The Elements of Agriculture Part 35

PLOWING AND OTHER MODES OF PULVERIZING THE SOIL.

[May the satisfaction attending labor be increased by an understanding of the natural laws which regulate our operations?

On what depends the kind of plow to be used?]

The advantages of pulverizing the soil, and the _reasons_ why it is necessary, are now too well known to need remark. Few farmers, when they plow, dig, or harrow, are enabled to give substantial reasons for so doing. If they will reflect on what has been said in the previous chapters, concerning the supply of mineral food to the plant by the soil, and the effect of air and moisture about roots, they will find more satisfaction in their labor than it can afford when applied without thought.

PLOWING.

[What is a general rule with regard to this?

Should deep plowing be immediately adopted? Why?

Why is this course of treatment advisable for garden culture?]

The kind of plow used in cultivating the surface-soil must be decided by the kind of soil. This question the practical, _observing_ farmer will be able to solve.

As a general rule, it may be stated that the plow which runs the _deepest_, with the same amount of force, is the best.

We might enter more fully into this matter but for want of s.p.a.ce.

The advantages of _deep plowing_ cannot be too strongly urged.

The statement that the _deeper_ and the _finer_ the soil is rendered, the more productive it will become, is in every respect true, and which no single instance will contradict.

It must not be inferred from this, that we would advise a farmer, who has always plowed his soil to the depth of only six inches, to double the depth at once. Such a practice in some soils would be highly injurious, as it would completely bury the more fertile and better cultivated soil, and bring to the top one which contains no organic matter, and has never been subject to atmospheric influences. This would, perhaps, be so little fitted for vegetation that it would scarcely sustain plants until their roots could reach the more fertile parts below. Such treatment of the soil (turning it upside down) is excellent in _garden_ culture, where the great amount of manures applied is sufficient to overcome the temporary barrenness of the soil, but it is not to be recommended for all _field_ cultivation, where much less manure is employed.

[How should field plowing be conducted?

How does such treatment affect soils previously limed?

How may it sometimes improve sandy or clay soils?]

The course to be pursued in such cases is to _plow one inch deeper each year_. By this means the soil maybe gradually deepened to any desired extent. The amount of uncongenial soil which will thus be brought up, is slight, and will not interfere at all with the fertility of the soil, while the elevated portion will become, in one year, so altered by exposure, that it will equal the rest of the soil in fertility.

Often where lime has been used in excess, it has sunk to the subsoil, where it remains inactive. The slight deepening of the surface plowing would mix this lime with the surface-soil, and render it again useful.

When the soil is light and sandy, resting on a heavy clay subsoil, or clay on sand, the bringing up of the ma.s.s from below will improve the texture of the soil.

As an instance of the success of deep plowing, we call to mind the case of a farmer in New Jersey, who had a field which had yielded about twenty-five bushels of corn per acre. It had been cultivated at ordinary depths. After laying it out in eight step lands (24 feet), he plowed it at all depths from five to ten inches, on the different lands, and sowed oats evenly over the whole field. The crop on the five inch soil was very poor, on the six inch rather better, on the seven inch better still, and on the ten inch soil it was as fine as ever grew in New Jersey; it had stiff straw and broad leaves, while the grain was also much better than on the remainder of the field.

[What kind of soils are benefited by fall plowing?]

There is an old anecdote of a man who died, leaving his sons with the information that he had buried a pot of gold for them, somewhere on the farm. They commenced digging for the gold, and dug over the whole farm to a great depth without finding the gold. The digging, however, so enriched the soil that they were fully compensated for their disappointment, and became wealthy from the increased produce of their farm.

Farmers will find, on experiment, that they have gold buried in their soil, if they will but dig deep enough to obtain it. The law gives a man the owners.h.i.+p of the soil for an indefinite distance from the surface, but few seem to realize that there is _another farm_ below the one they are cultivating, which is quite as valuable as the one on the surface, if it were but properly worked.

_Fall plowing_, especially for heavy lands, is a very good means of securing the action of the frosts of winter to pulverize the soil. If it be a stiff clay, it may be well to throw the soil up into ridges (by ridging and back furrowing), so as to expose the largest possible amount of surface to the freezing and thawing of winter. Sandy soils should not be plowed in the fall, as it renders them too light.

DIGGING MACHINES.

[What is the digging machine?]

A recent invention has been made in England, known as the digging machine or rotary spade, which--although from having too much gearing between the power and the part performing the labor, it is not adapted to general use--has given such promise of future success, that Mr. Mechi (an agricultural writer of the highest standing) has said that "the plow is doomed." This can hardly be true, for the varied uses to which it may be applied, will guarantee its continuance in the favor of the farmer.

Already, in this country, Messrs. Gibbs & Mapes, have invented a digging machine of very simple construction, which seems calculated to serve an excellent purpose, even in the hands of the farmer of limited means.

Its friends a.s.sert that, with one pair of oxen, it will dig perfectly three feet wide, and for a depth of fifteen inches. An experiment with an unperfected machine, in the presence of the writer, seemed to justify their hopes.

This machine thoroughly pulverizes the soil to a considerable depth, and for smooth land must prove far superior to the plow.

THE HARROW AND CULTIVATOR.

[Why is the harrow a defective implement?

Why is the cultivator superior to the harrow?]

The _harrow_, an implement largely used in all parts of the world, to pulverize the soil, and break clods, has become so firmly rooted in the affections of farmers, that it must be a very long time before they can be convinced that it is not the best implement for the use to which it is devoted. It is true that it pulverizes the soil for a depth of two or three inches, and thus much improves its appearance, benefiting it, without doubt, for the earliest stages of the growth of plants. Its action, however, is very defective, because, from the _wedge_ shape of its teeth, it continually acts to _pack_ the soil; thus--although favorable for the germination of the seed--it is not calculated to benefit the plant during the later stages of its growth, when the roots require the soil to be pulverized to a considerable depth.

The _cultivator_ may be considered an _improved harrow_. The princ.i.p.al difference between them being, that while the teeth of the harrow are pointed at the lower end, those of the cultivator are shaped like a small double plow, being large at the bottom and growing smaller towards the top. They lift the earth up, instead of pressing it downwards, thus loosening instead of compacting the soil.

Many styles of cultivators are now sold at agricultural warehouses. A very good one, for field use, may be made by subst.i.tuting the cultivator teeth for the spikes in an old harrow frame.

CHAPTER VI.

ROLLING, MULCHING, WEEDING, ETC.

ROLLING.

[Name some of the benefits of rolling?]

_Rolling_ the soil with a large roller, arranged to be drawn by a team, is in many instances a good accessory to cultivation. By its means, the following results are obtained:--

1. The soil at the surface is pulverized without the compacting of the lower parts, the area of contact being large.

2. The stones on the land are pressed down so as to be out of the way of the scythe in mowing.

3. The soil is compacted around seeds after sowing in such a manner as to exclude light and to _touch_ them in every part, both of which are essential to their germination and to the healthfulness of the plants.

[Under what circ.u.mstances should the roller be used?]