The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-11-22
Deep Cultivation.

There are two conditions of soil which
are not benefited by deep plowing;
these are such as have q sterile subsoil,
and those which are porous below. A
sterile subsol does not benefit the richer
top soil by intermixture with it, and
porous subsoil does not need loosening.
But soil rich above, and poor and i'm
pervious below, may be much improved
for withstanding the effects of severe
droughts by subsoiling and loosening to
some depth, to receive like sponge the
heavy rains which fall upon it, and to !.
give out from this reservoir the needed
moisture to growing crops when
droughts prevail. We have seen some
striking instances. A row of potatoes
planted over q covered ditch Welded
double the crop given from either of the
adjacent rows, the quality of the soil
being the same; but the loosened earth
over the ditch prevented the effects of
the severe drought which affected the
adjoining rows. In the same way an
advocate for manuring with electricity
proved his theory, as he thought, by
running wire from q lightning rod
under q row of beans, which very greatly
increased in growth. The theory, how
ever, was overthrown when it was found
that the same increased growth was
produced away from the wire by loosen
ing the subsol as much as was required
for burying the wire. The great increase
in the potato crop by thorough subsoil-
ing was shown some years ago in q
season of unusual drought in a field of
several acres, which yielded more than
triple the amount per acre obtained
from other fields which were planted
after common or shallow plowing, and
ho ruh 10 a., al
five cents a bushel, gave over hundred
dollars from each acre.
These instances occurred where the
subson possessed no unusual fertilizing
quality, the benefit arising from its
acting as sponge or reservoir for mois-
ture, as well as for the deeper extention
OF the roots But in very large portions
of the county, great positive benefit
has'been found by bringing up and mix
ing portions of the subsoil with the
earth at the surface. A farmer in one
of the western counties of the State, in
preparing the land for wheat, set the
plow to run two inches deeper than in
previous years. The result was that his
wheat crop was increased eight or ten
bushels on an average. A still more
striking instance of the benefit of an in
termixture of the subsoil with the sur
face occurred on another occasion. An
open ditch had been cut through field
to drain small pond. The earth taken
from the ditch was scattered over the
surface for rod or two on each side.
The field was then sown to wheat. The
subsequent winter was very severe on
this crop, and the following summer
proved unusually unfavorable. On most
OF the field the product did not average
over five bushels per acre-it was
scarcely worth cutting. The two strips
(on each side of the ditch) on which the
subsol was spread, yielded at the rate
trast was not owing to the drainage !
effected by the ditch, as the soil and |
subsoil Of much of the field rested on |
gravel and had q natural drainage.
Farmers must adapt their practice to |
circumstances. If the subsoil is both |
sterile and porous, there would be no |
object whatever in deep plowing, unless |
possibly for gradually deepening the |
manured top-sol. If sterile but imper- |
vious, it should be -soiled-not |
trench-plowed-to deepen the reservoir |
for the absorption and supply of moist
ure- 1t it possesses enriching qualities,
the plowing should be deep enough to |
bring up portion to the surface; and |
If in addition to its fertilizing effects 1t
Is impervious to water the subsoil plow
should be used in addition to running
the common plow deeper than before.
1t is hardly necessary to add that all i'm
pervious subsoils need thorough under-
draining as an Indispensable require
ment in connection with subsoiling. We
might offer conjectures as to what the
fertilizing substances were in these en-
riching subsoils, but our present pur-
pose Is merely with the established facts.
-Qesgtry Gsnttsaase. }