Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1867-03-06
AGRICULTURAL.
DEEP PLOUGHING.


you are tired Of working the old farm,
and want new one, instead Of going 1000
miles after 1t in tho far west, we advised
such to take the one offered to them, imme-
diately under the one they have been cult
waiting, and for which no extra titl lceds or
payments are necessary. II is an entirely
new farm, and virgin soil, on which there
has not been even squatter since the coun.
try was first settled. To those who doubt
Of their being any strength in this yellow
and apparently sterile sub.soil, l4inches un.
der the surface we would ask an explana-
ton Of the enriching and extraordinary ef-
fects of yellow soil from the bottom Of a
well l2 to Is feet deep. We have known
white clover to grow most luxuriantly, after
this was spread over the surface, where none
had grown before. Every farmer must have
seen such results himself. Weknow of one
person who had amost extraordinary growth
Of oats after earth from the digging Of a
cellar, five feet deep, had been spread one
foot thick. There must therefore be some
thing Of value in it.
We are warm friends, both from theory
and practice, of the Double Michigan Or
Sod and Subsoil plow Most of our readers
know this to consist Of two ploughs on a
single beam, the small one in front Of the
other, in operating, taking off about five
inches of the surface soil, letting the hinder
plough lift and put Immediately on the top
Of this, seven to nine inches deeper. 'But'
say some, would it not be better merely to
stir and loosen this, without bringing so
much yellow stuff to the top?' Our an
sweris No; if it was rich soil, We might let
it lay there, and the roots would find it, but
being comparatively poor, we cannot afford
this, but must have it on the surface, where
we can control it, pulverize and acerate it,
and avail ourselves of its absorbent power
the power of drawing on the fertilizing
gases Of the atmosphere. We want inver.
sion, and not merely stirring, our object and
intention being to get depth Of what il
popularly called soil, fourteen inches, al
least as black and as good, in every partic
ular, as the present four or five inches, an(
to obtain this in the shortest possible time
We want large reservoir Of plant food. -
Our practice therefore is to plough with th'
Double Michigan, for corn, IA incdes deep
We stimulate in the hill the early growth o.
the corn in its rather cold sced-bed but thu
roots soon find their way down to the surface
soil which had been inverted, and before th'
growing season is over the crop has takcI
root downward and sprang upward, untoucl.
ed and unaffected by drought, and yielding
heavy returns of bright glazed heavy, well
ripened ears. as if the roots had been farl.
revolling in the protusion Of their appropri
ate food. There are two other great advan
tages Of ploughing IA inches deep, in guard
ing against the effects Of excessive drough
or too much rain, either of which is injuri
Gus tothe growth Of plants. In a very we
season the super-abundant moisture passe
down instead Of settling at the roots, to thei
great injury, and the ground, even after
heavy rains, can soon be worked. In tn
event of severe drought, the roots pene
trate the sub-soil for moisture, which i
drawn up by capillary attraction, and thei
growth is not interrupted. In the countr
where We reside, friend once complaiue,
to us Of the trouble he had got himself int
by visitors stopping to inquire what was tn
matter with a certain portion Of his corn
field. As an experiment, in a corn-fcl
along the road side he had caused his me-
to dig few feet square to the deptho of thre
feet. A drought cnsued that summer, Q
great severity. so that the corn-fclds in mid
summer, looked as brown asin winter TIL
stalks were killed, but on the dug portion o
the same SOIL and in other respects under tn
same treatment, the corn continued GROWN
through the season without interruption
and the green spot in desert of dry corr
stalks attracted the attention of passers-b
to know nhe reason. In the fall of the yea
he carefully traced corn roots to the dept
Of three feet. We have therefore to sa
that plowing seven inches deep is goot
ploughing and sub-soiing is better an
ploughing IA inches with the Double Micl
igan and inverting the subsoil is best of a
connecting this, however, the first seaso
with the proper use Of fertilizers. .-Pact
cal Farmer.
THE CRANBERRY FURORE.
The culture Of cranberries in South Je
sey is progressing very successfully in tn
Il L a