258 



General Hides for Ploughing. 



Vol. X. 



carrots two and a half feet long, the tap- 

 root of which was probahly another foot in 

 length." The tap-root of a Swedish turnip 

 has been known to extend thirty-nine inches; 

 the roots of Indian corn full six feet. These 

 statements may appear extraordinary; but, 

 by the free and loose texture of the soil, it 

 is obvious a good husbandman will give 

 every opportunity for the roots and their ex- 

 tremely fine fibres, to extend themselves as 

 far as their instincts may prompt them. 



Next to the depth of ploughing, the width 

 of the furrow-slice is to be considered. This, 

 of course, depends mainly upon the construc- 

 tion of the plough. A plough with a wide 

 sole or base, in the hands of a skilful plough- 

 man, may be made to cut a narrow furrow- 

 slice; but a narrow-soled plough cannot be 

 made to cut a wide furrow-slice, though it 

 may sometimes appear to do so by leaving a 

 part of the ground unturned, which the fur- 

 row-slice is made to cover. Where, as in 

 old ploughed land, the object is solely to 

 leave the ground loose and light, it is ad- 

 visable to take a very narrow furrow. Where, 

 otherwise, the object is to move greensward 

 or stubble ground, and to cover in the vege- 

 table matter, such a width of furrow must 

 be taken as will cause the slice, as it is 

 raised by the share, to turn over easily. 

 This width may generally be reckoned at 

 nearly twice the depth, though less will an- 

 swer; but a furrow-slice of equal sides would 

 not turn, but stand on end. The manner in 

 which the furrow-slice will be turned de- 

 pends somewhat upon the form of the mould- 

 board, but more, in general, upon the skill 

 of the ploughman. Two modes are adopted; 

 the one to lay the furrow-slice entirely flat, 

 shutting its edge exactly in by the edge of 

 its neighbour; the other, to lay it at an in- 

 clination of 45 degrees, lapping the one 

 upon the other. The former mode, where 

 land is to be sown with grass-seed, and, as 

 the phrase is with us, laid down, is undoubt- 

 edly to be preferred. Perhaps, in any case 

 where a grain crop is to be cultivated, it 

 should be preferred, as its beneficial effects 

 have been well tested in the United States. 

 In the United States, however, from a higher 

 temperature, the vegetable matter thus press- 

 ed down may be expected sooner to be de- 

 composed, and thus sooner furnish a pabulum 

 for the growing plants, than in a climate 

 where, in a much lower and more even tem- 

 perature, the decomposition cannot be ex- 

 pected to take place so rapidly. In other 

 cases, and for vegetable crops — I mean in 

 contradistinction to grain crops — a different 

 mode of ploughing, that is, laying the fur- 

 row-slices one upon the other at an angle of 

 45 degrees, or half turned over, would leave 



the ground more loose, as well as expose a 

 larger surface of the inverted soil to be en- 

 riched by the air. In this way, by harrow- 

 ing and rolling, the vegetable matter will be 

 completely buried. This mode of ploughing 

 is evidently preferred throughout the coun- 

 try, as I have seldom seen the sward com- 

 pletely inverted and laid flat, though I know 

 the practice prevails in some counties. To 

 avoid having any of the grass protrude itself 

 between the furrow-slices, they have here, 

 what I have never seen in the United States, 

 a skim-coulter, that is, a miniature plough- 

 share, or blade, placed under the beam, and 

 so adjusted as to cut an edge from the fur- 

 row-slice as it is turned over; this piece bo 

 cut off, at once dropping down, and being 

 buried under the furrow-slice as it goes over. 

 The consequence is, that there is no grass 

 on the edge of the furrow-slice to show 

 itself, and great neatness is therefore given 

 to the whole work. There is another mode 

 of ploughing, which I have sometimes seen 

 practised, by which the furrow-slice is not 

 merely lifted, but may be said to be rolled 

 over, or twisted in a sort of bag-fashion. 

 This seemed to me to be principally owing 

 to the concave form of the mould-board, for 

 no workman could have done it with a 

 straight or convex form of mould-board. It 

 would seem to render the soil more friable 

 and loose ; but every departure from a 

 straight line, or wedge form of the mould- 

 board, evidently much increases the draught. 

 The skim-coulter, to which I have referred 

 above, somewhat increases the draught, but 

 in a very small degree. 



The great object of the English farmers 

 in ploughing, seems to be the thorough pul- 

 verization of the soil ; and they are there- 

 fore very seldom satisfied with one plough- 

 ing, but their land is repeatedly ploughed, 

 scarified, and harrowed. They cross-plough 

 their land, and think it desirable to reduce 

 tiie sward land to a fine tilth, tearing it to 

 pieces, and bringing all the grass, and roots, 

 and rubbish, to the surface, that they may 

 be raked up and burned, or carried to the 

 manure heaps. The propriety of this prac- 

 tice is, in my mind, quite questionable. It 

 would seem to me much better to turn the 

 sward completely over, and then cultivate 

 on the top of it, without disturbing the grass 

 surface, leaving that, when thus turned over, 

 to a gradual decomposition, that it might in 

 this way supply food to the growing crop, 

 whereas the abstraction of so much vegeta- 

 ble matter must greatly diminish the re- 

 sources of the soil. Where, however, the 

 field is infested with twitch grass (triticum 

 repens) — in which, indeed, many of the 

 fields in England abound to a most extraor- 



