436 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



thrown out and destroyed. I do not know that this objection is 

 entitled to much consideration. Where the furrows are made 

 from east to west, instead of from north to south, and the latter 

 ought always to be the direction, there will be a considerable 

 difference in the temperature of the two sides of the ridge, as the 

 difference in the effect produced by the sun s rays, when falling 

 directly upon a surface inclined towards the sun, or upon one 

 directly the reverse of this, must be considerable. It is urged, 

 likewise, as an objection to these ridges, that the rain, as it falls, 

 passes too rapidly into the furrows, and is carried off without 

 gradually soaking into the land, as on a flat surface, and giving 

 the whole its full advantage. These are some of the objections 

 urged against this system of laying the land in ridges ; and, since 

 the introduction of the system of subsoiling and thorough-drain 

 ing, Mr. Smith, the introducer of this immense and extraordinary 

 improvement, and in general those persons who follow out his 

 notions in other respects, disapprove altogether the plan of laying 

 out the ground in ridges or beds, and leave an even and un 

 broken surface. In cross-ploughing fields laid in beds, there is 

 likewise an inconvenience arising from the furrows ; and the 

 same difficulty likewise applies to the harrowing of such fields, 

 especially if it is attempted to be done across the furrows. Har 

 rows formed with a concave under-side, to adapt them to the 

 shape of the bed, are sometimes used lengthwise with the ridge ; 

 but they are ill adapted to cross-harrowing these ridges, or to be 

 used upon land with a flat and even surface. 



The beauty which is given to the cultivation, where such 

 ridges prevail and are well formed over extensive fields, is cer 

 tainly some recommendation of them ; but this supposes them to 

 be made evenly and with care. Upon as fair a view of the 

 subject as I can take, I should recommend them, not for their 

 beauty, but for their utility and convenience. But in this case, 

 excepting where the land is very wet and low, I should insist 

 upon a width certainly not less than forty feet ; and I should 

 avoid by all means too much accumulation of earth in the centre 

 of the ridge, which an expert ploughman is very capable of 

 doing. 



4. LAZY-BED CULTIVATION. There prevails in Ireland a mode 

 of ridging land, different from what I have described, and called 



