The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-02-28

Shallow blowing causes gullles to
wash out faster than a one-horse mar
can stop them. They are unsightly,
exceeding useless, and very damaging
to a farm, besides the inconvenience
of going around them when they have
grown too deep to cross.
ANY one at all familiar with good
blowing, knows at first sight when it
is being we'll done. The easy and
graceful manner of the team as it
moves along, and the steady, braced
position of the plowman tells it all, to
the experienced eye. Some men know
how to do good blowing who cannot
hitch up a team properly, while others
have a fancy for the team and are IN
ferior plowmen. To do a good job, he
must have a particular fancy for both
team and pillow. He should be OF
sufficient height for his weight, with
arms nearly straight, to be very nearly
over the pillow handles. A lad whose
arms are on a level with or beneath
the handles of the pillow, will nine times
out of ten fail to do it well. The
plow should be set to a depth a little
greater than you wish to run it, that
the plowman may bring a portion of
his weight on the handle; to reduce it
to the proper depth; this throws him
in a braced position, which enables
him, should the pillow be thrown from
it's place in the furrow, to correct it
before any material damage is done.
The man that goes with a swinging
see-saw gait, and sees every passing
person or vehicle in the range of his
visual organs, is not my choice for a
plowman. The eye of the plowman
should always take in his team and
plow at the same time and all the time.
[ have been irritated no little with
these loose plowmen, and generally
manage to not need them for that pur-
pose next day. Some tolerable good
hands will drive out to the end, take
a position in the furrow as motionless
as a statue and bawl at the top of his
voice "whoa-hoy" without a motion of
the line or a cluck of the tongue for
two or three times before team or
driver moves. The team not know
ing what to do, and the driver killing
time. What sense is there in saying
"whoa" to a horse when he is already
still, o r what do you think of a mans
Judgment when he combines whoa and
hoy at one breath and expects the ami
NAL to comprehend him. It is more
than the man himself would compre-
bend. No wonder the team remains
motionless for he has a double COM
mand, one to stand still, the other to
turn to the left. Why, sir, l have
positively heard drivers use the ex-
preston "gee-whoa-hoy" to a team all
the same time. Now the team must
have more sagacity than I have to
know whether to turn to the right, or
to- the left, or stand stock still. It
generally receives a jerk or a thump
for not doing that, that the wisest man
on earth could not know. Such as
these should be discharged without
ceremony or your team will be ruined.
What has been said has a direct
application to the middle and western
portion of the State. It is generally
underlaid with a stiff clay subsoil, and
no truer sentiment was ever uttered
concerning this section than that of the
poet when he said, "Plow deep to find
the gold" The matter Of underdrain-
ing, about which so much is being said
in the agricultural papers, would be
considerably abridged by deep plow-
ing.
We have no practical or other &C
q%uaintance with the eastern portion,
and can, therefore, offer no sugges
lions. -,
W. r told that in England the
yield never varies more than ten per
cent. in extreme wet or dry seasons
from that of a good me-. They break
their land deep. Their seasons are as
variable as ours, their yield much
more uniform. This demonstrates the
truth of the theory laid down by some
that deep blowing is a protection in
both extremes. This is a healthy CON
dition of things, for the farmer may
estimate his yield to within one-tenth
at planting time. He is, therefore,
enabled to forelay for any shortage
that is likely to occur, or prepare to
use the surplus shown by the estimate.
They have comparatively nothing to
fear but the diseases of plants and the
ravages of insects, Their prices are
always more uniform than ours, while
their population per square mile is