The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1880-05-27
How and When to Hun u. Plow.

How ana when TO Hun the PloWs
As the time and manner Of blowing
varies TO meet the requirements OF di'-
ferCnt soils and localities, no definite
Tu,es may be laid down by which to
govern the operation. but each piece OF
land must be con 'dered by itself and
broken up at a s,ason and in a style best
suited TO lis own n ,essitiCs. There are,
however, some gen al principles under
lying the whole matter which will assist
each farmer in deciding whether he
shall practice fall or spring blowing and
what depth TO set The pow.
Light, sandy land generally speaking,
should be plowed in the spring, and ex-
%perience hiss proven IN most cases, that
land near the sea, which is rarely COW
cred with snow, rrod aces better when
broken in the spring Than If this be done
in the autumn. On the other hand,
heavy cay soil apl ears TO require The al.
ternate freezirg3 and thawings Of win
ter 10 pu'verize it. Fields foul with
weeds are greatly benefited by fall plow-
ing, which turns under these noxious
growihs with the stall of the crop be-
fore their seed natures, and not only de-
stroys them but forcesthem to enrich the
land. The exposure of pestilent insects
TO the weather is another argument IN
favor of fall blowing.
The depth Ct the soil and the charac-
ter Of the subsoil must determine the
question Of deep and shallow blowing.
The subsoil ought not, as n rule, to b.
brought out of its bed except in small
quantities to be exposed to the atmos
phere during the fall, winter and spring,
or in a summer fallow; nor even then
except when such fertilizers are applied
rs are necessary to put it at once into =
productive conditi n. Two Indifferent
soils of opposite character, as a stiff
clay and sliding sand, sometimes occupy
the relation of surface and subsoil to
each other. When thoroughly incor
porated and subjected TO dep cultiva.
tion they will produce a soil of greatly
increased value. River soils having
perfect natural drainage take kindly to
deep blowing, as do the black, porous
and fertile limestone soils. Land that j,
dry, with but a few inches of good soil.
will not, of course, produce AS good
crops by deep as by shallow blowing
These conditions are, i. must be said
usceptible of improvement by a thor
ugh system of subsoiling and liberia
manurlng Deep plo wing is ill-advised
when a basin is formed below a Ger
tain line in which water will settle
andremain until it can escape by evap
Grafton. Such soils require drainage,
after which the plow can be set deep
Tosum upthe whole subject brieAy--thin
soils with worthless subsoils must be
plowed shallow until the farmer can
afford the labor and expense of subsoil
ing and heavy manuring for a number
of years. This expense and labor, by
the way, will repay him in the end, moi
only with increased crops but enhanced
value of the land. Deep clay loans and
A~lluvial soils bear deep blowing. Wet
lands should be drained previous to deer
blowing. The medium course-i. e..
blowing from five to six inches deep
is of course exempt from the harmful
results OF the two extremes.
Farmers generally agree that sandy Oh
dry soils require fiat blowing, which
tends to consolidate the land, while on
low or strong soils they prefer to leave
the furrow on edge. Much is written
and said each year against breaking w
ground that is too wet; the other ex-
IRENE is seldom mentioned, and yet il
has been demonstrated-especially on
heavy clay land-that running the pillow
through ground too dry is almost as per-
nicious in its effects as blowing it when
too wet. Sufficient moisture isrcquired
10 cause The burrows to fall loosely from
the plow with no appearance of packing
and no Jumps. Time and labor are
saved by running the burrows the long
est way of the .ield, as the number OF
turns are thereby diminished .-New
York World.