and increase
its value. Such plowing is very valuable on land for young fruit-trees.
There is another method, which we denominate double-plowing, which is
more beneficial than ordinary subsoiling: it is performed by two common
plows, one following in the furrow of the other; the first furrow need
not be very deep--let the furrow in the bottom of the first be as deep
as possible, and thrown out upon the surface; the next furrow will throw
the surface and manure into the bottom of the deep furrow; the next
furrow will cover this surface-soil and manure very deep, and, as manure
always works up, it will impregnate the whole. This, for
garden-vegetables, berries, nurseries, or young orchards, is the best
form of plowing that we have ever tried. It may be done with one team,
by simply changing the gauge of the clevis every time round, gauging it
light for the first furrow, and deep for the second. We once prepared a
plat in this way with one team, on which cabbages made a remarkable
growth, even in a dry season. Still a farther improvement would be a
light coat of fine manure on the surface. All furrows, in every
description of plowing, should be near enough together to move the
whole, leaving no hard places between them. The usual "cut and cover"
system, to get over a large area in a day, is miserable economy. The
more evenly and flatly land can be turned over in plowing, the better it
will be; it retards the growth of weeds, and secures a better action
upon substances plowed under. An exception to deep plowing is in
breaking up the original prairies of the West: they have to be broken
with plows kept sharp as a knife, and not more than two inches deep. The
grass then dies and the sod rots. But plowed deep, the grass comes up
through the turf, and will prove troublesome for two or three years. It
must also be broken at a certain season of the year, to insure success.
It may be profitably done for two months after the grass gets a good
start in the spring.

_How much_ is it best to plow land? Once double-plowed, or thoroughly
subsoiled, and well turned over, is better than more. Land once plowed
so as to disintegrate the whole to the depth of the furrow, will produce
more, and require less care, than the same would do if cross-plowed once
or twice. Excessive plowing is a positive injury. All land should be
broken up once in three or four years, and not kept longer than that
under the plow at one time. Some farmers keep land