432 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



so adjusted as to cut an edge from the furrow -si ice as it is turned 

 over ; this piece, so cut off, at once dropping down, and being 

 buried under the furrow-slice as it goes over. The consequence 

 is, that there is no grass on the edge of the furrow-slice to show 

 itself, and great neatness is therefore given to the whole work. 

 There is another mode of ploughing, which I have sometimes 

 seen practised, by which the furrow-slice is not merely lifted, 

 but may be said to be rolled over, or twisted in a sort of bag- 

 fashion. This seemed to me to be principally owing to the 

 concave form of the mould-board, for no workman could have 

 done it with a straight or convex form of mould-board. It 

 would seem to render the soil more friable and loose ; but. every 

 departure from a straight line, or wedge form of the mould-board, 

 evidently much increases the draught. The skim-colter, to 

 which I have referred above, somewhat increases the draught, 

 but in a very small degree. 



The great object of the English farmers, in ploughing, seems to 

 be the thorough pulverization of the soil ; and they are therefore 

 very seldom satisfied with one ploughing, but their land is re 

 peatedly ploughed, scarified, and harrowed. They cross-plough 

 their land, and think it desirable to reduce the sward land to a 

 fine tilth, tearing it to pieces, and bringing all the grass, and roots, 

 and rubbish, to the surface, that they may be raked up and burned, 

 or carried to the manure heaps. The propriety of this practice 

 is, in my mind, quite questionable. It would seem to me much 

 better to turn the sward completely over, and then cultivate on 

 the top of it, without disturbing the grass surface, leaving that, 

 when thus turned over, to a gradual decomposition, that it might 

 in this way supply food to the growing crop, whereas the ab 

 straction of so much vegetable matter must greatly diminish the 

 resources of the soil. Where, however, the field is infested with 

 twitch grass, (triticum repens,) in which, indeed, many of the 

 fields in England abound to a most extraordinary extent, there 

 may be no getting rid of it but by actually loosening and tearing 

 it out ; but where it is a mere clover ley, or an old grass pasture 

 or meadow, the taking out and removing the vegetable matter 

 seems to be a serious waste. Even the twitch might be managed 

 where the crop is to be hoed, though, in grain crops, its presence 

 is extremely prejudicial. 



