Columbia democrat and star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1867, 1866-06-20
AGRICULTURAL.


RL0W1NU p ~ ~
MANY of our farmers are IN the habit O
: ,,,csr;,g but once for the above crop, and al
t1o,,gl' they admit the benefit of a second
,,1ow;no. always excuse themselves upon a
,,lea of want of time OF some other like excuse
thew do. not seem to realize that their busi-
ness is to invest as much labor on the putting
IN Of their crops as they can with profit, and
that Il would be much better to invest their
money in this way than in bank or govern
ment stocks .,,o;r ,,.o,,nd
;;nto inst as good order by narrowing this L
denv. they may pulyerize the surface 50 that
at superficial glance it may seem to be In as
good order, but deeper and more careful
Examination viii show that it is full ofiumps
ard nnbroken clods, into which the roots
cannst penetrate. But granting that they
can uut the ground into as fine condition by
narrowing as I can by a second plowlng' 1
would still follow the practice, for lean plow
t,v;ce with less wear and tear of teams than
thew will exhaust with the one plowing, be-
cause 7 ulow the first timeas soon as the oats
;s off. while the grounds mellow and unbak-
al bv exnosure to the sun, During this
t;,ne thew must haul out their manure. My
second blowing viii takeno longer than their
Iarrozv;n0 providing they do it properly.
There is still another important point III
favor of blowing twice practical farmersAnd
scientific men have generally come to the
conclusion that barnyard manure should be
tent as near as possible to the surface, so
tbatitis covered. 1t is also fixed fact that
soil for wheat or any other crop should be
deeplv stirred, Now we cannot by any pos
s;ble means attain both these results from
one blowing. IF deep enoughto stir the soil
thoroughly it viii bury themanure too deep
": the soil is not stirred deep enough to sat
isfv the other necessary condition.
By plowing twice / am able to accomplish
both these objects, for can make my first
blowing of the usual depth and afterward
turn under the manure by shallow furrow,
and by rolling the field once can put it into
fine order for the drill without any harrow
ing.
Those who have tried ''twice plowing for
wheat and have observed its effect upon
the ensuing grass crop, viii seldom if ever
relinquish the practice; for it always seems to
insure much better growth or set of grass,
seed which may perhaps be owing to the i'm
proved condition of the soil with reference to
pulverization
Flowing but once win seldom XIII all the
oats which springs up from the seed shaken
off in harvesting the crop, and it by growing
smothers out more or less of the wheat, al
though it has eventually to succumb to cold
weather and frost. The second plowing de-
stroys all the oats, for betweenthe two plow-
ings the seed of the volunteer crop has time
to spring up, and often formsquit an addi-
ton of green manure when turned under and
killed by the second plowing.
Ihave thrown out the above ideas with re-
gard to the proper depth for covering ma
nure in hope that some of your experienced
practical correspondents viii give through
your columns their experience upon this
point for the benefit of others beside.-Ge7-
g7adpt0srn telegraph