On the Great or Jersey Trench-Plovgh. 43 



either to establish nurseries or plantations. The inventor de- 

 serves everything from his country and from mankind. If he 

 had lived in an age wherein merit and talents find protectors and 

 encouragement, he would have received a reward for the inven- 

 tion of a plough which is, and ever will be, of universal utility." 



In most cases, in the month of October or November, a skhn- 

 ploiighing is given to an old or two years ley, which is left exposed 

 to the winter frosts. It is well harrowed and cross-harrowed pre- 

 vious to carting out the manure, which is spread on the ground at 

 a rate ranging between 12 and 20 tons per acre. 



In some cases the above previous skim -ploughing is deferred 

 till January or February, in order to allow cattle to feed off any 

 herbage that may be left on the land, so that the two ploughings 

 now to be described take place in the same month. 



A short time (the shorter the better) previous to putting in the 

 crop, the land receives its second, and generally last ploughing. 

 The trench-plough then comes into play, preceded by its pioneer, 

 the two-horse plough. A trench is opened through the middle 

 or length of the field in this manner : — The two-horse plough is 

 made to cast off a furrow up and down, so as to assist in forming 

 the trench; the trench is then neatly sunk 18 inches deep, more 

 or less, according to the depth of the soil, and squared off 2 feet 

 wide with spades, the earth being thrown off to a distance on 

 each side. 



A man with a spade should then be placed at each end of the 

 furrow, to dig and square it out half the length of the trench- 

 plough, as wide as the furrow intended to be taken, in order to 

 enable it to plunge into its depth at once on turning into work : 

 this is made at the left-hand side of either furrow, after the small 

 two-horse plough has made its start. 



This tw^o-horse plough (one that will take a width of furrow 

 one inch wider than the trench-plough) then precedes, and turns 

 in the manure and turf together with 3 inches of soil, into the 

 bottom of the furrow or prepared trench. The trench-plough, 

 drawn by four, six, or eight horses, according to the depth desired, 

 then turns over from 10 to 18 inches of* clean soil on the turf, 

 which is so completely buried as to destroy all vegetation, even in 

 freshly broken sod. When the sod is quite fresh, as little soil as 

 possible should be taken up by the small plough, so that the 

 couch or weeds may be more completely covered by a great 

 mass of clean soil. When the ploughed land becomes so wide 

 as to render it inconvenient for one man at each end to open the 

 furrow for the plough on one side, and square up the other side 



* The ground must be of a rich nature, or the subsoil thus turned up 

 would rather injure than improve any following crop. — F. Burke. 



