Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-10-04
House, Farm and Garden.
1. ID. r. COLLINS, Editor.
Deep Flowing AGAIN,

Deep Flowing Again.
From practical Maine farmer we have
the following a blowing: Gone of the
most important operations farmer has to
perform, is blowing Ground we'll plowed
is half hoed. Flowing is the beginning
the foundation underlying all other oper-
ations, and upon which the success of the
crop largely depends. 1t is a trade, an art,
as much as any other mechanical operation,
and cannot be we'll performed by an mex
perienced hand The labor of after-culti- |
walton, also, is lessened very much by do |
ing this work carefully and thoroughly. |
Every foot of the ground should be broken !
and mellowed, otherwise the seed which |
falls upon the hard places, having no depth |
of soil, will fail, and the labor and use of |
the land will be lost. Crops grow under
the surface of the soil as well as above it, |
and unless the roots can easily penetrate
the soil and spread out their net work of
tiny rootlets to suck up the plant food, the
branches cannot extend far above ground,
these tender rootlets cannot penetrate the
tough unturned sods, nor the hard I'M
broken clods.
The crops may be as effectually locked
up in the soil, as in the granary; that is
the elements which go to build them up.
may be so firmly held in these Jumps and
clods, that the plants cannot assimilate
them, and consequently cannot make a
thrifty growth however rich the soil may
| be.
The prime objects, therefore, to be aim
ed at in blowing are, to commute the
| particles Of the soil as much as possible;
to thoroughly mingle the different portions
and make it deep and mellow Whatever
other objects they may have in view, these
should not be overlooked nor sighted. If
the work is done in the fall, which is I'M
dOubtedly the best time to pillow most soils,
the frost during the winter aids very much
in refining the soil, and leaves it light and
mellow for the crop. 1t is not sufficient
simply to stir and pulverize the surface
such blowing will be in fact as in deed,
merely superficial The soil should be
worked sufficiently deep as to allow the
roots of the plant to be grown upon it, to
run down far enough to obtain moisture
and nourishment necessary to perfect their
full development. The wheat and root
crops are especially benefited bv deep and
thorough cultivation.
One acre well plowed will produce near
ly twice as much as another only half plow-
ed, and the labor will be much less of the
former. Unless the farmer does his work
well there is but little profit in doing it at
all while many times there Is actual loss
, He may as well cast his seed by the way
side or among thorns," as upon stony
ground, or where there is not much earth.
The good ground only yielded fruit an
hundred fold The husbandman may
learn a practical, as well as a moral lesson
from the Parable of the Sower.
1.-THE farmers of this state would expend
their resources and labor in cultiyating
and improving one-half the area they now
do, they woald in a few years not only
increase the quantity, but also increase the
quality Of their crops.
: If says an excellent authority, you
have been blowing twenty acres four to six
inches deep, make it forty by doubling the
depth of your blowing; it IS better and
cheaper than to buy twenty acres. Near
ly every farmer in the country has q new
farm under the old one; indeed if the de-
sire for more land could be changed to the
desire for deeper land, the number OF acres
under cultivation would soon be doubled
Do not infer from this, however, that il
you have been blowing heretofore only six
inches, you will double our crop next year
, by blowing q foot deep. Such resultwill
f not follow, nor is such a practice to be rec
, commended. On the contrary it would IN
e doubtedly prove injurious to most soils
4 Do not be in a hurry. God took time Il
p make the farm. If the change Is made
= with common pillow, it should be done
gradually, an inch or two at a time. The
I subsoil is generally hard and crude, and i
f will require the combined action of fros
and heat, of rain and sunlight to render i
\ productive. 1t may contain all the ele
e ments of fertility, but in an inert and una
> valuable condition. A better method, anC
T one that can be recommended by those wlt
+ have tried it, is to run furrow with a 500
t pillow about the usual depth desired. l
- will pay. The operation is easily perform
f ed, and the expense is within the means 0
. those in moderate circumstances.
i As the choicest gold is to be had for tn
It digging, so the golden grain may be had b,
= blowing. The earth is full of the unspeak
r able riches of Him who made it. \ gener
Gus soil is ever willing to yield a bountifu
q harvest to the hand of intelligent and wei
i directed industry. The hand that hold
il the pillow, holds the destiny of nations
3 The plowman is Natures true nobIeman
and should be Gods noblest work-a
honest man.. w. w. in Homestead