18(53.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
201 
lows with it, carrying along ammonia to feed I 
them with food and give them greater vigor. 
It is sometimes objected that very deep plow¬ 
ing injures a crop, by bringing up to the surface 
hard cold clay, which is hurtful to vegetation. 
Very true. Such plowing is hurtful, and we 
do not recommend it. The true method is to 
deepen the soil gradually, setting the plow point 
only an inch or two deeper every year. This 
will accomplish the end in a short time, and do 
no harm. The true method of subsoiling is to 
run the common plow first, then follow its track 
with the subaoiler, breaking up the lower stra¬ 
tum, but not lifting it out of its place. Or, as 
one says, “let it travel under the surface soil, 
as a mole might pass along without turning it 
over.” And so in trenching land for gardening, 
the true way is, not to throw the bottom soil on 
the top in any considerable quantity, but to 
break up the lower stratum, mixing manure 
with it if convenient, and then returning it to 
its original place, cover it with surface soil. 
Doubtless, many a farm which its owner con¬ 
siders nearly worn out, might be rendered fer¬ 
tile by deep plowing. The surface has been 
scratched over for many years, and this is in¬ 
deed exhausted; yet underneath this, lie rich 
stores of productiveness as yet untouched. Not 
a few northern farmers have gone southward 
within ten years past, and bought up at a low 
price worn out land, and by good, honest plow¬ 
ing and subsequent tillage, have realized good 
crops for several years, and that too, without 
enriching with additional manure. 
In England, six and seven inches in depth is 
considered fair and reasonable plowing, and 
subsoil work goes down eighteen and twenty 
inches. With us, the average depth does not 
exceed four or five inches, and subsoiling does 
not get deeper generally than twelve to fifteen 
inches. There is room for improvement here; 
and in due time we believe it will be made. 
The Harvest Field. 
Harvest time, though a season of severe toil, 
is everywhere welcomed. Most other opera¬ 
tions on the farm have reference to the some¬ 
what distant future, when a return for labor 
shall be realized; but now, results are to be 
gathered. Each sheaf of ripened grain repre¬ 
sents hours spent in plowing, seeding, and cul¬ 
tivating; and the swollen kernels remind the 
husbandman of the beaded drops of sweat 
with which he has often moistened the field. 
To the imaginative mind there are few more 
suggestive pictures than fields of grain white to 
the harvest. Each waving stalk is a rod of 
power, more potent than the magician’s wand. 
It bears the elements without which commerce 
must stand still, manufactures perish, even war 
cease its fearful thunders, society become disor¬ 
ganized, and man utterly fail. But He who 
cares for man, has smiled upon the fields, and 
again they return a joyous thank-offering of 
plenty. But want of space forbids to pursue 
the pleasant fancies which this topic calls forth. 
Let us note a few practical suggestions perti¬ 
nent to the season. And first with reference to 
the proper time of harvesting grain. Experi¬ 
ments have repeatedly proved that the weight 
and quality are both improved by cutting when 
the berry is just out of the milk, or as soon as 
it is hard enough to bear moderate pressure of 
the thumb-nail without breaking. This is usu¬ 
ally about ten days before full maturity. A 
correspondent of the Agriculturist several years 
since experimented on a crop of fifty acres of 
wheat. The bulk of it was cut as here recom¬ 
mended, and weighed 62 i lbs. to the bushel. 
The remainder, garthered when fully ripe, 
gave only 58 pounds per bushel. On the 
whole amount of 1,200 bushels, there was 
a gain of 5,400 lbs., or about 90 bushels in 
bulk, and the quality of the flour was superior. 
In addition to the difference in weight of the 
grain, there is no little loss by the shelling out 
of the kernels, when they are fully ripened. 
We have seen fields bear a large crop with no 
other seeding than that received from what had 
been scattered during the previous harvest. A 
still further saving can be made by going over 
the field with a horse-rake after the ground is 
cleared of sheaves. What is gathered, if not 
sufficiently clear for making flour, will serve a 
good purpose to grind into feed for swine and 
other stock. When, as at present, every pound 
of food is needed, and will command a high 
price, all should be turned to the best account. 
There should also be an eye to the wants of 
the following year. In almost every lot of grain, 
on account of better soil, more favorable expo¬ 
sure, more thorough drainage, or other causes, 
some parts will give earlier maturity and a better 
yield than others. If pains were taken each 
year to mark such places and save the grain 
from them for seed, the result would be seen in 
a general improvement at harvest. The “ Ped¬ 
igree Wheat,” which has become celebrated in 
England for its superiority, was produced by 
carefully following up this process for years. 
The cultivator, Mr. Hallett, took pains to select 
the best heads each season, and a marked im¬ 
provement was made annually. So much pains 
as this can scarcely be expected during the pres¬ 
ent busy time, but the best part of the field can 
easily be marked off, and left to mature its seed. 
Before harvesting, the weeds should be pulled 
out, and when the grain is fully ripe, it should 
be gathered, and stored by itself, to be threshed 
with the flail, and used for seed. It would pay 
well in many instances to buy a patch from a 
neighboring wheat field, if it should be superior 
to any grown at home. The old rule “ Take 
time by the forelock,” so excellent to be follow¬ 
ed in all farming operations, applies with espe¬ 
cial force to the matter of seeming good seed. 
