The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-02-06
Agricultural Department.
: CNLfIyAfING WITHOUT FLOWING.

Plewing land has always seemed to DO \
an ernensiye and wasteful way of pre-
narina IL for seeding. AL that the pillow
aims To do is to reverse the soil. II In
addition il pulvelizes the newly turned
surface. the benefit is incidental and ac-
complished only by disproportionate
labor. The Londonef said he never
liked farming The land was invariably
wrong side up, and had 70 DC turned
over before anything could be done.
With sod land intended for sowing or
planting, this reversal of the soil is nee
essary. But fully two-thirds OF the plow-
ing done in this country is OF stuooie or
after hoed crops, and for these, turning
the surface soil 70 the bottom OF deep
furrow is more often a deteriment than
q benefit. English farmers are using q
sacrifer, cutting up the stubble and pull
yerizing the soil to the depth OF fve, six
or seven inches, but without turning 1t
over. This does not cost as much labor
as blowing; more surface can be pre-
pared per day in as good or better con-
dition, and from what have heard Of
the process, judge 1t Is success.
1t seems to me that this surface-work-
ing stubble ground for wheat in the
fall ought to succeed. When wo pillow,
good farmers drag and roll the surface
SO as to make It hard and pack the under
soil as thoroughly as before blowing.
1.-THE soil is properly enriched, it makes
little difference to wheat how hard it is.
Generally the harder the sub-soil, with
only two or three inches at the surface
moist and per meable, the safer the plant
will be from winter-killing and the bet
ter the crop. The stubble of oats and
barley is in tho way of successful shall
low culture. The plow, which will
turn the stubblc we'll under the furrow,
seems to be Indispensable. Yet the
stubble itself is of little or no advantage
to the wheat plant. If the field could
be burned over before blowing, and
then cultivated to the depth of three or
four inches, it would be the best seed
bed possible. The ashes of the stubble
mixed with the surface soil, would be
worth more as manure than the stubble
itself, decaying as slowly as it is apt to
do.
Our severe northern winters pulvor-
ize the surface soil to the depth of three
or four inches, and especially after hoed
crops there will be on tho surface fine
vegetable mold which makes the best
possible seed-bed for oats or barley. If
the proceeding crop has been kept clean
of weeds, as it should be, it will be o
great mistake to pillow it. Dragging or
cultivating the surface lightly, so as to
level down ridges, is all that is required,
If corn stubs or old potato vines are in
the way, they should be gathered in
heaps and burned. BY this method q
large amount of land may DO prepared
for seeding with little labor and in much
better time than is done by the pillow fol-
lowed by the cultivator or harrow. For
most kinds of spring grain, it seems to
be we'll settled that shallow blowing is
usually better than deep. On well cared
for, clean and mellow potato stubble tho
after grain crop will be better if the plow
is dispensed with altogether. The ex-
ceptions to this are where tho soil is
foul with thistles and other weeds which
need to be checked by spring blowing,
go as to give the grain an even start and
better chance TO keep down the weeds.