ARABLE LAND. 



weather permits, it is ploughed again, ' 

 the first ndjies being turned over as 

 they were before : this completes the 

 decomposition of the roots and weeds, j 

 It is then stirred with liarrows or oth- [ 

 er instruments, which tear up the ' 

 roots which remained, and some of 

 these, not being easily destroyed, are 

 carefully gathered and burned, or put 

 in a heap to ferment and rot, a por- 

 tiun of quickhme being added. An- 

 oWier ploughing and stirring follows, J 

 at some interval, till the whole ground 

 is mellow, pulverized, and free from 

 weeds ; manure is put on, if required, ' 

 and immediately spread and ploughed ; 

 in : the land is then prepared for the ! 

 see,d. 1 



Various instruments have been in- ' 

 vputed to stir the earth and mix it 

 without so often using the plough, ' 

 and also to loosen and separate roots 

 and weeds ; of these the principal 

 are the cultivator or scarifier, which 

 . enters but a few inches into the 

 ground, and moves a great surface 1 

 by means of iron teeth of various 

 constructions. 



This instrument divides the soil, 

 but does not turn it over ; it is well 

 calculated to destroy roots and weeds, 

 and let in the air ; but, evidently, is 

 only adapted to tolerably loose and 

 mellow soils, where there are no 

 large stones. 



When the soil turned up by the 

 plough is in large, hard lumps, a roll- 

 er, sometimes with spikes in it, is 

 drawn over the land to break the 

 clods ; but this is seldom necessary 

 except wliere very stiff soils have been 

 ploughed when too wet. and the ridg;'s 

 have dried, and been ploughed again 

 in dry weather. Deep wet clay soils 

 should be carefully watched, to know 

 when is the proper time to plough 

 them. Nothing pulverizes them like 

 frost ; and if they are kept Irom wet 

 by careful draining and numerous 

 water-furrows in autumn, they wdl 

 be loose and friable in spring ; tliey 

 had better not be touched than work- 

 ed when loo wet. On light soils the 

 plain roller is used to advantage to 

 produce firmness, without which the 

 plough cannot so well turn the ground 



over completely, but merely pushes 



it to the right and left. 



The influence of the atmosph.ere 

 on the soil, and the increased fertili- 

 ty produced by pulverizing and stir- 

 ring heavy lands, has led to the no- 

 tion adopted by Jethro Tiill, that la- 

 bour might entirely supersede the 

 necessity of manure ; lience the ori- 

 gin of the horse-hoeing husbandry, 

 which at one time was so highly 

 thought of as to be called, by way of 

 distinction, the new husbandry. 



There are some soils which are 

 so mixed with pebbles and stones 

 that the foregoing observai ions will 

 scarcely be applicable, and the in- 

 struments must be adapted to their 

 texture. The only inconvenience 

 found from them in good soils is that 

 they occupy the room of better earth, 

 and wear out the instruments used, 

 which, in consequence, are made 

 stronger and blunter. When there 

 is a crop to be mown with the scythe, 

 1 the stones must be removed from the 

 surface. 



When the land has been duly pre- 

 pared, the seed is sown. This is 

 done sometimes before the last 

 ploughing, but then the manure 

 should have been ploughed in be- 

 , fore ; for, except in planting the po 

 ■ tato, which is not a seed, but a bulb, 

 the manure should always be deeper, 

 and not in contact with the seed. 

 When the seed is plougiied in, the 

 furrow should not be above two or 

 three inches deep and eight or nine 

 i wide ; and it is only in particular 

 soils that this mode is to l)e recom- 

 mended. The most common method 

 is to sow the seed on the land after 

 the last ploughing, and draw the har- 

 rows over to cover it. Wlien the 

 land has been well ploughed, the seed 

 will mostly fall in the small furrows 

 made by two adjoining ridges, and 

 rise in regular rows ; hut by far the 

 most perfect way is to sow it at a 

 , regular depth, by means of a ma- 

 ' chine, and in rows at regular distan- 

 ! ces. See Drill. 



I The proper season for sowing each 



kind of grain, the choice of seed, and 



I other particulars, will be given under 



i7 



