Subsoil-Ploughing. The land being thoroughly drained, the next step is to loosen and break up the inferior crust, and thus to obtain a greater depth of active soil, by means of the subsoil-plough. This im

plement is larger and heavier than the common plough, and is constructed without a mould-board.-It penetrates the soil to the depth of 16 inches, and although it effectually breaks up and opens the inferior crust or subsoil, none of it is brought to the surface.

The subsoil-plough is made as thin as is consistent with its necessary degree of strength, in order that it may pass through the soil with as little resistance as possible. From 4 to 6 horses, according to the nature of the land, are employed to draw it-these require care and temper, on the part of the ploughman, to bring them to take kindly to the work; and some dexterity is also required in the management of the plough itself, which, however, is easily acquired in practice.

As soon as the land has been cleared of the grain crop, the operation of subsoil-ploughing is to be commenced. A common plough goes first, turning up a furrow to the depth of from 6 to 9 inches, and the deeper the better; the subsoil-plough then follows in the same furrow, passing through the lower soil to a depth (including the first furrow) of 16 inches, breaking it up and loosening it; the common plough then comes round again, turning another furrow from the upper soil upon that which has been subsoiled, and is again followed by the subsoil-plough as before; and this process is continued until the whole of the field is subsoiled. If a subsoil-plough cannot be obtained, a common plough may be made to answer pretty well, by removing the mould-boards.

The drainage is so perfect after this process, that furrows are generally found to be unnecessary, as the surface-water readily passes through the soil, and sinks into the drains which have been prepared for that purpose, in the way above described. It is found that the subsoil never consolidates again, after being thus broken up; the constant circulation of the air, and the filtering of the water, keep it open and friable, and speedily fit it for affording nourishment to crops.

The ground which has been thus treated, may be ploughed to a greater depth, after a few years, and even to the full depth of 16 inches, if it is desired; and the subsoil, now become mellow and active, will thereby be mixed up and incorporated with the original surfacesoil, freshening and strengthening it, and crops of unusual excellence, both in quantity and quality, will be obtained from the land.

The harvest will, moreover, be considerably earlier than on the same land in its previous state, in consequence of the greater dryness and warmth of the soil: whilst the increased depth of the soil, will enable it to absorb and retain sufficient moisture for the nourishment of vegetation; and this moisture will be given back precisely as it is required, under the influence of the sun's attraction, for the nourishment of the crops.

Draining in all its branches, and in all situations, is so important, and so obviously essential to success, that the farmer who has the means of effecting this operation, and possesses an undrained rood of land, deserves to be poor, and to be pointed at by his neighbours as an idle and improvident person.

IRRIGATION.

Irrigation, or the watering of land, is a process by which, with little trouble or expense, large crops of hay and luxuriant pasturage may almost always be ensured. It is difficult to account for the very general neglect of irrigation, in situations where it might be adopted with so much advantage by the farmer. Meadows in which only coarse or scanty herbage now appears, might easily, by watering, be rendered highly valuable and productive.

The use of running water on the surface has been practised, for promoting the growth of grass, from the earliest ages all over the East, and seems to have been known in some parts of England in the time of the Romans.

Irrigation acts as a means of giving food to grasses

D

- of consolidating boggy and mossy lands-as a destroyer of certain kinds of weeds-and as the cause of warmth in winter, and of coolness in summer. The banks of streams which are occasionally flooded, are found to yield the richest grass. The tender roots and leaves of grass, covered in winter or in the beginning of spring by water, are protected from frost; and there is no soil, situation, or climate in which watering grass land is not serviceable. One preliminary, however, is always and everywhere necessary-the land must be effectually drained.

Chalk, or sandy and gravelly soils, are best suited for irrigation, the effect upon them being more markedly beneficial and immediate than upon cold clay soils; but every description of soil is benefited thereby. Land may, by proper irrigation, be kept in a state of perpetual fertility without manure; and comparatively poor land will thereby be rendered capable of yielding a large bulk of hay, and abundance of the best grass, often early in the spring, when it is doubly valuable. The finest water meadows on the Avon, in Wiltshire, where the richest herbage is found, have scarcely any soil, but chiefly consist of a bed of shingly pebbles and gravel, matted together by the roots of the grass, which is nourished by irrigation with the water of the river.

When there is a considerable fall, and a sufficient supply of water, a series of channels may be formed, at levels below each other, so that the second shall collect the water supplied by the first, and distribute it over the space between it and the third; and so on, till the fall is lost, or the water exhausted. Winter and spring are the time for irrigating. The mode of doing this, is to keep water passing over the surface of the land with a gentle current, not so rapid as to wash away the soil; and it should be in sufficient quantity to cover and nourish the roots, but yet not so much as to hide the tops of the grass.

The advantages of irrigation consist principally in conveying oxygen to the roots of the plants, and this is obtained from the water of rivers and streams, which holds oxygen in solution. The quantity of water need

not be great, so that it is sufficient to cover the surface, and if it be frequently renewed. A meadow is not to be converted into a marsh by being covered for several months with stagnant water; but is to be fertilized by passing a gentle current over it for short periods, and with occasional intermissions.

A little experience as to regulating the quantity of water, and length of time for flooding, is all that is required in ordinary cases. A very small stream, if it has a considerable fall, may be carried over a great extent of ground, and be used successively several times; but good management will be required in order to make the most of it, if the stream be very small. Losing fall is, in such case, a wasting of the stream.

The process of watering generally commences in the month of October, when the aftergrass has been consumed, or the second crop of hay removed. The water is kept on the ground for periods of a fortnight or three weeks at a time; it is then let off, and the ground laid dry for five or six days. This process of alternately flooding and drying, is generally continued during the months of November, December, and January, care being taken to let off the water when it begins to freeze hard. As the spring advances, and the grasses shoot up, the periods of watering are shortened, so that the flooding shall not last more than five or six days at a time.

In the southern counties of England, the meadows, after being irrigated, will be ready for the stock about the end of March; but in the more northern districts, where vegetation does not make such early progress, the flooding is continued till the month of May, after which a crop of hay, and sometimes two, are produced.

Wherever the levels are favourable, a great extent of land may be easily and cheaply improved by irrigation; and every spring and rivulet might be thus turned to important use, fertilizing a smaller or larger surface, in proportion to its magnitude. The water obtained in draining the land might also, in many instances, be applied to the purposes of irrigation; and thus a double advantage would be gained, first by relieving the soil

from an excess of moisture which was injurious, and then by converting the water so obtained into a means of fertilizing the land.

BURNING OF LAND.

The burning of land is a pernicious mode of preparing it for crops, much practised in Ireland, especially in the western districts; but good dry land should never be burned, as it dissipates the finer portions of the soil, and reduces to ashes, of little comparative efficacy for the production of one crop, fertilizing matter, which might, by other management, be made effective for the support of many crops.

Burning may nevertheless not be always and in every case inexpedient, for the most effective mode of destroying weeds and coarse herbage on cold, wet, and boggy land is unquestionably by the use of fire. If burning was only practised by those who would return to the ground in the shape of manure, as much as had thus been taken from it, little comparative injury would be done but the wrong which land sustains by burning is, the having the rich vegetable mould of its surface consumed, without any compensation whatever being returned to it; and it is thus left, after the first stimulating effects have subsided, in a state of complete exhaustion, and incapable of yielding nourishment to any description of crop.

The burning of coarse boggy lands, and wet rushy moors, is often the best and cheapest mode of reclaiming such ground. The process of fire on lands of this description, immediately destroys the coarse weeds and herbage, and by converting them into stimulating manure, forces a heavy crop. This will not, however, be the case, unless the land be previously well drained; and it is by omitting this essential preliminary, that much valuable labour is often lost, in the efforts made to bring such lands into cultivation.

Wherever burning is resorted to in the reclaiming of cold wet lands, let the ashes be equally spread, and turned in hot. Then take a crop of turnips, or rape, to