Ch. II.] HARROWS. 25 



log or two of wood upon it, to sink the tines, wliich otherwise do not gene- 

 rally penetrate farther than one-half, or at most two-thirds of their depll;. 

 It is also an object of some importance, in covering tlie seed, to avoid 

 the treading of the cattle when harrowing it in, with which view it is by no 

 means uncommon to join three, or even more harrows together, so as to 

 cover the entire breadth of the ridge. They are tlien fastened by chains to 

 a long pole extending their whole width, to the extremities of which the 

 swingle-trees are hooked ; so that the horses, being harnessed to each 

 end, walk in the furrows, thus : — 



The operation of harrowins;, it will be readily perceived, is one of great 

 importance, and should be executed when the soil is in a proper state, be- 

 tween wet and dry, and according to the nature of the land ; for, if too 

 wet, it will often do more harm than good, and if too dry, it will, on tena- 

 cious land, have very little effect. In a climate like that of this country, 

 whei'e the opportunities for manv of the processes of husbandry are so 

 transient and ])recarious, it must indeed occur to every farmer, that this is 

 one that should never be neglected, and that, particularly at seed-time, he 

 should always possess the power of putting the crop into the ground within 

 the shortest possible space of time. It has indeed been well observed by 

 Arthur Young, " that the most ticklish business in tillage is putting in a 

 spring corn crop on lands tending to tenacity, or in any degree binding. 

 You walk over a field soon after ploughing, or after rain, and you find the 

 adhesion of the soil under your feet too great to allow it to break readily. 

 You come again one or two days after, and find it in exact temper ; if at 

 that moment it is not harrowed by means of as many harrows as you have 

 pairs of horses, the right time is lost. Let a drying north-east wind blow, 

 and in two days the temper of the soil is gone ; every bit that now moves 

 is a clod, and the efiect of the harrows upon them is nearly lost." 



Many other harrows have been constructed, and occasionally brought 

 into use upon nearly similar principles, though in various shapes and with 

 a different arrangement of the bars and mode of draught ; but their object 

 having generally been to ensure a more equal distribution of the work of 

 the teeth, which we have already seen is not always sought after by prac- 

 tical men, those which we have already described still maintain their ground. 

 There can, however, be no doubt that although the implement is particu- 

 larly well adapted for covering the seed, and also materially assists in pul- 

 verizing the soil, yet in the operation of cleaning the land it is very apt to 

 become choked with weeds, and does not in general enter sufficiently into 

 the ground to be attended with the desired effect; the consequence of 

 which is, that the work is in many cases very imperfectly performed. Tliis, 

 indeed, has been so universally admitted by those farmers who arc alive 

 to tlie necessity of eradicating every species of weed previous to the admis- 



