Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/365

Rh OPERATIONS ] AGRICULTURE integrating the soil in autumn, as is done by this broadshar- ing, grubbing, and harrowing, it receives far more benefit from the alternation of frost and thaw, rain and drought, than when merely ploughed and left lying during winter in compact furrow-slices. This plan affords the same facilities as the other for autumn manuring, if the weeds are raked oft at once from so much of the fallow-break as it is wished to manure before winter. When the remainder is ploughed in April following, more of it may then have the farm-yard dung applied to it in the same way. Agriculturists owe a large debt of gratitude to Mr Tennant for the invention of his beautifully simple and efficient grubber, and for this scientific application of it to the fallowing process. Those who have been pursuing this system of tillage will be much interested in observing that it has been adopted by Mr Smith of Woolston, who is carrying it out to perfection by means of his steam-drawn implements. The autumn tillage of the fallows having been accom plished in one or other of the ways described, the land is left untouched till the return of spring. If it is infested by annual weeds, it is expedient, as soon as it is dry enough to bear treading with impunity, to level and stir the surface by a turn of the harrows. This slight moving of the mellowed surface-soil induces the seeds of weeds to germinate more quickly than they would otherwise do, and thus a crop of them is got rid of by the next tilling. This pre liminary harrowing is useful also in affording a level course for the tillage implements. By the time that the labour connected with the sowing of spring crops is over, the fallows are usually dry enough to be stirred with safety. This point, must, however, be well seen to, as irreparable mischief is often done by going upon them too soon. And now it is, that, instead of rigidly following any customary routine of so many ploughing?, harrowings, and rollings, the skilful cultivator will regulate his procedure by the actual circum stances of his soil, and the object which he has in view. What is needed for the successful growth of drilled green crops is to have the soil free from weeds, thoroughly disin tegrated to the depth of six or eight inches, and yet moist enough to ensure the ready germination of seeds deposited in it. Where such autumn cleaning and manuring as we have described have been successfully carried out, all that is needed, in order to obtain a proper tilth, is to go to work ight with light grubbers, first in the line of the previous furrows libbers, and then across them, and then to harrow, roll, and remove any weeds that have been missed in autumn, after which the soil will be in the best possible condition for drilling. On friable soils, this method of performing the spring tillage by means of the grubber instead of the plough is perfectly practicable, and has manifold advantages to recommend it. The saving of labour is very great, as a man and pair of horses will more easily grub four acres than plough one acre. Weeds are more easily removed, as the grubber pulls them out unbroken, whereas the plough cuts them in pieces. The soil that has been all winter subjected to the mellowing in fluences of the weather, and which, in consequence, is in the best possible condition to yield a genial seed-bed, is retained a-top, whereas ploughing buries it and brings up clods in its stead. And, lastly, the soil being merely stirred, without having its surface reversed, its natural moisture (or ivinter sap) is retained, whereby the germinating of seeds sown in it becomes almost a certainty. The importance of this last point in the cultivation of such crops as the turnip, whose seeds must usually be sown during hot ana dry weather, can scarcely be overrated. This practice is peculiarly appropriate for soils of loose texture, which are invariably injured by repeated ploughings. But it is also resorted to successfully on soils of the opposite extreme. Many farmers in the Lothians now grow abundant and ex tensive crops of turnips on strong clay soils by spreading a liberal dressing of dung on the stubble in autumn, ploughing it in with a deep furrow, leaving the land untouched until sowing-time has fully arrived, and then stirring the mellowed surface soil by the grubbers, removing weeds, and drilling and sowing at once without any ploughing. When this system is adopted on tenacious soils, it is prudent to operate upon portions of the field in detail, taking in only so mucL at a time as can be grubbed and drilled the same day ; foi if rain should intervene betwixt the grubbing and th&amp;lt; drilling, the soil would set like mortar and the tide be lost When once the ridgelets are made up in good condition, they can withstand a fall of rain with comparative impunity r and hence the occurrence of a course of fine weather, wher the season is yet too early for sowing, is sometimes taken advantage of by preparing the land and making it up into ridgelets, although it should require to remain in this staU- weeks, or even months, before sowing takes place. In suck a case, immediately before sowing, the ridgelets are first partially levelled by harrowing length- wise, in order to loosen the soil and destroy annual weeds, and then again made- up by using a double-breasted plough. We must here, however, insist upon the importance of having the grubbing thoroughly performed, which it cannot be unless the tines penetrate the soil as deeply as the plough has done at tho autumn ploughing. It is owing to the neglect of this that the system has failed in the hands of many farmers, who first mismanage the operation, and then throw the blame upon the grubbers. To ensure success, the implement must be set so as to work at its full depth, sufficient motive power being applied by yoking three horses, if necessary, to each grubber at the first and also at the second going over, and there must be vigilant superintendence exercised lest the ploughman do the work slightly. It is sometimes objected to this system of spring tillage, that it fails to rid the land of thistles and other tap-rooted weeds ; but it is surely easier to fork these out as they appear, than to plough a whole field merely to destroy as many thistles as a man, it may be, would dig up in a day. By taking advantage of the tilth obtained by the action of the elements, instead of first ploughing down the mellowed surface, and then attempting laboriously to reduce the obdurate furrows by mechanical means, skilful and energetic farmers now succeed in preparing even tenacious soils for drilled green-crops, at little expense, and with a good measure of certainty. On these opposite classes of soils, then the very loose, and the tenacious spring tillage, in preparation for root crops, is performed to better purpose by means of the grubber than the plough. Betwixt these extremes, however, lies the most valuable class of soils the strong fertile loamy on which the heaviest crops and best quality of Sweden are grown. With these it is usually expedient to have recourse to at least one spring ploughing, as soon, but only as soon, as the soil is dry enough to crumble freely to the very bottom of the furrow. As this usually occurs from four to six sveeks before the time of sowing the crop, it is advisable to plough the entire field, and leave it so until rain falls, when a moderate use of the grabber, harrows, and light roller, usually suffices to produce a good tilth for ridging. When operations are not thus facilitated by a seasonable fall of rain, it is necessary to proceed somewhat differently. The field is lying as it was left by the plough, with a rough dried surface. If harrowed while in this state, an abundant crop of clods is brought to the surface, which quickly harden when thus fully exposed to drought. To avoid this inconvenience, the field is first rolled with a heavy roller, and then grubbed across the direction in wlu ch it was last ploughed. By this means the clods, being partially crushed and pressed down amongst the loose earth, resist the grubber, and are crumbled by it, instead of being