Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1865-05-16
Agricultural.
Deep Cultivation.

Twenty years ago prominent English Agri-
culturist spoke OF shallow blowing as one OF
the principal curses OF British Agriculture, and
the same writer, in a recent communication to
an English paper, says:
q" am sjrry TO be Obliged to state, that, in
my opinon, formed from observation, four inch
es (solid) is still the full average depth of the
Agricultural pie-crusl, in which plants are to
grow whose root, would, if permitted, descend
many feet"
We question If the agricultural pie.crust'
Of Canada is any deeper on an average, and
though 1t yields large supply Of food Tor man
and beast, let It not be forgotten that there is
something beow the crust, which is capable Of
adding immensely 10 that supply. Ia point of
fact, neatly every farmer in tue country has
seeond Farm, Of the possession Of which he lives
In total ignorance new farm under the old
one. Farms not only lie side by side, but in
layers, and if the rage for broad acres, could
be displaced Tor deep acies, the amount Of soil
under cultivation might soon be doubled
The objects OF plowlng are chiefly these
70 pulverize the Soil ~ that the air can get into
1t, and the roots and plants find their way
through II; to mlngle the different portions OF
1t as thoroughly as possible: to cover the man
ures TO XIII weeds and TO keep the surface
open and fresh, BY bringing fresh portions of
earth 10 the surface moisture Is attracted from the
air, and along with moisture, various fertlliz-
Ing gases are absorbed. BY keeping the pores
OF the land, 30 to speak, ope1, this process goes
on more thoroughly than IL can do If the sur.
face 10 suffered To grsw hard and stiff. Deep
piowlng extends these benefits to greater
depth. IL "opens larger proportion OF the soil
TO the beneficial action Of air and moisture, and
furnishes more roomy bed for plant roots, an
more capacods store house for plant-food-
IL has, to some extent, the same effect ~ dram
ing. IL Carrie, of more or less OF the surface
water, warns the soil, and renders it more easy
OF cultivation. Land thus titled IS not TO DO
soon exhausted. The roots OF gram, by pen
etrating farther, take frmer hold aud the STALKS
are less liable Il give way and lodge.
II also saves labor. 1t is less work to
raise thirty bushels OF wheat from one acre than
from two to three, TO say nothing Of the zest
and pleasure connected with getting "a large IN
stead OF small yie1. Deep culture is espec-
ally important in the grow IN of root crops
Those VINO have only Jour inch " pie-crust "
to operate upon, have little idea of the size to
which turnips, mangolds, carrots, &c. will at
tain, when lhty have ample range IN a rich soil
Rev. Mr.. Smith, of Lois W eedon, one of the
most noted Agricultufis,s OF the present day,
gets his rows Of SSedes to " shake hands " 6y
their leaves at fps feet intervals. lie plows
back his top SOIL and having thus laid bare the
poor subsoil, manure into it until topsoi and
subsoil are alike rich. DR.. Dixon, Of Rivenhall,
once pulled up parsnip with vertical root
thirteen ieet siI inches long, besides further
piece left by Its breaking of. This was in a
bank OF earth twenty feet deep, that fell over
loosely when excavated. The roots of strawber.
~ p ants, grape-vines, &c, have been known
10 decend several feet 10 search OF food and mos-
ture. The exposure OF cold barren subsoil to
the action OF the atm osphere without the addi-
hon oil manure, will IN due time, render it ca
paole OF producing crop. How great, then,
must be the advantage OF both loOsening it up
and dressing II literally with dung.
Gardeners understand this. A lour.inoh
"pie-crust will not raise choice vegetables
Hence the land 10 threnched 10 the depth of a
couple oil feet, or ut least double-spaded, and
manure worked IN at q rate that seems almost
wasteful, yet 1t is the very best economy OF Ian
labor and money. Why should not the farm
be as deeply titled as the garden Toe reply
probably is, becaus, of the expense. This Oh
lection would lie II We were to be confined to slow
hand labor with the spade. But the SANE re.
suit can be attained by the use of team and
plow These are inadmissable 10 gardens be-
cause OF the limited space for turning aud work.
ing, aud also because there are trees, plants.
walks, ETC., that would be injured by thl. mode
OF culture. But in the open field, team and
pillow can get down as deeply as the spade There
are two modes by which greater depth Of tillage
can be attained. One is by deeper pIo Wing with
an ordinary surface pillow, and the other by the
use OF tue subsoil pillow. The surface pillow driy-
en- deeper down, throws the subsoil to the ton
the subsoll plow follows 10 the iurrow made
BY the other, and simply tears up and lOosens the
hard IAN. IL stlrs ana mixes up what is under
the pie crust"
The change from shallow to deep blowing
must be made gradually when 1t is accomplish.
cd with the common pIow put in more deeply,
and manure suihcent 10 enrich what is thrown
up from beneath must be applied, An inch at
time may be taken until by successive deepen
ing the pillow can be driven to the depth OF nine
OF ten inches. The subsoil plow-an impIe.
ment n most unknown in this cOunlty-will el-
ieet gradual deepening of the soil without
throwing the broken hard-pan u the surlace
BY looseniDg the subsoIl so that the air can pen
etrste it, IL will soon lmpro'e and be assimllat-
Cd to the topsoil. Stronger implements and
heavier teams will be nee led Tor the deeper cul-
tivation we are urging, but the result 10 heayl.
er crops will soon Justify and reward the outlay.
-Canada Farmer.