214 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



ing off the wetness of the land : and that on a perfectly flat sur 

 face, which has been drained and subsoiled in an effectual man 

 ner, all the water falling upon the surface, will, by a direct descent 

 into the ground, find its way to the drains. In this way the loss 

 of land is prevented, and the condition of the land over the 

 field is more equal ; for the practice of forming beds or stitches 

 by continually turning the furrow towards the centre of the ridge, 

 is to rob the part of the land nearest the furrow ; and the plants 

 growing near the margin of the furrows are always inferior to 

 those upon the centre of the ridge. Under these circumstances, 

 the only consideration upon which these stitches can be recom 

 mended is, that they assist the sower and the reaper in the meas 

 urement of their work. 



Another instrument is used on hard clay soils, which often 

 remain after ploughing, and even harrowing, quite lumpy, called 

 a clod-crusher, which not only reduces these lumps to fine 

 ness, but serves likewise to consolidate the soil. It can only be 

 applied with advantage where the lands are dry and the clods 

 hard. 



CrosskiWs Patent Clod- Crusher. 



li Clod- Crusher. This valuable implement is composed of 

 a series of iron rings, with notched edges set apart from each 

 other about three or four inches. Small crossbars, or knives, are 

 placed at frequent intervals on the faces of these, and near their 

 outer notched rims, so as to intersect every portion of land ovei 

 which it passes. Its construction, combined with its great 

 weight, renders it very effective for the purpose which its name 



