The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-04-14
ALL ABOUT FLOWING.
Discussion by the GratiOt Farmers
Club.

OA9Su1sAOu W Ahp NioASe AoAAhSA5
Club.
From the ZInssvills Courier.
MARCH %, 1871.
Club met ct Glendale. Thomas Blacks
preliminary business being disposed Of,
J. s. Griffith read this essay on blowing
FLOWING.
The first thing that presents itselfunder
this heading Is the old adage: "Plow
deep" All clay lands, sod, either rolling
or hill, intended for corn or root crops,
should DO plOwed In the fall, from ten TO
twelve inches deep, and stirred in the
spring. This would give depth Of loose
earth that would insure good crop
either in q dry or wet season; also pre-
vent washing on hill lands There is o
great amount Of steep land washed and
ruined by shallow blowing.
Fall blowing gives the farmers time to
haul manure on the land In winter. Clay
land should not be plowed wet, spring or
fall. I care not how much freezing there
is land had better be worked dry. ] pre-.
fer blowing clay land in the fall. If
plowed in the spring it should be sub
soiled. ! think subsoiling costs more and
does not pay Us well. On bottom or deep
soil (sod) I prefer spring blowing. It
produces as well as fall blowing, and is
not 50 hare to keep weeds down.
Sod land intended for wheat should be
plowed in June and stirred in August,
when perfectly dry, to insure q good crop
/ do not think Il necessary 10 say any.
thing in reference to nice blowing. Al
farmers know that thorough and straight
blowing pays the best.
VIM. ArmStrong.-The essay Is good,
but l can't fully endorse II. Its too hard
on q team " plow twelve inches deep,
with proportionate width. l would turn
seven inches and stir five, with the sub.
soil pillow. That leaves the soil on top.
w. a. BVrTouS.-I would plow eight or
teninches. Athin soil should be deepened
by degrees, and MANFRED at each success.
i've blowing. Experience with clover
teaches me that shallow blowing is not
the thing for this country. thing sub.
soiIing Is beneficial. Plant roots run near
the surface and get their food there, but a
deeply lOosened soil retains moisture on
which tho plants draw In time Of drouth.
Flowing Is being done much better now
than formerly.
Thomas BLdek.-No one rule will suit all
kinds Of land. There are many things to
take into consideration. One point that
! consider settled, Is that sod should never
he turned down very deep. If done so
the plant roots never reach II and lis bene.
fits are lost But in turning the sod back
the plow may be put down two inches
deeper, without injury 10 the soil or crop.
A farmer blowing a hill field was unable
to pillow deep up hill, but going down hill
the plow run quite deep, and he was sur
prised TO sec tie shallow blowing produce
tho better crops. have tried su6sOiling,
and have received no benefits from It.
More depends on thorough blowing than
on depth. Land Is not impoverished by
shallow blowing so much as by TOO much
and never seeding down TO grass.
Six inches Is near the right depth for our
soils.
Robert Morton.-Much depends on the
land. A thin soil should be deepened by
degrees. Turn up but little subsoil OF a
time. Don't turn fat, edge the burrows
up, It leaves more Of tho soil near the sur
face. Plow straight II saves time, and
much better work can be done, than
Il you make your burrows crooked. Don't
throw the soil up against stumps and
fences and let 1t be Merei | dig itaway
from the stumps while my horse rest.
Robert Hamilton. My experience differs
from that Of the eassyist once plowed
part Of u field in the fall, and the balance
Of II In the spring, and stirred part of
that plowed 10 the fall, and that plowed
but once yielded the best. Clover plowed
In deep Is loss TO the soil. On the cele-
brated Worth farm, talked Of so much OF
late-where grows one hundred and forty
bushels Of corn per acre-experience
teaches that four or five inches are deep
enough.
Join Humpiry-I would not plow so
deep as recommended In the essay. l
once owned q farm that had never been
broken more than four inches. l plowed
six 10 eight inches and II produced much
better than It had done before, Fall
blowing for spring crops, has not done
well so far as | have observed. For wheat
one blowing Is better than two. Our
lands don't need subsoiling.
Leroy Robfn0n-Shall We turn the fur
rows fat or edge them up. In my eXpe.
rience l find that edging up Is much more
difficult TO cultivate than that plowed flat,
The advantage for edging up Is that Il
keeps q portion Of the top soil at the sur
face where Il Is needed; but II plowed
shallower, say six inches, and turned fiat
the soil Is still In reach Ofplant roots and
cultivation Is much easier
D. @. HdmiLton-Thinks the essaylst
has run his plow into tho ground. 1t re.
minds me Of the picture OF an editor, In
the iurrow up TO his waist, holding the
plow handles and urging an lrishman on
the point Of the beam to put It down.
Nathan Ldks-Twelveinche Is none TO
deep, and If SUBSIDIZED six inches deeper,
so much the better. Poor land plOwed
shallow remains poor; but deep blowing
improves Il. know farms whose owners
followed the scratching system till their
farms are worn out and washed into gut.
ters.
j. O. POllook-I have had some expert.
ence with the subsoil pillow; saw little
benefit from It; six orseyen inches Is deep
enough to stir the soil.
Solomon MnRieh-Plow four, five, six,
or seven inches and subsOil as deep as you
please, and manure well; that's what
makes crops; that Is the key TO one hun
dred and forty bushels per acre on the
Worth farm.
Wm. ArmStro1g-The Worth farm was
once very poor. Lime brought that up.
President P0uaiStOHS-Shallow blowing
may do In the East but not here. There
the land has been impoverished and
brought up again by the abundant use Of
lime and manure; but that niny be applied
too heavily. / have known instances
where crorS were ruined by the applica.