224 OF PLOUGHING. 



the course of a rotation, for the reasons formerly assigned, 

 is advisable. 



The following points remain to be touched upon, re- 

 garding ploughing: 1. The angle at which the furrow-slice 

 should be laid in particular cases ; 2. The proper time for 

 ploughing wet and dry soils ; 3. The advantages of water- 

 furrowing; and, 4. The rate of ploughing with a pair of 

 horses. 



1. As one principal object in ploughing is, to lay the 

 land so that the harrows may, in the most effectual man- 

 ner, raise mould to cover the seed, this object is most effec- 

 tually accomplished, by ploughing land of every description, 

 with a furrow-slice about seven inches deep, and which, if 

 about ten inches and a half broad, raises the furrow-slice 

 with a proper shoulder; thus endeavouring to form, by the 

 shoulder of each furrow, the angle 45, the point which 

 ought to be referred to, when determining between the 

 merits of different specimens of ploughing. That is best 

 obtained, by allowing the plough to incline a little upon 

 the left side, and making the breadth of the furrow always 

 bear a due proportion to its depth, which is about two- 

 thirds, or as six deep and nine broad.* 



2. In regard to the proper time for ploughing either 

 light or clay soils, it is a good maxim, that light land should 

 be ploughed when it is in a moist state, but clays in a me- 

 dium state, neither wet nor dry. When perfectly dry, they 



* Remarks by Mr Hope of Fenton. This is the general, if not the 

 universal opinion of the Scotch farmers. In Norfolk they think that 

 the soil should be completely reversed, without a shoulder, and perfectly 

 flat. The angle 45 is strongly recommended in Bailey's Essay on the 

 Construction of the Plough, and in his Durham Report ; and in Brown 

 of Markle's Treatise on Rural Affairs. 



