wet lands is not advisable until they
have been under-drained, as excess of water prevents its effects from
being permanent.

CHAPTER V.

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 space.

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 m