The Grange advance., 1874-04-22
The Farmers Club.


The Farmers Club.
The Farmers Cluo met Yesterday at
the accustomed time and place. Cooper
Union. one O'clock, Mr.. Ely in the
chair. Mr.. Chambers secretary; attend
mace good. A greater part Of the time
was consumed in considering the ire
pressible subj bject Of
DEEP TILLAdE,
which, phenix like. appe,ts with al
most every meetidg. 1t><as yesterday
brought to the attenti ion of the Club BY
the reading of long paper written by
Mr.. John Townsend, Moundsville, Wis.,,
in reply to certain structures of DR..
Stilwell upon a former paper Regard
ing tillrge and improvement of poor and
deep sandy soils, he admitted that shall
low plowing would probably be the bet
ter, but not unfrequently the sand is su-
per6cial and capable of permanent i'm
provement by subsoiling and trenching.
The best method of applying manure to
sandy soils was in liquid form, distrib-
uted by pipes laid deep in the soils,
with fixed hydrants at stated distances,
and flexible hose and jet to distribute
it to growing crops. The effect upon
vegetation Of every description was
magical. This system of irri cation has
been Practiced many years in England,
and there can be few reasons why it
should not be profitable on the light
sands Of New Jersey and Long Island.
In relation to clay soils, the speaker
quoted Voelker's assertions, that i: the
benefit resulting from deep culture can
not be too highly estimated" and that
the advantages of deep plowing be-
come more and more apparent from
year to year." But at the same time
it was absolutely necessary for it to be
an advantage that the subsoil should be
better than that for which it was ex.
changed.
The effect of at once bringing
quantity of new clay to the surface and
of ploughing deeply an unimproved,
poor, sandy soil may, perhaps, be still
better understood, and some one be pre-
vented from recklessly plunging deep
into - subsoil in the vain hope of OBJ.
tain4 .1eans to satisfy a mortgage if
We consider for moment how plants
grow. The vigor Of the young plant
say Of wheat-depends, first, upon the
seed; the plant is strong in proportion
to the health of the seed and the guam
tity Of nutriment it is capable of sup
plying the young plant until it is able
to obtain its food from the soil and air
"a fact which would seem to have
been better understood and acted upon
by farmers 1000 years ago than at the
present day.
a surface-soil rich in plant-food is an
essential condition of profitable growth !;
for, in proportion to the store Of suita
bic food the young plant finds in the
soil, so will be the size, number, and
vigor of the leaves first formed hence
the starved and thriftleis coddition Of
wheat plants which vegetate in "a barren
or in clay subsoikvhose plant.f6pd is in
dormant condition.:
On the number and efficient action of
the leaves -in~e}}aborating organizable
matter will depend the number of till
ers produced and on these, of course,
depends the number of grain-bearine
stems. Again, the size Of the ears is
determined long before they emerge
from their sheaths. Their size and the
quantity and quality of the grain final
y produced depends, all other condi-
tions being equal, also on an abundant
ana uninterrupted supply of food and
1t Is now, in these last and critical
stages of the plants progress that
deeply.moved and uniformly enriched
soil tells. The roots are induced to 20
deep into the soil, in consequence of the
food existing there, and the moisture to
make that food available is ever present.
- World.