PLOUGHING. 141 



A good ploughman is also necessary to make good work. lie 

 should not only understand how to hold the plough : he should 

 also understand how to arrange it, to give the right width and 

 depth to the furrow, as the width and depth should be of suita- 

 ble proportion to make good work. A deep, narrow furrow will 

 not turn well, neither will a shallow wide furrow turn well. 



As to the best mode of ploughing, to lay the furrow flat or 

 otherwise, depends on circumstances. If it is for immediate 

 cultivation, and the sward is tough and hard, the manure may 

 be more easily worked in, and it will be easier hoeing if turned 

 flat, but the crop may not be any better. If it is designed for 

 cross-ploughing before being cultivated or planted, the sward 

 will rot quicker by ploughing rather shallow and not turning the 

 furrow perfectly smooth, but letting one furrow lay on the edge 

 of the other. 



Deep tillage is generally understood to be desirable. This 

 again depends on circumstances. Turning up a large amount 

 of subsoil and using but little manure sometimes proves unfavor- 

 able for the present crops ; but with plenty of manure there is 

 no danger of cultivating too deep, unless the subsoil is very 

 unfavorable. 



It has been said that every ploughman should understand 

 how to arrange the plough. This, however, cannot always be 

 expected, as farmers are under the necessity of hiring men that 

 are but little acquainted with ploughing. Therefore it is neces- 

 sary that every farmer should personally not only understand 

 how to arrange and hold his plough, but all the other depart- 

 ments of farming. 



A man within the knowledge of some of your committee, who 

 owned a large farm, well stocked with cattle, horses, and imple- 

 ments of husbandry, went to a store to purchase a plough, 

 saying that he had a plough that was formerly a good one — that 

 it was not worn out, but did not work well, but the cause of so 

 great a change when there was apparently no defect in the 

 plough, he could not understand. The trader, fully under- 

 standing how to arrange and hold a plough, if not to make one, 

 very kindly took a plough to the farmer, and used it in his field 

 to his satisfaction. The new plough being purchased, the old 

 one was examined to ascertain, if possible, the cause of the 

 difficulty. The observing eye of the trader at once saw the 



