296 FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



Sometimes, however, fields are too irregularly shaped, or 

 of too uneven surface, to be convenient lor ploughing in 

 this regular manner. 



Sides of hills, which are steep, can only be ploughed to 

 advantage by constantly turning the furrows downward 



See PLOUGH for the kind of this implement which is 

 proper to be used for this purpose. 



But lands of this description are unfit for the plough ; or, 

 if ploughed, it should be but seldom Rather let them be 

 kept for pastures, for orchards, for raising growths of wood, 

 or, in some cases, for vineyards. By ploughing such lands, 

 the upper stratum, or vegetable mould, is constantly de- 

 scending to the bottom of the hill; not only by its being 

 thrown farther down at every ploughing, but much of its 

 finest parts are carried down by the heavy rains. 



Some sides of hills are, however, of such soil as is little 

 washed by the rains ; and are at the same time of such a 

 depth of that kind of earth, which can be readily converted 

 into a good vegetable mould, that they may be ploughed for 

 centuries without essential injury; provided they are as 

 well treated as other lands, in regard to manures, and fre- 

 quent crops of grass. 



Where the sward is turned over, in order to be harrowed 

 in with a crop, it should be done in a very careful manner: 

 The sward should all be completely turned over; but, say 

 some British Writers, not so as to lie flat ; the sward last 

 turned should lap a little on the one next preceding, in 

 order that, by this mean, the harrow may the more readily 

 take hold of the* soil. 



This method of raising: crops, however, will only be 

 found successful in the sandy and mellower kinds of soils ; 

 In the very hard, or siiff, kinds it will seldom do well ; but 

 in all soils a clover-sward, turned under, will be found to 

 answer the best purpose. 



Under FALLOWING OF LAND, considerable has been said, 

 in regard to ploughing, which need not be here repeated. 

 In general, it may be observed, that, after the sward has 

 been turned over, the object of further ploughings being- to 

 mellow the soil, and thereby to produce~that degree of fer- 

 mentation which is essential to growing of plants in the 

 best manner, and of keeping up that fermentation as long 

 as possible; much depends upon the time, as well as the 

 manner, in which the pioughings are performed. 



It the ploughings are but partially performed ; that is, if 

 parts of the ground be left unloosened to the requisite 

 depih, the fermentation of the loosened part of the surface 

 must, of course, be partial, and the parts which remain un- 

 loosened must present barriers, beyond which the roots of 

 the growing plants cannot extend j of course, the plants 



