42 l THE PLOUGHMAN. 



The terms "ploughman" and "clod-hopper" 

 are used in a sneering and vulgar way, by 

 many who do not possess nearly the skill and 

 knowledge of the humble peasant who guides 

 this important machine. In the first place, the 

 parts of it are by him adjusted to a very great 

 nicety, with screws, hooks, and wedges, ac- 

 cording to the kind of furrow required; and 

 then the direction of this in straight and pa- 

 rallel courses ; the management, by the voice, 

 of the horses although a boy helps to guide 

 them ; the turning and returning correctly; and 

 the arranging of the furrows in slightly rising 

 curves, or lands, as they are sometimes called, 

 to lay them dry, with water-courses between; 

 all these duties require the ploughman to 

 have a correct eye, a strong and steady hand, 

 and a clear head for his business which 

 qualifications make a man of a sort that 



