rops, 
DEEP vs. SHALLOW PLOWING. 
Your correspondent Ai.van Beman, hail¬ 
ing from Crawford Co., Pa., on page 10 of 
Yol. 23d, of Rural New-Yorker banters 
the shallow persuasion, or shallow men, as 
he is pleased to call them, to beat bis ac¬ 
count of a large crop of corn from shallow 
plowing, and says,—“ then he will quietly 
try again.” 1 wish to inform Aryan Beman 
I had as much shelled corn per acre last year 
as he reported ears,and that too on land not 
plowed. The surface alone was pulverized 
two or three inches deep ; all below that was 
left hard. But I did not plant any pumpkins, 
well knowing from more than fifty years 
experience in practical fanning, that they 
will not grow where our corn stands throe 
and a half feet each way, and four or five 
stalks in a hill. I do not make the above 
statement to prove anything in favor of 
shallow plowing, hut think it proves as much, 
or more than A. Bkman’s does, in favor of 
deep plowing—that neither prove anything 
—without connecting circumstances. 
Jf Aryan Beman, and others who report, 
such wonderful crops from deep culture, and 
publish t hem as I he results of deep plowing 
alone would put their articles in shape to 
prove something definite in relation to the 
effects of deep or shallow plowing; or, that 
1 iff.se wonderful crops were the results of 
deep plowing alone, they would then have 
something definite to build Upon. But, un¬ 
happily for them and their cause, they have 
so far made no such attempt. 
The shallow plowcrs have raised and can 
raise as much grain per acre under their 
system of plowing, as the advocates for deep 
culture can under theirs, and with much less 
expense too, which is certainly so much in 
favor of their system. But publishing exag¬ 
gerated accounts on either side will never 
setlle the question; coming direct to the 
points at Issue will. 
With your permission I will again, and 
through your paper, offer the following 
propositions for the consideration of the ad¬ 
vocates for deep culture; and if they will 
prove them to be erroneous, the question 
will then be settled in favor of deep culture ; 
but if they do not, let it be the reverse, and 
that shallow plowers are not the shallow 
men. 
1. Where the subsoil is richer in fertilizers, 
or plant food, than the soil, plowing deeper 
will make the soil richer, and consequently 
it will produce better crops, because it brings 
the fertilizers within reach of the roots. So 
fur all parties will agree. That there is such 
land, nobody disputes. But, 
2. When l lie subsoil is poorer in plant food 
than the Btirla.ee soil, plowing deeper will 
make the soil poorer, which consequently 
will diminish the crops. 
3. Tile nearer the fertilizers applied to the 
soil are kept where the main body of the 
roots do naturally grow—which is near the 
surface—the better the crops will he. 
4. The main body of ihe roots of our field 
crops do not naturally concentrate in the 
subsoil—even though at great expense it be 
made rich as the soil. 
5. If the roots of our field crops do not 
naturally concentrate in the subsoil, when 
made rich and porous, of what use. is it to 
subsoil? or of what permanent use without 
underdmiuing? Certainly none, for 
6. If wc subsoil stiff land without under- 
draining, so as to make it loose mid porous, it 
cannot remain so above one season, if desired; 
for the first drenching rain running into it, 
will again cement it together, and then dry 
weather will harden it as before. 
7. All our crops will start and grow much 
better on a foundation comparatively solid , 
than on one made and kept thoroughly pul¬ 
verized; and the harder ground is rolled 
after seeding, if not wet, the better crops 
will grow. 
8. Take a good, stiff sod—not deep nor of 
rich subsoil—and plow six inches or more 
deep—ihe deeper the poorer—and pulverize. 
The soil will not be so rich in vegetable mat¬ 
ter, will not withstand dry weather so well, 
will not produce so good crops as if plowed 
three or foqr inches only and pulverized ; 
bull never advocated plowing so shallow, 
because more difficult to work. 
9. All the moisture evaporated from the 
surface of the soil above its capacity to re¬ 
tain moisture, must come up through the 
soil from various depths below, sometimes 
six or eight feet, (I have seen it all dust or 
dry earth the latter depth,) before it can be 
evaporated from the surface; and if wc can 
arrest this moisture brought up by the heat 
of the sun, where most needed, aud make it 
subservient in a measure to the growth of 
crops, and thus diminish its rise and evapo¬ 
ration, we have obtained one great desidera¬ 
tum in good farming—in a dry time. 
10. The richer the soil is made in vegetable 
matter, the better it will withstand dry 
weather, because vegetable matter is loosen¬ 
ing to the soil, which loosening prevents, in 
a measure, evaporation, and it is a good re¬ 
tainer of moisture also. And on the other 
hand the poorer the soil is in .vegetable mat¬ 
ter, the harder it becomes, the faster and 
deeper the soil and subsoils dry, and, conse¬ 
quently, the more the crops suffer. 
11. it is more in accordance with the laws 
of vegetable life and growth to arrest this 
moisture as it rises and make it subservient 
to the roots of our crops, than attempt to 
drive them below the soil, where they do not 
go to find moisture which must rise to the 
surface. 
12. Loosening the subsoil enables the or¬ 
ganic and inorganic substances applied to the 
soil more readily to sink with the rains be¬ 
low the reach of the ordinary plow, and the 
roots of plants, and then, in order to be made 
useful, must be again brought to the surface, 
where the roots do naturally concentrate. 
Prof. Jah. P. TV. Johnston of England, 
where agriculture as a science is far in ad¬ 
vance of ours, and than whom there is no 
better authority, in his lectures on the appli¬ 
cation of chemistry and geology to agricul¬ 
ture, gives this subject of plowing u thor¬ 
ough investigation, and winds up, on page 
322, by saying, in substance, what they claim 
for deep plowing of six or seven inches is to 
bring again to the surface those organic aud 
inorganic substances which have In a long 
course of farming gradually sunk with the 
rains below the reach of the ordinary plow 
of three or four incites and the roots of crops. 
And deep plowing, which descends to four¬ 
teen inches, or the trenching which lunges 
up a new soil from the depth of twenty or 
thirty inches, is only an extension of the 
same practice. It is justified and recom¬ 
mended upon the same principle. Here we 
have an admission that the roots of crops in 
England do not descend below three or four 
inches; and in order to make organic and 
inorganic substances sunk below that avail¬ 
able, t hey must be again brought, to the sur¬ 
face. D. Petit. 
Salem, N. J., 1871. 
-- 
FIELD NOTES. 
Plaster on Potatoes. 
We find the following excellent, report, of 
the value of plaster of Paris on potatoes, in 
Isaiah Thomas, Jr.’s Alminack, for the year 
5702, (according to the Scriptures:)—Having 
the last, year made an experiment by putting 
plaster of Paris on potatoes, I have thought 
it might, be advantageous to the interest of 
agriculture to communicate it through the 
medium of your Alminack. The experiment 
1 have made, by put ting about a tablespoon- 
fid of'the plaster to each hill of potatoes, ap¬ 
plying it the latter part of June, on about, 
every fourth ro\v. I soon found the vines of 
those that were plastered, 1o assume a differ¬ 
ent color, and the stalks to grow much larger 
and in greater quantities. When I came to 
pull them in autumn, 1 had more lhau double 
the quantity. The potatoes were of much 
better quality and larger. As potatoes are 
of great use to formers in fattening swi tie and 
beef cattle, I would recommend it to those 
persons who use the plaster to make the ex¬ 
periment for themselves, by plastering the 
potatoes soon after the first hoeing.— Justus 
IIoweard, Belchertown , Mass. 
The Peerless Potato. 
All the testimony tve get concerning 
this potato is very favorable to it, both as to 
quality, productiveness and adaptability. 
Mr. A. W. Spaulding writes that two 
pounds of seed, planted in forty-five lulls,, 
(the past dry season,) produced four bushels 
and one peck of the nicest potatoes he ever 
saw. lie regards them about three weeks 
earlier than Ihe Garnet Chili, and twice as 
productive as the Early Rose planted beside 
them. Eating qualities first rate. One. of 
the editors of the Rural New-Yorker, 
who grows a score or more rarities of [iota- 
toes, said the other day that the Peerless is 
the best variety he has for eating. 
Alsike Clover. 
Considerarre AJsike clover has been 
sown the past two or three years. It would 
be interesting and profitable, if those of your 
readers who have had two years’ experience 
with it, (and are not. interested in a specula¬ 
tion in its seed,) would state what that expe¬ 
rience is, and the opinion concerning the 
merits of this plant for forage, cither pasture 
or meadow, derived from the same.—P. C. 
Osborn, Central Ohio , 1871. 
Red Clover in Knnsea. 
C. B.Cook, Linn Co., Kansas, wishes 'West¬ 
ern farmers would write more for the Rural 
New-Yorker, giving their experience and 
practice in the various branches of husband¬ 
ry. [ So do wc.—E ds. Rural.] He -wishes 
some one experienced in the matter, would 
tell him thobest time and manner of sowing 
red clover in Kansas. Let some of our Kan¬ 
sas readers reply. 
No Corn for Sale. 
J. H. Woodburx, Kingsville, O., from 
whom an article on corn appeared in the 
Rural NewWorker of Dec. 10, is over¬ 
whelmed with inquiries for seed, and asks 
us, mercifully, to say that he has no corn for 
sale. 
ntomological. 
SNOUT-BEETLES 
Injurious lo Fruits and Vegetables. 
BY CHAS. V. RILEY. 
[Bead before the HI. State Horticultural Society.] 
[Continued from page 139, Feb. 18.] 
The oilier parasite works in very much 
the Binue manner, but instead of issuing the 
same summer as a fly, it remains in its some¬ 
what tougher and more yellowish cocoon all 
through the fall and winter, and does not 
issue iu the winged state till the following 
spring. This parasite was first, discovered 
by Dr. Trimble, who sent me the cocoons, 
from which I subsequently bred the perfect 
flies. It belongs to the first sub-family 
( Ichneumonides ) of the Ichneumon-flics, and 
apparently to the genus .1’orison, of which it, 
forms a new species. But I shall here also, 
in this reading, omit the technical description 
which follows, and will only state that it 
differs from the other species in its reddish- 
brown abdomen, as well as in form, as may 
readily be seen by referring to the figures, 
(Fig. (5, a, male; h, female; e, antenna.) 
I’oinzoN CoNovnA them, N. Sr Haul, pitchy- 
blaolt. n|iii,{iio. the ocelli Iruirutulorly placed arid 
clone lojjctlver; eye* oval, poli.'liud and black: face 
covered with ;i ml very-white pn hencenCe : laUrtfin 
rufous, with vcUi.wIhIi hair*; in, nullities and palpi 
pule yellowish brown; nntcnnfc Inanited In ilopr<‘8- 
moiis between the eve*, reiicliliip in mr-lii.l.liorii x when 
turned hunk, piMtirm. twenty-four jointed; black, 
with Tin*iil Joints ft- 1 bee., ml lip more, anil inure 
rufuiis, the hulhtix ulwuy* ili-tinctly ml im; linlhns 
rather longer and twice us thick a* joint 8; Joint 2 
about nne-thlrrl a* long. Thornr pllohy hlnck, 
opaque, the aide* allphtly pubescent "ltli whitish 
hair*, luc mesi.thorn •' rounded and hulvina anterior¬ 
ly, the scutelliini sliphtlc excavated and sharply de- 
flued by a c-.nlna each side; rnatlUlionix willi the 
elevated line* well dell nod and ninninK parallel and 
close touet iier from -eij I el 1 11 m to about one-fourth 
their loual h. tlieii suddenly diverging, and each fork- 
lag nbuul, the middle. Abib”n>n ghibrone, polished, 
very slender lit l>u.-o. I'rsdutilly broader and much 
compressed I fin the sides til the apex, which is 
truncated: peduncle uniform In diameter and as 
loop as Joint* 2 and 8 tturetiicr; its 2—5 so bet; uni ill 
lee'dl. - color rufonr. v.iih the pedum le wholly, dor¬ 
sum of joint?, a lateral shade on joint it. anil mo»c or 
leas of Hit; two apical Join Is superiorly, especially nt 
thnir anterior cukes, black ; venter inoro yellowish: 
ovipositor about as long as abdomen, purred, when 
in use, curved upwards when at lest, iiitous, with 
the sheaths longer and black. Lew*, includlnR- tro- 
chautcrs and c, xas uniforedy pale yellowIsb-brown. 
with flitfflapx nt tXn-t dusky Hindu siibliyallne and 
Iridescent, with YOin- *mt *tlqwn dnilc Lr.nvti, the 
stigma unite large, and the t ivo dl.se.rodal cell* sub- 
euuiil and. a* usual tn this genus, Joining end to end, 
but with the upper vein* whlqh separate mem from 
the radial cell, slightly elbowed instead of being 
straight, thin* giving the radial cell a quadrangular 
rather thnn n triangular appearance. Male differs 
frnm female only in hi* somewhat smaller size and 
unarmed abdomen. Expanse female. 0-82 Inches, 
length of body, exclusive of uvipusltpr, Q.22; expanse 
male. 0.28, length, 015. 
Described from threo females and one mule; bred 
Mav 2(t-28th. 1870, fjaoo cocoons received from Dr. 1. 
p. TniMBi.i';, mid one faraolo subsequently received 
from the same gentlemau-ail obtained from lurvse 
Of count nuh the' nrmrj/hur. 
“ But of wliat use are these parasites?” say 
you, Well, they cannot, it is true, he turned 
to very great practical account, because they 
arc not sufficiently under our cont rol; but it 
is a source of great satisfaction to those who 
have been looking for many years for some 
natural aid to help them in the artificial war¬ 
fare waged against the Curculio, to know 
that besides its several cannibal foes, there 
are at least two true parasites which attack 
it. Indeed, with the knowledge of the Cur¬ 
culio - enemies figured and described two 
years ago in the American Entomologist, 
and of the egg-destroying Thelps, which I 
described to you last year, and these two 
parasites, the grower of our luscious stone 
fruits may, with good reason, begin to hope 
for better days, for the prospect brightens. 
There is no philosophy in the statement of 
Mr. Ransom,* that wc can never hope for 
assistance from parasites, because, as lu: dog¬ 
matically expresses it, “there arc none tit 
present but what have always existed!” 
Such argument will do for the believers in 
the old-school doctrine, that everything was 
created just, as we find it; hut not for those 
who rightly Comprehend the Darwinian hy¬ 
pothesis of development, and who believe 
that life is slowly undergoing change and 
modification to-day, just as it ever lias since 
it had an existence on this earth. For my 
own part, nothing has ever appeared more 
absurd than the direct creation of something 
out of nothing, and I would as soon believe 
that we till dropped full grown from the 
clouds, just ns we are to-day—instead of be¬ 
ing brought into the world by natural means, 
and gradually developing Into manhood and 
womanhood—or that we have the same hab¬ 
its as our barbarous ancestors had, as to be¬ 
lieve that the animal life about us is now as 
it was ip the beginning! Therefore, though 
these Curculio parasites may have existed in 
this country long ere the while man first 
beheld its shores, yet they may only have 
acquired the habit of preying upon the Cur¬ 
culio within the last comparatively few 
years. Moreover, much benefit may be de¬ 
rived from their artificial propagation and 
dissemination, and—ulopcan as the scheme 
may appeal 1 to you—I intend next year, Deo 
volente, to breed enough of the first mentioned 
♦Prairie Farmer, June 4 th, 1870. 
species to send at leas, r dozen to every coun¬ 
ty seat in Missouri, and have them liberated 
into some one’s peach orchard. By this 
means I hope to spread them all over the 
State, aud if, in future years, you Suckers 
should find that our peach growers are, by 
its aid, able to get a fair crop of peaches every 
year, while yours arc constantly destroyed 
by Mrs. Turk, our State Government may 
condescend to send across the Mississippi a 
few thousand pair of the little Tigalphus, for 
the trifling consideration of $1 per pair. If 
Ihe money derived from this new branch of 
industry should he safely set aside in the 
vaulis of Jefferson City, until sufficient has 
accumulated to erect in St. Louis afire-proof 
building for a Museum of Natural History 
and Agricultural aud Geological rooms, there 
would be at least as much prospect of get¬ 
ting such a building as there seems t o be now ! 
—[To be continued. 
arm 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
Savina Musty Wheat. 
Peter Gilbert, Norfolk Co., Ont., writes 
the Rural New-Yorker that his wheat, 
was thrushed damp last fall, and became 
musty in the pile,80 that it could not he used 
for bread. He says:—“I put it on my hop 
kiln, dampened il slightly with water, put a 
fire under it with brimstone on the stove. 
When it cooled off, I found the mustiness 
had entirely left. it. We tried it for bread, 
and it made as good as any wheat.” 
A Wc*i«u‘u Pennsylvania Harrow. 
Herewith I send you a sketch of a har¬ 
row. Not liking the one represented in Ihe 
Rural New-Yorker of Feb. 11, I submit 
this improvement. 
Use three inch oak scantling for frame; 
iron width and thickness of wagon tire, mor¬ 
ticed through with hook and eye, made as at 
a , so as not to uncouple when drawn eilhei 
■ 
♦ iErfr-cX^jj * 
way. This mode of coupling is handier 
than a nut. It should be made so as to 
couple with parts at right angles. A strap 
of the same iron, with hook and links on 
either cud, to hitch to, and can be drawn 
either way. Teeth % of an inch arc better 
than larger.—A. N. Elliott, Erie Co., Pa. 
Coni Allies. 
Am at. Thomas asks if coal ashes are good 
to put, OH land. Yes, on stiff soils, for the 
mechanical effect. They are most useful, 
however, to mix with decomposing manure 
as an absorbent, or to throw into privy vaults 
as a deodorizer. 
A Foldiim Harrow. 
Charles B. Ingerson sends us the ac¬ 
companying sketch of a folding harrow, 
which he thinks an improvement upon ihe 
Geddes Harrow, folding together easily. He 
gives us no dimensions (as he should) simply 
the sketch. 
To Wash Potatoes in Lnvite Quantities. 
A simple way to wash potatoes for feed¬ 
ing stock, or in large quantities, for hotels, 
&c., is, take a good, tight stilt barrel,fill half 
or two-thirds full of potatoes, pour on water 
until it reaches the top of them. Set the 
barrel on a fork, handle, or some stick, and 
shake back aud forth a few limes. Turn the 
whole on a loose floor, or into a box with 
slatted or perforated bottom; turn on one 
more pail of water to rinse them, and they 
are clean.—c. a. a. 
(I I n ^phtrhnt. 
BEE NOTES. 
How to Fecit Bees. 
F. TV. B., Front Royal, Va., had. the caps 
stolen from his hives, and is afraid his bees 
will starve, though no lioney was taken from 
the (common box) hive. Asks how he shall 
Iced them. He had better examine his hives 
and see if they do not contain plenty of 
honey for the swarms. Mr. J. H. Graves 
wrote the Rural New-Yorker in 1869, that 
he had kept a number of late stocks of bees 
almost entirely upon coffee sugar of medium 
quality. With soft water, he reduced the 
sugar to a little thinner slate than lioney, 
brought it to a boiling heat, added one table¬ 
spoon ful of whisky and three drops of the 
essence of anise to the pound. This food 
was put in a feeder and set upon the top of 
the hive, in place of the cap or honey box. 
Comti-Emplyinar Machine. 
C. E. Barnes, Si. Lawrence Co., N. Y., 
asks for a description of a machine for 
emptying horn y from the comb, where one 
can he obtained, and the price. On page 
10, Yol. XX,, we gave ftn illustration and 
description of one invented by Messrs. 
Langstroth & Wagner. It is simply a 
tub or box inclosing a square framework for 
receiving Ihe comb, which is surrounded by 
wire gauze We can give no intelligible 
description of it. The combs,after the caps 
of Ike cells are removed, are placed in this 
frame work, which is caused to revolve 
rapidly by turning a crank connected to the 
frame by gearing, and the honey is thrown 
out of the comb by centrifugal force, through 
the gauze into the outer portion of the tub 
or box, whence it is withdrawn through a 
faitcit. We do not know who manufactures 
and sells these machines. 
Substitute for Iiee-Ulead. 
“Rose Geranium,” writes:—“In reply 
to the gentleman who asks for a substitute 
for bee-bread, I answer that I have heard 
‘ cheat-flour,' placed within their reach, in a 
dry stale, was an excellent food.” Bees do 
not require bee-bread- until the weather 
allows them toffy out. Put two quails of 
ground oat or rye meal in a box, set il near 
the bees, in n sunny place out of the wind. 
Ileal a small piece of brick, put a honey 
comb upon il and set it in the box. This 
will attract the bees and they will quickly 
convey the feed to the young brood. Il 
well to mix some clean oats with the meal 
for the bees to alight upon. This mode of 
supplying bee-bread has been recommended 
heretofore in the Rubai. New-Yorker. 
rc> e c^ 
(Hif J?tumc-fifrb, 
H0TES TOE SWIKEHEED. 
A Lewis Co., N. Y., Pin. 
J. E. Vkooman, Lewis Co., N. Y., writes 
us of a Chester White pig of his, four months 
and eleven days old, whose live weight was 
288 pounds. He says half-breed Chester 
Whites in his neighborhood, killed when six 
months old had dressed over 300 pounds; 
also five hogs “ about a year and a half old ” 
weighed, respectively, 528, 527, 005,488 and 
485 pounds. 
Magic Breed of Hoc*. 
TV., Leipsie Station, O., asks some one to 
give, through the Rural New-Yorker, the 
origin ur crosses which produced the “Mc¬ 
Gee” (Magic?) hog. He says, through his sec¬ 
tion, they are diversified with black and white 
spots. The Poland, By ell eld, Irish Graziers, 
and Berkshires are reputed to have been the 
prominent breeds represented in the Magie 
hogs. Perhaps some of our Ohio readers can 
give a reliable history of the crosses. 
Peas for Pies. 
Few things would pay a grain growing 
former better than to raise peas for his pigs. 
No matter how “ buggy ” t he. peas may be, 
the bugs or beetles remain in the peas until 
about the first of November, and when the 
pens arc fed out before this lime, the pigs 
will eat peas aud bugs together, and there 
will he little loss. Nothing mokes firmer or 
hotter pork and lard than peas, and the ma¬ 
nure from pea-fed pigs is exceedingly rich. A 
heavy crop of peas, too, is a capital crop to 
precede winter wheat .—Harris on the Pig. 
Chester Whiles ami Suffolk* iu Bradford 
County, Pa. 
A. L. Cooper, Brail ford Co., Pa., writes 
the Rural New-Yorker, that the Chester 
Whiles are chosen by formers thereabouts 
for wintering and killing at the age of one 
year or one year and a half, as they are large, 
fine-honed and easy keepers. For spring 
pigs, to butcher in the fall, a cross of the 
Chester While and Suffolk are preferred, 
since they fatten easier at that age than the 
Chester Whites do. Farmers, lie says, make 
more pork with t wenty bushels ol corn now 
than tiiey did with thirty, fifteen years ago, 
the difference being due*to improved breeds 
of swine. 
