The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1859-07-07
j JULY z, 80.
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Principles of Flowing.

No man who has observed the difference u
good and bad blowing but viii admit tnat thefe
is an art in guiding and managing the plow at
which farmers arrive. To constitute Soou
plowman. a man must have something OF me-
cbanica tur and must understand the Inherent
objects in view in blowing the different kinds OF
soil for the succeeding crops Ii there is any
dofoct in the structure, form or arrangement OF
Tho nlow he should be capable of discovering it,
and correct, OF direct its connection SO that the
work may be performed in the best possible man
ner. The pillow should always run level, so as to
cut q furrow slice of equal thickness, and ofsuch
width that the share should cut it clear, all but
a small turning pivot strip, to enable the mould
boardto effectually invert the slice. This nice
adjustment of the blow should be made by the
proper arrangement Of the points of resistance
and those of force to neutralize another I'M
proftably, in adjusting the draft for the purpose
of making the pillow run steady. These are
points which require experience and close OBJ
seryation to learn, and in the absence Of an exact
criterion to explain are seldom fully understood
by plowmen.
In blowing sod land great care is requisite to
lay the burrows even and regular; SO there shall
be no faults, for, besides being unsightly and
unavoidable, these faults will greatly interfere
with the management of the succeeding crop;
and every time a plow or cultivator presses
these breaks it cnltivates the grass, and spreads
it, so that ifthere many in the field it becomes
exceedingly foul from this cause.
In breaking UP inverted sod land; which should
be done the season after it is inverted, the OBJ
jects to be kept in view is the thorough mixing
up of the decomposed sod, as well as any vege-.
table or mineral matter that may be on the sur
face entirely and evenly, through the entire mass
of soil turned over by the plow. To do this
the burrows must be turned on edge, not inverted.
The angle at which the furrow should stand will
be governed by the amount of vegetable matter
on the surface If there is much of this, (unless
coarse corn stalks for instance) the furrow slice
must be inverted so far as to cover it, and no
more if the surface is clear, the slice may stand
rather more perpendicular, Ono thing must be
borne in mind that the different strata of SOIL
when set on edge, or as near as the case admits
Of will be thoroughly mixed when stirred by the
harrow, or by cross blowing, and thus become
well prepared to afford nourishment to the sue
ceeding crop.
To illustrate: Suppose slices of apple, pota-
to, turEip and beet, be laid one on the other if
you scrape the upper surface you reach but one
kind inyert them, and their relative position
remains comparatively the same you reach
but one kind by scraping the surface; turn
them on their edge and you cannot scrape the
thin upper surface without reaching ALL This
is the thing to be arrived at when blowing for
the purpose of mixing the soil, or blowing it in
such position that it shall be well mixed when
stirred If the furrow slice were fully inverted
at every blowing, manure might remain in the
soil for years, without being of much benefit to
the crop grown. The plowman should under
stand the necessity of this thorough mixing and
pulverizing the SOIL there isno operation of more
Importance than this; it is the object ofplowing,
except where vegetable matter has to be turned
under to decompose, preparatory to being mixed
by tfesucceeding blowing
IIOWEISf lUL PulpooO vi oCIIIlnS Gl0 oOlI
round the growing crops has two objects in view
First to produce a bed of light soil for roots to
ramble nsearch offood and secondly, to admit
air among the particles Of soil to prepare the
food for the plants. AS the tendency Of soil is
to compact together by the action of water, and
the mutual attraction of its particles it is de-
sirableto have it stirred as deeply possible as
late in the season as the case will admit of; hence
the practice is a good one of deep blowing as
near the young corn as possible, without too
much mutilation of the roots and for this pur-
pose it may be best to throw the earth from the
plants with turning pillow, and then throw it
back again thus fresh @rated soil is thrown
within the reach of the young roots. AS the
season advances and the droughts of midsummer
are to be expected, it is bad policy to endanger
the roots by deep blowing, how is it the best way
to avert the effects of the drought. For this
purpose the bestway reduce the surface of dust
as soon as possible. This may be done with a
snallsrolier, narrow enough to run between the
rows OF corn alternately withthe cultivator BY
stirring the soil deep, partic ulary if done with
turning pillow, the evaporation isincreased while
coating of fine dry dust acts as a mulce and
tends greatly to prevent it. Every time ernst
is formed, either by rain or dew. it sboudb o
broken with the cultivator or crushed with the