State Agricultural Society. 279 



breaking a chance to roll up between the cross pieces, where they may- 

 be turned over and over, and will not be apt to pass from under the 

 tail piece till they have been effectually reduced. The masher described 

 is a heavy tool, and will require the whole team to manage it. 



RIDGING. 



Ridging may follow directly upon the second plowing, or it may be 

 deferred — according to the season and the degree of forwardness of the 

 young plants in the plant-beds. It should be done at least two weeks 

 before the jjlahts are set, in order to allow the moisture to rise full}' in 

 the ridges. And it is desirable that it should not be done earlier than 

 is needful, lest the ridges should be subjected to rains that may so settle 

 and compact them as to retard the early growth of the young plants. 

 Although the soil that is molded into ridges is necessarily moist at that 

 time, yet it must not be immediately planted on; for it parts with that 

 moisture to the atmosphere — dries out; and if young plants have been 

 set they will die; afterwards, moisture will rise into the ridge from be- 

 low — a capillary action, the earth of the upper part of the ridge acting 

 as a mulch towards that underneath it, and this moisture will be perma- 

 nent, in which the young plants are to be set. Preparatory to ridging, 

 the land to be planted should be laid off into rectangular blocks (of 

 about two acres each will be found a convenient size, say two hundred 

 feet by four hundred feet), the longer side running east and west, 

 leaving a twelve foot road on every side. The ridges will run the way 

 of the shorter sides, north and south. Should the lay of the land render 

 it much more convenient, their course may vary anywhere within the 

 quadrant southeast northwest to southwest northeast. The object is to 

 so set the plants that the rays of the sun, as it sweeps around to the 

 southward of us, may penetrate between the rows and reach all the 

 plants. The plow for ridging (a twelve-inch one will be found a good 

 size) must be set to run deep, but held by a slide or wheel at the end of 

 the beam to run at a depth of six inches. A clevis must be made for 

 the purpose (should be made of best Swedish iron), quite nine inches 

 long, in the front vertical bar in which the draft-boles are made; then 

 set it well to the offside of the beam, so that the plow may travel ex- 

 actly behind the near horse, or, in other words, give the plow land 

 enough to travel as stated. Start from the southwest corner of the first 

 block and travel north; this turns a six-inch furrow to the east. Turn 

 and travel south, starting three feet east of the first furrow; this turns 

 a six-inch furrow to the west, which will be heaped up on top of the 

 first one. Next turn and travel north in the last furrow; the plow being- 

 set to run deep will take up six inches out of the bottom of the furrow 

 and turn it east; turn again and travel south, starting in three feet east 

 of the last furrow; this (as before) turns a six-inch furrow west, which 

 is heaped on top of the last one. Then turn north in the last furrow 

 again, which plows up from the bottom, and so on. For this operation 

 the extra (wooden) mold board spoken of under the caption of "first 

 plowing" will be found useful, if not needful. The laud will thus be 

 molded up into a series of steep ridges running north and south, and 

 three feet apart. 



From this description of the operation of ridging it will be seen that 

 the plow cuts and turns only two feet out of every three of ground, 

 leaving a strip one foot wide under the center line of each ridge unturned. 

 This center strip, through which the moisture must chiefly rise into the 



