicular posi¬ 
tion by the hook (g) and staple {Ti). Next com¬ 
mence at the tail end and roll up the fleece 
without slipping it; then raise up the piece (7, 
which will be held upright by the steel springs 
(i, i,), on the sides, then raise the piece A. [It 
strikes us that this should be held in a'perpen¬ 
dicular position by springs or pins, but this is 
not specified by our correspondent] Now take 
two small round levers, and putting them into 
the holes in A, press them down into the slots 
in G, and fasten them down by putting a pin 
through holes in the edges at convenient places. 
The fleece may now be tied; then unhook the 
sides and the box falls down, leaving the fleece 
as hard as a cheese and as white as a snow¬ 
ball. One man will easily do up the wool as 
fast as three or four will shear.” 
The Subsoil Plow. 
The accompanying figure represents an im¬ 
plement called the “Lifting Sub-soil Plow.” 
The standard consists of a flat piece of iron 
an inch or more in thickness, with two heads 
on the upper part, by which it is bolted to the 
underside of the beam. The point or share 
is made either with a wing on both sides, like 
a spear placed flat on the ground, or with the 
wing only on one side. On one or on each 
side of the standard there is an adjustable flange 
about three inches wide, over which the soil rises 
and drops back crumbled into the bottom of the 
furrow. The share and these flanges form an in¬ 
clined plane. If it be desirable to elevate the 
soil much or only a little, the rear ends of the 
flanges may be adjusted to the desired hight by 
means of bolts passing through the standard. 
The higher the rear ends of the flanges, the hard¬ 
er a plow will draw, and the more thoroughly 
it will pulverize the soil. A draft rod and dial 
clevis attached to the beam, enable the plow¬ 
man to so adjust it as to run directly in the 
furrow made by the common plow, thus break¬ 
ing up the compact subsoil, and leaving it in 
the furrow. When a farmer has but one team, 
he plows one furrow round the field or land, 
and then hitching to the subsoil plow goes 
round again in the same track. In order to pul¬ 
verize the subsoil very thoroughly, it is necessa¬ 
ry to cut narrow furrow slices, and to use the 
subsoil plow when the ground is cross-plowed 
as well as at the first plowing. Subsoiling thus 
for two or three years, the ground will be pretty 
well pulverized to the full depth the subsoil 
plow reaches. When the plow cuts wide fui*- 
row slices the subsoil plow may be run twice in 
the furrow. When this is not done, and especi¬ 
ally if the field be subsoiled only one way, the 
subsoil will not be more than one third or one 
half broken up. A span of horses, or yoke of 
oxen will draw a two-horse subsoil plow ten to 
fourteen inches deeper than the first cut through 
a pretty compact subsoil. When run deeper the 
draft increases very rapidly, and the pulveriza¬ 
tion is not so complete. Two or three spans of 
horses or yokes of oxen are usually required if 
the subsoil plow be put down 18 or 20 inches 
deep, as is not unfrequently done in preparing 
ground fbr orchards, vineyards, hop-yards, etc. 
Subsoiling Wet Ground. 
When any kind of subsoil is not dry enough 
to crumble readily, running the subsoil plow 
through it will have little good efiect, because 
it is pressed by the passage of the plow into a 
smaller compass, and as it does not crumble, 
it settles back very much to its former bed, oc¬ 
cupies less space, and, when the surface water 
is dried out, it becomes more compact than 
it was before the plow disturbed it. If the 
land be thoroughly underdrained, before the 
subsoil is broken up, it will be crumbled and 
lightened up. Months must pass before the 
lumps will wash down so as to materially fill 
the interstices, and the subsoil will not become 
so compact in several years as it was before 
subsoiling. It is, therefore, of little or no use 
to subsoil wet, heavy soils, before they have 
been well underdrained. For this reason, 
many farmers, on soil which is exceedingly 
wet, with the subsoil compact and retentive, 
have experimented with and condemned the 
subsoil plow. We have known subsoiling to 
be done when the water would be driven along 
in the furrows before the plow, by the turning 
over of the furrow slice. The consequence was 
that the more the subsoil was worked, the 
harder and more compact it became, as soon as 
the water had dried away, and the more diffi¬ 
cult it was for roots of plants to spread in it. 
As a natural consequence, such poor results 
had a tendency to bring subsoiling into disre¬ 
pute. If the wet and heavy soils be well 
underdrained, and sub¬ 
soiled when just, dry 
enough to crumble, 
good results will invari¬ 
ably follow, if the work 
be thoroughly done. 
Tills process on many 
faiTiis would add several 
acres of ground avail¬ 
able for increase of crops 
as certainly and with 
less cost than buying 
additional land. Better grow 80 bushels of 
corn on one acre, than to plant and cultivate 
one and a half acres for the same crop. 
Halter-breaking Young Colts. 
Young colts, when their dams are used in a 
harness, are frequently troublesome about fol¬ 
lowing, especially when traveling on the high¬ 
way, where they are liable to meet other horses. 
It is common to see a young colt run directly 
away from its dam, when on the road, and be¬ 
coming bewildered, no little trouble is required 
to bring it back. To avoid all annoyance from 
this source, make a soft lialter suitable for the 
colt’s head, and hitch it to a strong fence, or some 
other place, where it can not run around a post 
and wind the rope up. It may pull for several 
hours, but will soon learn to stand. As soon 
as accustomed to the halter, the colt may 
be taught to lead, by placing the dam a few 
rods distant from where it is hitched, and lead¬ 
ing it toward her. It will be impossible to lead 
a colt away from its dam, until it has become 
well accustomed to the halter. By spending a 
little time with a colt, treating it with the great¬ 
est gentleness, it may be taught to travel by the 
side of its dam, wherever she goes. 
Tie the colt’s halter to the backhand of the 
dam’s harness, so that it can just reach her ud¬ 
der. This length of halter will prevent the colt 
running forward of the mare when she is tr.av- 
eling. In a few days it will become so gentle, 
that any one can put on the halter and handle it. 
When colts are not accustomed to the halter 
until they are two or more years old, they are 
frequently very difficult to manage. But if 
taught to lead when quite young, they can often 
be changed from one place to another, with lit¬ 
tle difficulty, and will be much more manageable. 
"» « — — -•-»- 
Halter for Horses that Pull at the Post. 
A correspondent responds to an inquiry for a 
way to manage horses that pull at the halter, 
by sending the accom¬ 
panying drawing of a hal¬ 
ter which he has been in 
the habit of making and 
using for many years. The 
construction as may be 
seen from the engraving, 
is very simple. It is held 
upon the head by a throat- 
latch like a bridle, and the 
end of the leading strap 
passes through the ring 
on each side, and is sewed 
strongly to the strap aoout 
14 to 18 inches from the 
end. When the horse 
pulls, this loop in the 
strap tightens powerful¬ 
ly, drawing the muzzle 
piece, and pressing the rings against the jaw on 
each side in a way, doubtless very uncomfort- 
