Ch. IV.] 



PLOUGHING. 



45 



of two to tliree or four incites per yard in width will be found sufficient ; 

 but in many places they are carried considerably higher*. 



In forming the ridges from land wiiich has not been already tilled, the 

 ploughman measures the breadth at which each is intended to be laid ; set- 

 ting them out from the headlands', which are ridges running across the top 

 and bottom of the field to allow of space for turning the plough when it 

 arrives at the endf ; but, if the slope of the ground and the direction of the 

 fences will allow it, running them north and south, as the corn will ripen 

 more equally than when they are in the direction of east and west. He 

 then plants some poles along the line of the ridge at different distances, to 



cf cl 



serve as guides in striking a straight inter-furrow on each side to make the 

 boundary; having done which, he proceeds to plough from the centre of the 

 ridge. Thus, supposing the headband to adjoin eacli end of the fence, and 

 the inter-furrows between the ridges to berepresented, as in the preceding cut, 

 by the letters d d, the ploughman enters the implement at c, thus laying the 

 slice of the plough-furrow, or })lit, to the right; and when he arrives at the 

 end of the ridge, he then either returns by the opposite side of the same 

 line — as at b — so as to lay the furrow in a contrary direction, and thus pro- 

 ceeds ploughing round until the entire ridge is completed J. Or, what is 

 more usual — as allowing greater room for turning the team, after ploughing 

 the first furrow — he goes to c in the second ridge ; and when he has 

 ploughed the furrow, he then returns to the first ; thus alternately plough- 

 ing each half ridge until both are finished. 



In this manner, the furrow-slices being laid upon each other towards the 

 centre, the ridge thus acquires a certain degree of convexity ; but when it 



* In some parts of Gloucestershire the ridges are from 2A to .3 feet hif^li, and in others 

 even still higlier ; but the ridi^es are also of a j^reat breadth. — from 15 to 20, thoug-h 

 more generally S vards, and were probably thus constiucted at a period when drainage 

 was but imperfectly understood. See Marshall's Gloucestershire, vol. i. p. 75 ; and 

 Rudge's Survey, p. 105. In Essex wet land is laid on the two-bout ridge, or four-lurrow 

 work ; hut on the strong land, in the maritime district, stitches of eight furrows are 

 general. Essex Rep., vol. i., p. 199. 



f As these headlamls are necessarily much trodden on by the cattle during the opera- 

 tion of ploughing, they require to beatterwards particidarly well worked, so as to destroy 

 the tenacity thus occasioned in the ground. In some places they are constantly left in 

 grass, Avhich aifords a firm footing to the teams, and imparts a very neat appearance fo 

 the fields: it also induces sportsmen, when in pursuit of their game, to avoid riding over 

 the crops. 



I Before the ridge is thus taken tip, it is, however, essentially necessary to form a fur- 

 row in that precise place by ploughing it outward ; otherwise, either the centre of the land 

 or ridge must remain unplougbed, or it would be raised to an unsightly height above the 

 remainder of the land, from the first two furrows being united. 



