Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1866-03-16
Westminster Farmers Club.
FLOWING AND STIRRING THE SOIL

ration will take hold in farming i'm
provements where the old fathers lief
off Looking back at the mode of
blowing sixty-fve years ago, and a
the tools then called plows, he fan
cied himself once again riding, as
when boy, upon the pillow beam, hold
ING a clearing stick in his hands, to
clean and clear the pillow once per rod
With two stout yoke of oxen and a
good driver and a stalwart man to
hold, with great labor and heat to the
oxen, men and boy, an half acre was
got orer-not plowed-per day. The
pillow then used was called the Lock.
shires and consisted of a beam stand
ing II inches from the ground, insert
ed into hole of post taken from
the post and rail fence of those days,
which post received backward slant
of As deg. and was hacked off at the
bottom 50 as to gouge furrow five
inches deep. Then in a few years
came an improved Dutch pillow, which
went better. Aiterward he invented
pillow which he used until the first iron
pillow was introduced.
Maj. Page advised to pillow land
deep-not less than eight inches, and
manure it we'll He would not pillow
his oat land till spring-would pillow
his corn land as late in the spring as
possible, roll and then harrow thor
oughIy, use a marker and plant imme-
diately. Thus the weeds would be
kept down. Use a good horse cult
vator, running it each way, and your
hOeing is easy.
He would pillow old sward land in
the fall to let the frost subdue the
turf and kill the worms. Spread the
manure on the top in the spring, and
drag, drag. drag. Do not be afraid
oftoo much dragging.
Mr.. Lane said he used to plow as
much a. seven inches deep for corn,
but now he got better crops in plow-
but four inches For he second
blowing he ran three inches lower
Corn roots sought air and sun, so do
the roots OF clover.
Mr.. :. GrOut believed in manuring
well aud blowing six to eight inches
deep. Corn roots, he had traced in
their minute diversions to a great
depth and distance. The soil upon
the river meadows was good many
feet in depth. Instances were found
where patches of land from one-fourth
to half an acre in extent had the soil
removed to the depth Of fifteen feet
for building the railroad, and were
the most productive of any. He be-
ieved in the efficacy of stirring the
soil. 1t furnished moisture for the
plants and was a substitute for ma
nure. Jethro Tull, famous English
Farmer, laid down three great rul s
for agriculturists. The first rule was
expressed in one word, viz: Hoe.
The second, likewise, Hoe. T e
third, Hoe.
Dea. Mcneil said, deep blowing
might be WELL if you could manure
well. But for him to pillow deep was
injudicious, indeed perfect folly, for he
could not manure it, and the land could
not manure itself. He said Mr.. A..
Arnold few years since, plowed on
the upper street with three yoke of
oxen, ten or twelve inches deep, and
purchased much manure for the land
from Bellows Falls, and got more
weeds, but no more corn than he got
by blowing five to six inches. He
said that soil from the depth of twenty
feet, because after it had been ex-
posed tUsun and atmosphere and ma
nured several years, made good land,
was no reason for deep blowing under
ordinary circumstances.
Mr.. |. n. Farr gave numerous cases
of results from deep and shallow
blowing Of meadow lands, and con-
cluded that shallow blowing was best,
and that bringing up the cold deep
soil to the surface, would require time,
expense and patience before a crop
would succeed. He recommended
the cylinder pillow. 1t raises, turns,
throws off the soil and covers well the
coarse manure. He would turn the
furrow fiat on moist land, thus sub
dueing the grass and giving place for
water. He would lap the burroughs
on light soils.
NJ. n. Pierce thought farmers failed
in not narrowing their lands enough.
and cultivating enough His crops
were much increased by these pro-
cesses. He was never sensible that
he had narrowed too much, but often.
too little. He did not call s inches
deep blowing, did not approve of fall
blowing.
Mr.. Goodridge plowed deep with
subsoil pillow, which obviated the diff
Guilty as to bringing the poor soil at
the top and gave tn c roots of the
plants a chance to run deep, and
guard against the drought.
The following, though not snake
story must be attributed to Mr.. Farr,
and is not much Of an exaggeration.
1t shows the prOpriety Of deep cult
walton for garden vegetables. Mr..
q. of Westminster spaded a bed very
deep for parsnips, and enriched it
thoroughly. The roots grew luxuri-
antly. Last fall he attempted to pull |
one with his hands, but to no purpose.
he then got hoe but to no effect.
Then he got shovel, next spade.
but still failed to uproot the sturdy
parsnip. He obtained an iron bar. !
and by system of drilling and pry.
ing so loosened the roots of the NAM |
moth vegetable, that he seized its TOP
and by Herculean pull, caused it to |
give way about three feet below the
surface, which it did with such pc
culiar screaking sound, horrible dictu
that he, astonished, ceased further fri.
al and the rest of the parsnip, with
its mtried fellows. still remains mn