Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-03-08
Deep or Shallow PIouuhing.

DIR. Trimble showed specimen of corn,
and said II have much testimony to show
that five inches ploughing or less have
proved better than ten inches or more
And have reports from some who have
taken Mr.. Greeley's advice, and ploughed
foot deep, and say, as DIR. Hexamer once
said here, that background, for the time be-
ing, at least, was ruined"
RESPONSE OF HORACE GREELEY.-"I
travelled considerably over the state of New
Jersey last year, and in my judgment the
corn crop, large as it may have been in To-
calities, was, as a whole, shortened not
little by the drouth. Now, | don't know
any other way to get moisture in dry sea-
son than by going deep. To be sure, you
may accomplish the same result by means
of irrigation, or at least to some extent |
and if farmer can turn stream of water |
over his corn field, he has less need to fear |
the evils ofshallow ploughing. But in the |
absence of this agency, the deplorable re-
suits of the three inch system are sure to |
come, unless in cases where the soil is of
such porous formation as to permit the
roots to penetrate, through the substratum
is not disturbed. For instance, amid the
general failure of last years corn crop in
Virginia, full fifty thousand acres produc-
ing not more than five bushels each, and
this mostly in consequence of shallow Gull
ture. | came upon some stretches which
were pleughed no deeper, and yet brought
/ fifty to seventy bushels per acre. But,
mark you, these exceptional stretches were
in every instance of alluvial formation
| that is, so porous in their nature as to offer
no obstruction to the roots in their down
ward tendency. These would have grown
good crops, even if the surface had only
been scarfed and nothing more, simply
permitting the seed to terminate. The
jersey soils, of which we have heard, are
essentially like those, and therefore per-
nit the roots to run without the assistance
of the plough. l frequently go down and
visit my nephew, who is trying to cultivate
some of this Jersey land, and | tell him
what | believe, and what his experience is
proving to be true, that even the sands are
better and more fruitful when ploughed
deep and fortified Literally. | have touch
ed upon laws Just as immutable as that OF
gravitation, and trust the day will come
when we shall cease to mislead the people.
4 Mr.. Qunn-''I would like to ask Pro
tessor Cook, who Is authority on this sub
{ Jet, if he can confirm Mr.. Greeleys state
e ment to the effect that the soil Of Salem is
: III its geological formation, different from
that in other sections
= Mr. Cook-.Mr Greeley states the cas-
r exactly. 1t is exceptional land"
: TESTIMONY OF Mr.. FULLER.-''It hap
5 pens very OPPORTUNITY that l have here a
G item clipped from the Practical Farmer
y which has direct bearing on this subject
II and which says that in Bridgeton, y. J
. adjoining this very county Of Salem, wher
n David Petit, author of the fiye-inch theor!
: resides, lives Geo. VI. Davis, 4 prOgressiv
OF farmer. He has been located there abou
le three years, but appears to be making raj
= id strides in the direction OF an improve
IL system of agriculture and heavy crops.
N Though only twenty-five years of age, la
season ne received from the county ia
nine premiums, and this year eighteen, il
GLIDING those on wheat, corn, and potatoe
He has been practicing, since he starte
deep ploughing, and a friend knowing h
ed operations sent to the office Of the pap
al from which I quote some samples of h
vegetables. One was a parsnip twenty-f
h- inches long, and which the editor just
20 recorded Is 4 positive argument in favor
We deep culture. Mr.. Davis uses the Doub
- Michigan plough, and follows with Il
"a. gar subsoil, loosening and disturbing the s.
TX to the depth Of twenty inches"