Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1877 — Subsoiling and Trenching. [ARTICLE]

Subsoiling and Trenching.

-“lThen nIW deep while algfipMcb sleep, _Asr? you nhejl ha,ye com ta-soU and keep.” The ajauye saving of Franklin, -as eomo.asseft,. may involve a great principle that is of major importance to the work! in general, but if the great philosopher more about -raising corn in oar » this latter part Of the centtty, he Would have selected some other', erop with which, to illustrate hu general, principle. Qur systems of cultivation, as .well as the style, of crop We, raise with which to make imoney, vary with different decades and seem to go ia vmm lJiFot instance, in Micidgao. twelve yeajtjkre there was a great tendency tot vrtlrafcep.flowing for corn, while to-dayl the best;Ocrn farmers plow.a shallow furrow for thatcrop. • j ■ But, bsttelß as it may, for geceial farmingiupomany but the lightest of' soils, it is dflSoAttif tophive a good dqptli under cdravatiM, Jnd by ißcreaaing the depth ‘“ ou “ ° r However, the promiscuous atjrocacy of subeoiline uxon all lands is a mistake, for aftfc*g*%l4glrt help,a crop upoh heavy soil, that is, not underdrained, w stir tue ground to twice the depth of ordinary phaHn'4,tatiii*i* Hfiults prpbsbly.will not requite the termer for the additional labor, lie cause the lower soil will very shortly settle back into its old compact, solid state and no permanent good is gained. mWKMtJrtap hnahandiy deep tillage muat follow immediately upon the footsteps of thorough drainage, acienaftregafeateg to thifl'iirtflteHfilrataidal experience has . if, mtlpbjk spy. tlm roots or plants the stronger and more gsssMMJtsapia the growth cf roots.; these pnsk into and of ftodere for the plant system a Dove. Finally the crop Is removed from the surface, leaving! fit This once accomplished it is not a dangerous thffuglmthrovPltii Hire -- subsoil and mix with"Oreupper stratum. The cold; clammy nature of this mwleraptl has bean-go modified bv the ohchy df the organic saossHs doubled and of pty^terjlirough. This subsoiling process is nht generally vWfil understdod. It require* an implement bn purpose for the work*, which is to foliOW the ortinary plow, not for the purpose of stirring up the sOft and then throwing it to the surface, but just to The moat approved form of the imple*elll tbe* wcowwrk of an ordinary plow, and ia place)of the working part of the plow, is a wedge-shaped foot set at the bottom of a strong shank. This foot is made to pitch downward, so that the ten-

m; dency of thejplow is to go in deeper continuously. From the appearance of the ordinary subaoiler one would not get the impression that it would cteate much commotion, but its work ia thorough and excellent, stirring tire soil vertically and horicontally in a moat satisfactory manner. ’ This is not the only use of a subsoil plow upon a farm. It can be so adjusted that it can be used with a single horse in a corn-field, and once through each row in the earlier stages of growth is an excellent method or preparing for the later extended root system. Another Use we have heard of, and seems quite piacticable, is in the stirring up of hide-bound meadows where it is desired not to turn them over. Tbo subsoller, drawn by a heavy three-horse team, ia put through the meadow once two feet. No tun is removed, but the soil below is all loosened. After this process a good dressing of manure is given and a thorough rolling, when the meadow is as good as new. Trench plowing is a 'different process, and is not resorted to in our country very much as yet, and does nut seem so suited to our wants. It is accomplished with a heavy mold board plow cast for the purpose, which is preceded by an ordinary plow. In this practice the subsoil is tlurown immediately to the surface and mixed with the top soil. In the preparation of a garden the use of the subsoil is of the greatest importance, particularly when there is a substratum of retentive soil. It is to be hoped that the subsoil plow may become a more common accompaniment to the farm, and this will be the result if in a few instances through the country it can be given a careful test.— Detroit Fru Frees. *