NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



HI 



leave a g-ood hinge uncut, upon which the furrow- 

 holds its proper position at the bottom, while the 

 top is describinjT a quarter of a circle to reach the 

 perpendicular position, at which position the plough 

 has ripped off the hinge. If the slice were cut en- 

 tirely off by the share, it would be apt to push oil 

 at the bottom so far as to fail of being turned over 

 to its proper position, — in other words, a wider fur- 

 row would need to be taken to turn well. 



Fig. 4, shows that, theoretically, a furrow cut 

 straight from the land will shut in beside the pre- 

 viously turned furrow. The furrow-slice, c, d, e, 

 f, is cut straight down at a, b, and rising on the 

 corner e, as a pivot, it describes a quarter circle, b, 

 d, and then changing to f as a pivot, it describes 

 another quarter circle, e, g, and shuts in snugly be- 

 side the previous furrow, g, h, i, k. But in prac- 

 tice it is difficult to make the furrows do so; they 

 are very apt to ride on the corners, as re])resented 

 by Fig. 5. With an inclined land-side, and a 

 bevil-cut from the land, this practical difficulty is 

 avoided. 



Fig. 6 represents the movement of the furrow- 

 slice over an imperfect mould-board. It will be 

 observed that the plough is too wide on the bottom 

 'to take a narrow furrow, and if the attempt is made 

 to turn over all inch furrow, there is no hinge left 

 for it to turn on. The mould-board is so short, and 

 wings over so excessively, that the furrow-slice is 

 cramped into an unnatural movement, and is badly 

 broken. The plough is also too low every way for 

 a seven-inch furrow, and is completely buried. We 

 find in practice that such a plough can only be kept 

 erect in furrows seven inches deep, by constant la- 

 borious exertion on the part of the ploughman; 

 that they have a constant tendency to ride the fur- 

 row at the point where the mould-board wings over 

 so much; that the heel of the land-side sole is lifted 

 an inch or two from its proper level position in the 

 furrow-channel, and that the plough inclines very 

 much to run on the point of the share. Many of 

 our American ploughs are too wide on the bottom 

 for narrow furrows, too low in the mould-board fur 

 deep furrows, (or furrows seven inches deep,) too 



short for turning any furrows perfectly, and too un- 

 steady in their movements generally. 



It is a too common custom with our farmers in 

 ploughing, to strive to get over the greatest possible 

 breadth of land in a day, without regard to the best 

 work. The furrows are too shallow, and they are 

 cut as wide as the plough can possibly turn them, 

 and often even wider, the deficiency in the plough 

 being made up by the foot of the ploughman, or else 

 by the "cut and cover system;" and this gives the 

 plough a very unsteady action; the furrows are very 

 crooked and uneven; they do not match together 

 at all well; the ploughman raves and scolds and 

 whips; he assumes all sorts of attitudes, the team is 

 chafed and fretted, and the whole matter is wrong. 

 It is much harder work both for man and team to 

 plough so, than it is to take nice, straight, uniform 

 furrows. But this is not all the evil. The im- 

 plements that follow the plough cannot do their 

 work half so effectively as they would do if thj 

 ploughing had been accurate and nice, — much less 

 can they do what should have been done by the 

 plough. There is no work in the whole round of 

 husbandry that more demands the exercise of pa- 

 tience, precision and skill, than that of ploughing, 

 — none, where, by the exercise of these qualities, 

 the fiirmer receives a better reward. That old wor- 

 thy, Jethro Tull, in his honest enthusiasm used to 

 say, that if land were thoroughly pulverised, ma- 

 nure would not be needed. He stated the case 

 pretty strongly; but it is not stating it too strongly 

 to say, that however well land maybe manured,^the 

 crops it is capahle of producing will not be obtained, 

 unless it is well pulverised — unless it is reduced to 

 that state of tilth that permits a free circulation of 

 [air and moisture through it. Not the tliick heavy 

 clods, but rather the finely pulverised particles 

 I form the active portions of the soil. In whatever 

 light, then, we view the matter, thorough pulverisa- 

 |tion should be the aim of the farmer. Deep, nar- 

 row furrows are the best foundation for fine tilth. 

 If the plough has failed to prepare this foundation 

 in the best manner, no implement following in the 

 cultivation can supply the deficiencj-. 



':"'■''"■"■■»''»'■ n iiiiiiiiiMymiiMliiiiliiiiinSar^ 



Ruggles, Nourse, Mason 4' Co.'s Stubble Plough, No. 37. 



