PLOUGH AND PLOUGHING. 



Rom&a 



" These teeth help to push aside 

 the earth to the right and left, and 

 the instrument resembles what is 

 called a moulding plough, which is 

 used in throwing the soil aside against 

 young plants growing in rows, as tur- 

 nips, potatoes, «&c. A chain or pole 

 connected with the end of the beam, 

 was hooked to the middle of the yoke 

 on the neck of the oxen, and thus the 

 plough went on making parallel fur- 

 rows, so near to each other that the 

 preceding furrow was partially filled 

 with the earth which the dcntaiia 

 pushed aside. The point was in the 

 shape of the head of a lance. This 

 plough might suffice in light, mellow 

 fsoils which had been long in cultiva- 

 tion, and had more the texture of 

 garden mould than of stubborn clay. 



" The small, double mould-board 

 plough, common in other parts of 

 France, is evidently taken from this. 

 The teeth not being sufficiently 

 strong, a slanting board was sul)sti- 

 tuted on each side, and wheels were 

 added, to diminish the labour of the 

 ploughman. The stilt remained the 

 same at the place where it is attach- 

 ed to the plough, but higher up it was 

 divided into two, like a fork, for the 

 convenience of holding it with both 

 hands. This plough acts exactly like 

 the other, but it is stronger and better 

 adapted for heavier land. Neither of 

 them goes much deeper than four or 

 live inches, leaving shallow parallel 

 ridges, in which the seed falls, and is 

 buried by light wooden liarrows, 

 which are drawn over the land after 

 sowing. This is an imperfect till- 

 age, the bottoms of the furrows being 

 only partially stirred. The broad, flat 

 share, and the single mould-board, 



Plotagh. 



which turns the earth completely 

 over, after lifting it up, is a far more^ 

 efTectual instrument, and has been 

 adopted wherever agriculture has 

 made any improvement. This plough 

 more nearly imitates the digging with 

 a spade, and the more perfect the imi- 

 tations, the better is the work. 



"The mould-board of a modern 

 plough is either fixed on one side, or 

 made to be shifted from one side 

 to the other, or there are two mould- 

 boards, as in Barnaby and Mooer's 

 double mould-board plough,^"' 3. In 

 the first case, one half the furrow sli- 

 ces lie on one side, and half on theoth- 

 er, and there is of necessity a double 

 furrow where they join. When it is 

 desirable that the surface should be 

 quite flat, and the furrow-slices all in 

 one direction, the mould-board must 

 be shifted at every turn, and a plough 

 which admits of this is called a turn- 

 wrest plough, or there must be two 

 boards. 



" The form of the turn-furrow is of 

 material importance, for on this de- 

 pends not only the perfection of the 

 work, but also the lightness of the 

 draught. When we follow a plough 

 working in a mellow soil which slight- 

 ly adheres to the plough, we often 

 perceive that, instead of being turned 

 aside, the earth is carried forward, 

 and only falls off when the accumu- 

 lation of it becomes heavy enough 

 to overcome the adhesion. It does 

 not slido off from the mould-board it- 

 self, but separates from the earth 

 which adheres to the latter: thus 

 showing that the shape is defective, 

 and giving good hints for its improve- 

 ment. But as the same plough will 

 sometimes turn over the same earth 



591 



