The New Hampshire Gazette

Effects of frost upon tilled land.

As winter-ploughing enters into the culture of oats we must remind the readers of the effect of frosts upon tilled land. Providence has neglected no region intended for the habitation of man. If in warm climates the soil be meliorated by the sun, it is meliorated by frost in cold climates. Frost acts upon water, by expanding it into a large space. Frost has no effect upon dry earth; witness sand, upon which it has no impression. But upon wet earth it acts most vigorously; it expands the moisture, which requiring more space puts every particle of the earth out of its place, and separates them from each other. In that view frost may be considered as a plough superior to any that is made, or can be made by hand of man: its action reaches the minutest particles; and by dividing and separating them it renders the soil loose and friable. This operation is the most remarkable in tilled land, which gives free access to frost. With respect to clay soil in particular, there is no rule in husbandry more essential than to open it before winter in hopes of frost. It is even advisable in clay soil to leave the stubble rank; which, when ploughed in before winter, keeps the clay loose, and admits the frost into every cranny. To apply this doctrine, it is dangerous to plough clay soil when wet; because water is a cement for clay, and binds it so as to render it unfit for vegetation. It is, however, less dangerous to plough wet clay before winter than after. A succeeding frost corrects the bad effects of such ploughing; a succeeding drought increases it.