SEPTEMBER. 481 



However, if this management should take place, 

 the land should not be ploughed at all, hut left to 

 consolidate at bottom, to become firm for the roots 

 of the wheat to fix in, and the surface worked 

 with the scarifiers or scufliers, according to its 

 temper, just sufficient to keep it clear of all weeds, 

 and in that state, drill the wheat without any 

 ploughing. This I have practised with good suc- 

 cess. 



WATER-FURROWING. 



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A circumstance of much importance in the cul- 

 ture of wheat, but oftentimes strangely neglected, is 

 water- furrowing: this work should be well and ef- 

 fectually performed on all lands, except those that are 

 perfectly dry all winter through. The water-furrows 

 should be ploughed as soon as the field is finished 

 sowing, ploughing, &c. and then a spit should be 

 dug out from the bottom of them, and laid on one 

 side opposite the rise of the land, and the loose 

 mould shovelled out: the openings of all the fur- 

 rows should likewise be cleansed, so that the water 

 may have an easy fall out of every furrow into the 

 water ones. The number of these must ever de- 

 pend on the variations of the surface; the only ge- 

 neral rule being to make them so numerous, that 

 no water can stand on the land in the wettest wea-i- 

 ther. In bottoms of fields, or other places, where 

 there is a double slope of the land, it is necessary 

 to cut double water-furrows, about a yard or four 



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