142 



PREPARATION OF LANDS. 



arc the implements most often used in effecting this 

 object. 



445. The spade or spading fork is the simplest form of 

 these implements, and consists of a blade or tines of iron 

 or steel fixed into a straight handle. It is worked by 

 hand. Cultivation by its use is the slowest and most 

 expensive mode of tillage, and is adapted chiefly to the 

 nice operations of the garden. 



446. The com 

 mon plough, 

 (Fig. 16,) is the 

 implement most 

 commonly used 

 in breaking up 

 Fi s- 16 - the land, and is 



the most economical instrument that can be used for the 

 purpose. Without the plough successful farming would 

 be impossible in a country where labor is very high and 

 difficult to obtain. 



447. In passing through the soil the plough separates 

 and cuts off a slice of its surface, cutting it both vertically 

 and horizontally, and turning it over in such a way as to 

 leave it exposed to the action of the harrow, which usually 

 follows the plough to break down and pulverize the soil 

 completely. 



448. The furrow made by the common plough should 

 be deep, straight, and of such a width that the slice cut 

 off may be turned entirely over, or left on its edge, as the 

 ploughman may wish. 



1 l!&amp;gt;. The deptli is of the greatest importance, though 

 experience Iras shown that it is best to deepen the arable 

 soil gradually, by plotiirliini; about an inch or half an inch 

 deeper each time, till it is worked deep enough, say from 



