536 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



barley re-exported in its original state, amoimts to 

 nearly ouc-sixth of the quantity imported, as tlie fol- 

 lowing statement shows : — 



Average importation 700,173 qrs. 



Average exportation, as 



ale and beer 88,G8I 



Ardent spirits 577,376 



Malt 170,175 



Barley about 04,800 



Bushels 900,132=:112,516| qrs. 

 This, however, does not include the export of British 

 and Irish barley, of which no account is kept either by 

 the Board of Trade or any private persons that we are 

 aware of. A considerable quantity has been exported 

 to France the last two or three seasons, both as seed- 

 corn and for distilling purposes ; the latter inconse- 

 quence of the failure of the vintage. As the disease 



with which the vino has been affected apjiears in a 

 great measure to have expended itself, and is disap- 

 pearing in most of the vineyards, this part of the de- 

 mand will probably cease another season. Be this as 

 it may, the season of 1858 will certainly commence 

 with an exhausted stock and an increasing demand ; 

 and wo may therefore look forward to at least a fair 

 remunerating price for this grain under any circum- 

 stances of the next year's crop. And with regard to the 

 present season, the stock of malting barley now on 

 hand, of superior quality, is very limited, and that de- 

 scription must continue to bear a good price to the end 

 of the malting season. We shall probably get a fair 

 quantity of Saalo barley by way of Hamburg; but the 

 most extensive importations are small when compared 

 with a deficiency in the crop, equal to those of the two 

 past seasons. 



PLOUGHING— ITS OPERATION AND EFFECT. 



Having already examined the arrangement and 

 construction of the parts of a modern plough, we are 

 prepared to investigate the rationale of its opera- 

 tion. Of this, the principal feature which it pre- 

 sents is the complete inversion of the soil upon 

 which the plough operates. The cutting of the slice 

 of a determinate breadth and thickness is performed 

 by the coulter, and the sock or share ; the vertical cut 

 being effected by the coulter, and the horizontal by 

 the share. The share only partially cuts the slice ; 

 the remainder being torn from the soil as the plough 

 is passed under ; while the slice so cut is transmitted 

 and laid over at a certain angle through the medium 

 of the mould-board. The slice during this transmission 

 assumes a variety of positions, until it is finally de- 

 posited in such a way that the slice forming the upper 

 surface of the soil is completely covered, lying against 

 the slice previously deposited at an angle of 45 deg., 

 ■while the side which formed the bottom is now fully 

 exposed to the atmosphere ; the same being the case 

 with the side which lay against the unbroken land. 



The following diagram will illustrate three of the 



Fig. 1. 



positions of the furrow slice ; the first of which repre- 

 sents it when just cut; a b being the land edge cut by 

 the coulter, b c the bottom cut by the share. The 

 second diagram illustrates the vertical position of the 

 slice, where the side a b is uppermost, and the side a d 

 towards the right hand. The third diagram illustrates 

 the final position of the slice, in which the side « f^, 



formerly the top, assumes the position of the lowest 

 surface ; the bottom, b c, now forming the top. The 

 result of these movements is that the sides a b and 

 bottom h c are partly exposed to the ameliorating in- 

 fluences of the weather ; while the grass, stubble, &c., 

 of the original upper surface a <f are completely buried. 

 A succession of slices thus laid over, assume the section 

 as in the following diagram ; giving a series of an- 



Fig. 2. 



gular seed-furrows, Stse ab,b c d. Tlie plough gives 

 its utmost efficiency when the exposed surfaces, ab,bc, 

 or b c, c d, are of equal breadth ; this arrangement 

 giving a greater amount of sm-face exposed to the 

 atmosphere, as well as the greatest cubical contact in 

 the triangle, a b c. 



Ploughing, then, properly so called, consists in the 

 complete inversion of a succession of slices cut from 

 the solid land in the form of parallelograms; laying 

 these over at a determinate angle, so as to expose the 

 maximum surface to the ameliorating influence of the 

 atmosphere, and to form at the same time a succession 

 of seed-furrows. The point has often been discussed, 

 what constitutes good ploughing; but apart from 

 other considerations of fitness, &c., ploughing per sc 

 may be defined as above. Whether, however, this 

 laying over of the furrow-slice and giving to it its 

 peculiar form — points which are always strongly in- 

 sisted on— are the principal, if not the only ones neces- 

 sary to secure good cultivation is another question. 

 Ploughing and cultivation may be two very different 



