48 On the Great or Jersey Trench-Plough. 



furrovVj so as to fill the last-formed furrow^ into which women or 

 children, stationed at regulated distances, will have dropped the 

 sets : thus no delay whatever takes place. 



By the usual method there is much loss of time, as the setters 

 have to wait till the plough has taken its second turn to cover the 

 potatoes previously set. With this plough, half the time and much 

 labour is thus saved, as the two operations are performed at once. 



The usual after-culture is to horse-hoe the potatoes twice : once 

 as they appear after a harrowing ; the second about a month later. 

 The method of taking them up by Le Boutillier's paddle-prong 

 plough is now added. 



When the potatoes are ripe, the tops and large weeds should 

 be drawn from them, or cut off, and removed from the field, or 

 conveniently placed in rows. Some farmers then harrow the 

 surface to level it, if the potatoes are sufficiently deep not to be 

 disturbed by the harrowing. 



A straight- edged furrow should then be opened at each side of 

 a field or piece of land to be dug, so as to enable the revolving 

 prongs of this plough to turn freely sideways at once, then the 

 plough, drawn by three horses, if the land is heavy, if light, two, 

 should proceed round the field as many turns as the width of a 

 harrow. It throws out the potatoes sideways by means of the 

 revolving prongs. The horses must then be taken from the 

 plough and hooked on to the harrow, which should take one turn, 

 in order to uncover any potatoes which the prongs may have 

 caused the carlh to cover in revolving. The horses are again 

 tacked to the paddle-plough, and so on. 



Women or children placed at such convenient distances as not 

 to delay the plough or harrow, will have picked up all the small 

 weeds and potatoes, and thrown them into separate heaps, and 

 the work will proceed at the rate of two acres in a day, with a 

 driver, three horses, and twelve pickers. The drier the weather 

 and land is, the better will be the work. The land remains finely 

 comminuted and levelled. 



My own practice is, as soon as the crop is off the ground, to 

 spread lime, or ashes, or soot on the land, and give it a second 

 rather deeper ploughing with the paddle-plough, in order to mix 

 them intimately with the soil, and to collect the potatoes that may 

 have remained after the first ploughing. 



Fewer potatoes are bruised, cut, or smashed by the revolving 

 prongs, than by men lifting them with forks. Care must be taken 

 that the ploughshare is sufficiently below the potatoes to lift them 

 fairly, so as to be caught by the revolution of the prongs. 



If the horses are driven on the land, three in a line, not a po- 

 tatoe will be injured by them. 



J. Le Coi'TEUR. 



