Questions Of Subsoiling

Tho question of subsoiling is beginuing to attract tho attention. of farmers all over tho country. Th is m;ittor is one that must bo determined by conditions. Thero aro niany localitics where it wonld be a waste of timo to snbsoil. A decp, rioh loam, vvhich the mdinary plmvwill not reach throngb, and those soils with a loóse, eaudy or gravel ]y subsoil, would iiot bo benefitt'd by subsoiling. Tlio soi Is hclprd are thoso having a stift" clay bottotu, With a shallow soil abovo, and these having a hard gravelly subsoil. These requiro deepor stirring than can 'm givou with commou plows. The object of tho work is to loosen this hard bottom, and by letting the air get te the lower Jayers they are greaily 1 provcd and gradnally changed by it. Aa to tho depth, this will depend largi1. ly on the soil. From 10 to 20 inches is advised. An Iowa correspondent of The Orango Judd Fatmer thinks it would be best in central Ohio to begin by subsoi] ing ten inches, gradually increasing the depth each fene until 10 or 20 inches has been sülred. All the bluff lands along the rivers and creeka have more or less of this stiff clay subsoil, and where these lands havo become worn f rom long cultivation subeoiling would bo of great benefit and would largely increase the crops. Additional information f rom the writer quoted is as follows: The work is done by following the ordinary plow and running the snbsoiler in the bottom of the fnrrow made by it. The subsoil plow does not throw the dirt out or on top, but simply stirs up the bottom, leaving a loóse, mellow bed to be covered by the nexfc furrow of the flrst plow. This looso bed affords good drainage in wet weather, the deep furrows carrying off all surplus water. In dry weather they will gather moisture from both below and above, thus storing up a supply for feeding the roots of orops much longer than the same soils will do under our old eystein of cultivation. tío tho subsoiling is good for either wet or dry seasons, and if the work is dono in the fall the loose bedi will gather enough moisturo to enable early crops to bridge over dry seasons and make a fair yield. Most farmers know that on much of our land we turn over tho top soil and scrape along on tho hard clay or gravel bottom, wliich becomes more compact each seasou. It is hard to got tho plows down into this hard layer, and if we could, it is not desirable or profitable to turn the clay up on top. Xhus we see at I once tho importanceof the subsoil plow. Another great advantago in subsoiling is that sueh soiJs will hold mannre twico as long as they did before. There is no chance for the manure to wash out. It is taken up ia the solid and gradually works down in this loose bed, where it is held nntU consumed by the growiug crops. This letting down of the manure and top soil and air is the process which gradually changes tho whole character of tho land, and with a proper rotation of crops and a few good crops of green mannre turned under, we would soon have a doep, rich soil instead of only a fe-sv inclies of top or surface soil. Snbsoiliug bas shown its valne perhaps more largely on root crops than on others. This work ou the eoils described has increased the yield of root crops at least one-third.