The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-04-10
DEEP PLOUGAlNa,$

It has been truly said that an in.
crease Of one Inch in tho average
depth Of ploughiug throughout the
United States, would produce larger
amount Of profit, as compared with
present results, than all tho gold re-,
oeived from California. We. believe 10
his assertion says the Workiny Far
mer ; Tut we do not believe that all
so'ls without being previously SUBSIDIZED,
are TT Tor this Immediate inc, ease IL
depth. We know that even clay sub.
soils, which approach within few 10.
ches Of the surface, after being thor,
oughly SUBSIDIZED, are so smeliorated as
g b. capable, Of admixsure with the
immediate surface soil; and We are
equally well aware that suhsoiling can
not be performed with any profit in
clay subsoils ooutaioiug excessive
amounts Of water; that such soils
must be FIRST underdralned aud the sub.
soiIiog precede 90 increase Of depth in
surface ploughing. But there are mil
lions Of acres capable Of being ploushed
to double the depth to which they
have ever received IN ,ucision from )
tool Of any kind, with increased profit.
Even in the State of New York there
are thousands Of acres at this time which
have never been ploughed to . greater
depth than tour inches, composed Of
a lcam entirely ready to be disintegra.
ted by surface ploughing to depth
Of twelve or fifteen inches With 10.
creased profit and there are few soils
that may not BE- at once ploughed to
depth Of an inch or mole than its for
mer depth. The .dase "thas many
armers own anoth farm Immediately
fauder that which they now cultivate"
can not be too ofieu repeated, and the
judicious farmer, whose will has so of.
ten been quoted, - having Informed
hrs sons that he had buried . sum of
money 1t .: depth Of twelve inches
somewhere on b is farm, aud that they
must end 1t, improved tie quality Of
their products by the disturbances Of
the soil more than be would benefit
them bv the supposed legacy by direct
brqueatbment. Less manure will pro-
ducs larger amount Of crops in de p.
~ disin.egrated soil and it is not true
that the deeper you pillow the more ma
oure you require. It's true that the
more thoroughly manure is divided,
the greater will be the amount OF crops
pr oduced: and this is the more certainly
brought about BY deep than it is by
shallow ploughlpg.
No practical farmer can doubt that
10 deeply ploughed soil, crops are less
annoyed by drouth and by inse cts and
if plough,ng is useful at all, it must be
useful precisely in the same ratio to
the amount OF soil disturbed, prov ided
chat the roots are capable of appropri.
sting a greater amount of soil by its
disturbance. Who doubts that roots
will travel 10 the depth of twelve or
fifteen inches, or even double that dis.
lance :? Who doubts that the line pas-
sing down through the soil, will rest on
the surface of a cold aud upeisintegra,ed
subsoil? Who does not know that
many farms supposed to be worn out
have been revived by the increase Of
fe" inches in the depth Of plpuyhing?
Who will longer be sconteoted to use "a
pitiful one.horse plough, skating it
through the soil like harrow with one
tocth, when BY deep pIougbing be can
mere than double MS cr,p>