StO BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch.XLV. 



to the farmer, for he must be well convinced of the advantages of garden 

 culture beyond that carried on in the field, as by it the ground can be dug 

 twice as deep as it is generally stirred by the plough ; thereby rendering it 

 pervious to the roots of plants, which thus draw more nourishment from the 

 soil. It is also more effectually worked — that is to say, the clods are broken 

 and intermixed, and the land is thus rendered more friable and mellow than 

 can be effected by a common fallow ; the treading of horses, too, which is 

 so injurious todays, is avoided; as well as the constant recurrence of the 

 pressure of the ploughshare, which eventually causes in some land a hard 

 surface upon the subsoil — thus constituting what is called " the pan," which 

 in tough soils prevents the escape of water, and holds the upper stratum in 

 a wet, cold, and unprofitable condition. 



The cost of digging, by men, is stated by Mr. Falla, an extensive nursery- 

 man in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to have been 4d. per 

 rood — or 33s. 4d. per acre — when wheat was at 9*. the bushel; but " being- 

 desirous," as lie says, " of ascertaining how far, and at what expense, it 

 may be practicable to work land by the spade by women, boys, girls, and 

 feeble old men, in order, among other reasons, to the employment of pau- 

 pers of that description, I have this autumn made an experiment on a piece 

 of land containing 1728 square-yards, by digging, or rather trenching, by 

 two short spits, with girls ; and I have the pleasure of saying, that the work 

 is better done by two such short spits, each about five to six inches deep, 

 the one following the other, than digging is done by men at one full spit, 

 or spadeful, about nine or ten inches deep. The common wages I pay to 

 these girls is lOd. per day ; and they did the work in nineteen days for one 

 girl, which thus cost 155. lOd. An acre at the same rate, containing 4840 

 square-yards, would cost 21. As. 4d., which is lis, Ad. more than by men 

 at one spit ; but I am satisfied that the superiority of the girls' work is well 

 worth the difference. I may add, that this being the girls' first attempt 

 with spades, I am persuaded that, by future practice, they would in a 

 short time do it for the men's price — 33s. They work with quite light 

 spades made for the purpose ; the best size for which I think to be 9^ inches 

 long, 8 inches broad, and weighing, with the light handle, about A^ lbs. 

 avoirdupois*". 



considerable part of the wheat Nos. 1, 2, and 3, was also shaken out by the wind, and 

 destroyed by birds, to the amount of probably five or six bushels per acre. — Farm. Mag. 

 vol. xxii. p. 269. 



* " The spade, in the usual English acceptation of the term, is unknowu throughout 

 the greatest part of Ireland. Its place is there generally supplied by the loy, which 

 consists of three distinct pieces: an iron blade, which is made with the socket as broad 

 as itself ; a thick and stout wedge, or block of wood, which fits into the socket, and 

 serves to receive the foot in the act of digging ; thirdly, the handle, which is braced to 

 the wooden edge and blade by bands of iron. The handle consists of a straight rounded 

 pole of various length, and the instrument is distinguished accordingly by the terms of 

 the " lon;^" and " the short loy." Another distinction also arises from the blade, according 

 to its being long or narrow. The long loy operates as a kind of plough ; the blade form- 

 ing a curve with the handle, the convexity being at the back, is first inserted into the 

 earth by the pressure of the foot, then the end of the loy handle is drawn downwards to 

 loosen the clod by the pressure of the foot (in the same manner as the spade) : but the 

 workman then pushes the blade for two or three feet under the surface, and finally up- 

 sets and turns over the clod sideways, not unlike the work of the plough; and, in the 

 hands of an able workman, it is a powerful implement. 



" Another peculiarity of Irish digging-implements is, that for ordinary use they are 

 invariably provided with longer handles thail are customary in England ; whereby the 

 labourer is enabled to maintain a more erect position than can be preserved in using the 

 short-handed EngUsh spade; and hence in no part of Ireland is it usual to meet men 

 bent down by their labour, as commonly seen amongst old men in other countries. 



'* The stiveen, or steeveen, is another implement, the chief use of which is in dibbling 



