PLOUGH. 



PLOUGH. 



quires 1 hour 28 minutes for the same purpose, ' 

 making a difference of 3 hours 43 minutes in 

 favour of the long ridge in regard to saving of 

 time. Consequently, in the case of the shortest ' 

 ridge, only 4 hours 49 minutes out of the 10 

 can be appropriated to ploughing, whereas in | 

 that of the long ridge, 8 hours 32 minutes may 

 be devoted to the purpose. Hence, so very 

 short ridges require double the time of long 

 ones to plough, and are thus a decided loss to 

 the farmer. This is a subject well worth your 

 experimenting on, by ascertaining the time 

 usually taken in ploughing and turning and 

 resting on ridges of different lengths, in the 

 different seasons, and in different soils. A 

 watch with a good second-hand to mark the 

 time will be required, and the observations 

 should be made unknown to the ploughmen, 

 at their usual rate of work ; for if you be con- 

 stantly in the presence of the men, more than 

 the usual work will be done, and less than the 

 usual rests taken. 



The whole value of ploughing, scientifically 

 speaking, depends upon its having the effect of 

 loosening the texture of the soil, and thus per- 

 mitting a free circulation of air and moisture 

 through its interstices, for the double purpose 

 of increasing the rapidity of the disintegration 

 of its stony portions, and of re-reducing to 

 powder what had formerly been pulverized, 

 but which, from the joint action of pressure, 

 and the binding effect of root-fibres, had become 

 agglutinated together. 



However well you may manure your land, 

 however thoroughly you may drain it, you will 

 never obtain the crops it is capable of yielding, 

 unless you pulverize it; nay, so important did 

 Jethro Tull think this, that he felt firmly per- 

 suaded that if you pulverized your soil well, 

 you need not manure at all. I need hardly tell 

 you, that ue shall prove hereafter Jethro Tull 

 to have carried his conclusions too far; but 

 still >o direct and unqualified a statement, from 

 such a writer, should have its full influence 

 upon all who wish to learn thoroughly the art 

 of agriculture. Always bear in mind that the 

 impalpable powder is the active part of soil, 

 and that no other portion has any direct influ- 

 ence upon vegetation, and you will then, at all 

 times, be sufficiently impressed with the neces- 

 sity of thorough ploughing, harrowing, &c. ; 

 indeed, you may rest assured that, except upon 

 some few very light sands, you cannot pulverize 

 the soil too much economy alone must fix the 

 limit of this useful operation. 



Tempering, fyc. A good ploughman will have 

 his plough so "tempered" or its different parts so 

 regulated or adjusted, that it will neither have a 

 tendency to take more or less earth, or, in other 

 words, go deeper or more shallow than is ne- 

 cessary. The width of the furrow-slice will 

 be at the same time regulated, so that neither 

 more nor /< land be taken than is requisite. 

 Some ploughmen, says Mr. Stephens, habitually 

 make the plough lean a little over to the left, 

 thus giving it in effect less land than it would 

 have, were it made to move upon the flat of the 

 sole ; and to overcome the consequent tendency 

 of the plough to make a narrower furrow-slice 

 than the proper breadth, they move the draught- 

 bolt a little to the right. The ploughing with 



a considerable lean to the left is a bad custom, 

 because it makes the lowest side of the furrow- 

 slice, when turned over, thinner than the upper 

 side, which is exposed to view, thereby de- 

 luding you into the belief that the land has all 

 been ploughed of equal depth ; and it causes 

 the horses to bear a lighter draught than those 

 which have turned over as much land in the 

 same time, with a more equal and therefore 

 deeper furrow-slice. Old ploughmen, becoming 

 infirm, are very apt to practise this deceptive 

 mode of ploughing. The plough should always 

 move flat upon its sole, and turn over a rectan- 

 gular furrow-slice; but there are certain ex- 

 ceptions to this rule, depending on the peculiar 

 construction of parts of certain forms of ploughs. 



None assume the habit of leaning the pleugh 

 over to the right, because it is not so easy to 

 hold it in that position as when it moves upon 

 the sole along the land-side. 



Other ploughmen, especially tall men, prac- 

 tise the habit of constantly leaning hard upon 

 the stilts, or of steeping; and as this practice 

 has the tendency to lift up the fore-point of the 

 plough out of the ground, they are obliged, in, 

 onler to keep it in, to put the draught-bolt 

 farther from the ground than it should be. A 

 little leaning of the hands upon the stilts is 

 requisite at all times, in order to retain a firm 

 hold of them, and thereby have a proper guid- 

 ance of the plough. 



A good ploughman will use none of these 

 expedients to make his plough go steadily, nor 

 will he fall into any of these reprehensible 

 habits. He will temper the irons so as there 

 shall be no tendency in the plough to go too 

 deep or too shallow into the ground, or make 

 too wide or too narrow a furrow-slice, or cause 

 less or more draught to the horses, or less or 

 more trouble to himself, than the nature of the 

 work requires to be performed in the most 

 proper manner. If he have a knowledge of 

 the implement he works with I mean, a good 

 practical knowledge of it, for a knowledge of 

 its principles is not requisite for his purpose, 

 he will temper all the parts, so as to work the 

 plough with great ease to himself, and, at the 

 same time, have plenty of leisure to guide his 

 horses aright, and execute his work in a credit- 

 able manner. I have known such ploughmen, 

 and they invariably executed their work in a 

 masterly way; but I never yet saw a plough- 

 man execute his work well, who had not 

 acquired the art of tempering the irons of his 

 plough. Until he learns this art, the best-made 

 plough will be comparatively worthless in his 

 hands. 



The state of the irons themselves has a ma- 

 terial effect on the temper of the plough. If 

 the cutting edge of the coulter, and the point 

 and cutting edge of the sock, are laid with 

 steel, the irons will cut clean, and go long in 

 smooth soil. This is an economical mode of 

 treating plough-irons destined to work in clay- 

 soils. But in gravelly and all sharp soils, the 

 irons wear down so quickly, that farmers prefer 

 irons of cold iron, and have them laid anew 

 every day, rather than incur the expense of 

 laying them with steel, which perhaps would 

 not endure work much longer in such soil than 

 iron in its ordinary state. Irons are now seldom 



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