RIDGE-AND-FURROW. 



379 



shire hunters of high class, I may point to the horses in 

 the Frontispiece and Fig. 186. 



Ridge-and-furrow (Figs. 208 and 242), was an old-time 

 method of draining arable clay land, by which system drains 

 were made, say, from 8 to 12 yards apart, and the earth was 

 heaped up towards a ridge between them by "ploughing 

 against the hill." Ridge-and-furrow ploughing was applied 

 not only to hilly land, but also to level ground which was 



Fig. 237. Railway posts and rails ; about 5 ft. 4 in. high. 



more or less water-logged, so as to drain the ridges. 

 Although this kind of drainage went out of use in the 

 Midlands many years ago, when plough gave way to pasture, 

 ridge-and-furrow still remains strongly in evidence, especially 

 in Leicestershire, although every year it becomes less dis- 

 tinctly marked. Thus, for instance, a photo of ridge-and- 

 furrow which was taken in the Pytchley country in 1903 

 is no longer ridge-and-furrow ; for moles have thrown up their 

 earthworks and have entirely changed the aspect of the 

 land. The difference between the top of the ridges and 



