The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-08-23
Agricultural.
Fall pIOughing,

VI tnc year, ana leaVlng them rough
anG exposed to the action Of the fros,
throughout the Winner. This Winter
following is Of great service in other
respects it tends to rid the land oil
weeds and of the seeds of noxious plants
which would otherwise terminate, hn,
which, to very considerable extent are
destroyed by exposure to the frost. Sc
highly is Fall ploughing esteemed in
Flanders that the farmers of that country
make use of an instrument unknown
among our agricultural implements, bnt
which is especially adapted to elevatng
the soil and leaving in ridges so that the
largest possible surface may be exposed
to the beneficial influence of the Winner
trosts. The action of frost mcllows
even the stitfost clays, breaks down the
clods and leaves the land in the Spring
far more light and friable than it could
possibly be made with any number of
ploughings or even by the combined ac-
ton of the plough, the clod crusher and
the harrow. In Fall ploughing it is of
course essential to the perfection of the
work that the furrow slices should not
be laid fiat, but that they should be so
turned as to lay at about an angle of
forty-live degrees, the outer edge of the
furrow resting upon the inner edge of
the one that preceded it. The advan-
tage of this mode of ploughing is two
fold-you present much larger surface
to the action of the frost, and at the
same time an open drain is formed
between the burrows which not only car
res off the surplus water but allows the
air to pcrmca;e through the mass, and
thus renders the soil fit for tillage at an
earlier day in the Spring. Moreover
the harrow breaks down more thorough
ly soil which has been thrown up into
ridges than furrow slices that have been
merely reversed and lie fiat upon the
ground. Neither sands nor sandy loans
are at all benefited by Autumn plough
ing, but wherever there is soil that
has tendency to bake and cold, expo
sure to the frost renders lis subsequent
tillage much easier and exerts a singu-
larly beneficial influence upon the future
crop. The action of the frost also upon
such soils is peculiarly valuable in one
other respect---it exerts a potent inhu-
ence in rendering soluble the inorganic
constituents contained in the soil and
setting them free for immediate use in
the Spring. All clay soils, says Mr..
Smith of Lois Weldon, whose expert
ments in spade husbandry and in grow
ing heavy crops of wheat upon the same
soil for many successive seasons without
the use Of manure, haze made his name
we'll known to the generality of farmers
-" All clay Soils he remarks, "con-
tain the elements of wheat, and perfect
tilth dispenscs with the need of manur-
ing" This is pushing theory little
TOO far. 1t was propoundcd years ago
by Je hro Tull but can never be ac-
ccpted in its entirety. The reason is
obvious. The richest soil contains only
a certain positive amount of plant food
which must be exhausted eventually by
constant cropping if a portion of those
constituents are taken from the soil
annually, and the loss is never replaced
by manures and fertilizers, but it is
nevertheless true that an immense
amount Of plant food lies dormant, which
in heavy clay soils can only be rendered
soluble and therefore actively useful
by through disintegration, whether that
work be citec ed by spade husbandry or
by the action of frost. English expert
ence has come to The conclusion of late
years that natures agency in this re-
spect is superior to the more costly agri-
cultural Implements, and that on such
soil as those to which we refer, the
most laborious and artificial means OF
reducing them to fine filth, and thus
rendering their mineral constituents
available, do not compare with the ac-
ton of frost upon rough exposed sur
face. The London Agricultural Journ-
al in discussing this question declares
that after all the expensive appliances
which science has invented or industry
has brought into play" 1t has at
length been found that it is better,
cheaper and more perfect too, to leave
this last refinement of the tillagc process
to the weathcr-which does it without
cost. The land is now torn up
smashed up-or moved and thrown
about in large. clods and Jumps. This
is best done in dry Autumn weather,
and thus it lies until the Spring. The
rams and frosts of Winter following a
dry September and October penetrate
and thrust assundcr the hardened mas
ses of the soil. No two PARTICLES shall
remain adhering to each her if you
only give room and opportunity to the
best disintegrator in the world. No
rasp or saw, or mill will reduce the IN
duratcd land to soft and wholesome til h
so perfectly as Winters FROST" All
that is needed is to provide an outlet for
the water when it comes by eficien.
drainage and that drainage is accom-
plisbed when the land is deeply ploughed
and the burrows are thrown on edge Just
tapping each other, and presenting, as
they rest on the subsoil, a channc.
through which the surplus water may
pass off.