Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-03-16
ed by the presence Of water in The

lcal properties, should II be treated
While some subsoils are rich in plan
food, and may be brought to the SUI
face aud converted into soil with in
= punity, others are of a stiff, lear
clayey nature, and ought not to b
brought to the surface at once, bu
should be brought up by degrees, o
not at all; but, in any aud all cases
should the subsoll be broken up; it i
unfit to be thrown to thu surface, i
should be broken up as deep as posi-
bic, and left lay in the furrow. Som
subsoils are naturally porous and arr
permeably by both air and water
while the roots of plants find easy in
gress into them, and these there is les
reason to disturb, than those that arr
more dense and sensitive of water. A
thin soil, with habitual shallow plow.
ing, of, say from four to six inches
underlaid with hard pan subsoil, vii
get wet quicker in heavy rain, thar
if the subsoil were torn up a foot deep
Perhaps the wafer is just sufficient tC
completely saturate the plowed sur.
face, which converts it into slush, but
we're the hard subsoil plowed as we
have said, to the depth of twelve in
ches deeper, then the water would de-
scend out of the soil into the recesses
below, and, consequently, instead of
the soil being full of water, the water
would distribute itself among all the
capillary ground, and the surface
would be comparatively dry. But if
more water than just sufficient to sat-
urate the plowed surface should fall,
the balance would run away, and in
comparatively short time the ground
would be dry and crying for needed
moisture; whereas, were the soil and
subsoil broken up to the depth of lS,
20 or "a inches, any ordinary rain
would be wholly taken up by the ara
BILE soil, and bounteous store of mois-
ture would be garnered away, so to
speak, where it is out of the way, and
from whence, in dry time, 1t could
be elevated into the soil by means of
which we shall speak. Subsequently,
to refresh, invigorate and stimulate
the growing crops. We must get rid
of the subsoil water by deep, culture.
1t is not by any means, proposed to
subserve all the purposes of drainage
by deep subsoiling alone. Under
ground drainage is a positive demon.
Strable science, and, though it is yet
in its infancy, its advantages to the
country are absolutely incalculable.
Deep culture is the remedy for wet
seasons upon comparatively dry lands,
while it Is the remedy for drouths on
all kinds of soil. Deep culture lowers
the water line in the subsoil, so that
the surface water rapidly disappears
from the fields, and light, air and
heat Immediately exert their wonted
influence upon the growing herbage;
while the fugitive moisture has taken
a position out Of the way as reserve
guard to be summoned to useful duty
when the rains "pass by on the other
side"
There are always irregular depress-
ions in all plowed lands on level ground
unless the field has been graded-a
thing that ought always to be done.
which cavities hold from one to ten or
more barrels of water; and. this too,
in land we'll underdrained, where the
water is compelled to slowly pescolate
through the dense subsoil into the
drains; but were the subsoil broken
up to the depth of Is or more inches,
The disappearance of the water from
,he surface would be almost instanta-
1eous. A superabundance of water
mpoverishes the land by washing out
If the soil nitric acid, nitrate of lime,
potash and soda, which are
the constituents Of fertility
t is SO desirable to retain; but by deep
ulture this loss is prevented by pre-
'enting the too frequent overflow of
he sod by water; and. again, by IN.
luclng the greatly increased capillary
apacity of plants to appropriate these {
Invaluable elements. The deeper the
oil is worked and pulverized, the bet t
er is it permeated by the air, and,
onsequently those elements of fertili- {
y which the air contains in greater or
ess quantities, are more thoroughly {
Introduced into the soil. 1t is moot r
d question among chemists, whether i
he soil acquires fertility from the free t
itrogen of the air; but, all agree that q
ain, snow and dew are all charged e
18th small portion Of nitric acid and i
monla which are taken up by the t
oil. There IS a school of chemists t
ho hold that the nitrogen Of the air g
oes combine with substances in the t
round, and thereby impart it to fer c
lity. My own unprofessonal opinion p
that the free nitrogen of the air S
'mbines with hydrogen in the ground S
I'D form amonia. The most impor- a
mt fertilizing element is nitrogen, 81
nd it is by far the most costly of all 81
Notwithstanding four-fifths 81
the air is nitrogen, and, according a
recent estimate, there are about tt
900 tons of this substance to each is
re of the earth's surface. The air is tt
of four atomic proportions I'll
nitrogen and one of oxygen, each tt
free state, that is, not chemically IL
lited, but each mixed with and dilu- I'll
d hv the other. while nitric acid O