1 46 Size and Shape of Fields. 



Iron hurdles, some cast, and others much lighter, made of 

 wrought iron, are also frequently used as temporary fences. 

 If made for sheep, the cast metal is only 7s. each, but 9s. if 

 strong enough for cattle ( 367 ). 



The shape of fields may be either square or oblong. 



Square form. The advantage of having the fences in 

 straight lines, and the fields, when large, of a square form, 

 is unquestionable, as the ploughing of them, under this ar- 

 rangement, can be carried on with much greater dispatch. 

 Some farmers, whose fields are of a waving or uneven shape, 

 and who inclose with hedge and ditch, carry their fence 

 through the hollows, or best soil, with a view of raising a 

 good hedge, thus often sacrificing, for the sake of the fence, 

 the form of their field. A straight line however, is preferable, 

 even though it should be necessary to take some particular 

 pains to enrich the soil for the hedge, where it is thin and 

 poor, on any elevation. By means of the square form, an 

 opportunity is afforded, of ploughing in every direction, when 

 necessary ; and less time is lost, in carrying on all the ope- 

 rations of husbandry, in a field of that form, than of any 

 other shape. Where the waving form is necessary to secure 

 proper water-runs, plantations may be so disposed, as to 

 reduce the fields to squares or oblongs, and the fences to 

 straight lines. Rectangular fields have another advantage, 

 that in fields of that shape, it may be known, whether the 

 ploughmen have performed their duty, the quantity of work 

 done being easily calculated, from the length and breadth of 

 a certain number of ridges. 



Oblong form. When fields are small, an oblong shape 

 should be preferred, that the ploughing may be dispatched 

 with as few turnings as possible. This form has also other 

 advantages. The fields are more easily subdivided, and 

 water can almost in every case be got, by making proper 

 ponds in the meeting or joining of three or four fields, whose 

 gutters, or ditches, will convey water to the ponds. In tur- 

 nip soils, where the shape is oblong, it is easier to divide the 

 turnips with nets or hurdles, for the convenience of feeding 

 them off with sheep. If the ridges are too long, and the field 

 dry and level, the length may be reduced, by making cross 

 head-lands, or head-ridges, at any place that may be consi- 

 dered the fittest by the occupier. 



The same engraving, (No. I.) will likewise explain the 

 best plan for dividing fields on clay land, and turnip-land 

 farms, in square divisions, and the rotations that may be 

 adopted in each. 



