PLOUGH AND PLOUGHING. 



17 

 47 



31s 

 20 



Trial 1. Sandv loam . . 17} stone. 

 " 2. Clay loam . 

 " 3. Loamy sand 

 " 4. Strong loam 

 " 5. Clay loam . 

 " 6. Moory soil . 



" Without entering into any com- 

 parison of ploughs difTerently con- 

 structed, it is evident that the shape 

 of the plough must vary with the na- 

 ture of the soil which it is to turn up. 



A light soil must be shovelled up ; 

 a mellow one may be turned over 

 witli any kind of mould-board ; a very 

 stiff, tenacious soil, which adheres to 

 any surface pressed against it, will 

 be more easily turned over by a few 

 points of contact which do not allow 

 of adhesion." Where the soil is a 

 stiff, moist clay, the skeleton plough 

 of Finlayson {Fig. 14) is drawn with 



half the force necessary for a com- 

 mon implement. This plough is used 

 to some extent in the upper prai- 

 rie lands, the beam being modified. 

 " Hence the point and turn-furrow 

 have been made of all imaginable 

 shapes, and while one man contends 

 for a very concave form, another will 

 admit of nothing which is not very 

 convex. That plough will, no doubt, 

 have the least draught which is best 

 suited to the soil which it has to 

 move. The lighter the plough is, 

 consistently with sufficient strength, 

 the less draught it requires, all other 

 circumstances remaining the same. 

 Lightness and strength combined are, 

 consequently, great advantages, and 

 if a very light plough does its work 

 as well as a heavier, there can be no 

 doubt that it is preferable. Durabi^ 

 ity is nothing compared with the sa- 

 ving of one horse in three ; it is 

 cheaper to have a new plough every 

 year than to keep an additional horse 

 all the year. If a wooden plough is 

 found to be more easily moved than 

 an iron one, there can be no doubt 

 which should be preferred. 



"The Flemish plough is made of 

 wood, and is very light ; the share 

 and coulter only are of iron, besides 

 a thin sheet of iron over the mould- 

 board, which is shaped as if it had 

 been rolled obliquely over a cylinder, 

 a shape well adapted to sandy soils. 

 In ploughing land which is more or 

 less mellow and crumbling, the great 

 object is to bring to the surface that 

 portion which has lain buried, and 

 has not served to nourish the pre- 

 ceding crop, and to bury that which 

 has produced vegetation, and in which 

 the roots of various weeds have estab- 

 lished themselves. When manure 

 is to be covered with a certain depth 

 of earth, a more complete subversion 

 is required, in order that no part of 

 it may remain uncovered. When the 

 land is in a compact state, from the 

 roots which pervade it, and it is only 

 ploughed once to prepare it for re- 

 ceiving the seed, much greater nicety 

 is required to lay the slices at a cer- 

 tain angle, so as to leave regular 

 lines or depressions in which the 

 seeds may fall and be regularly cov- 

 ered by the harrows which follow. 



537 



