48 



ECONOMY OF FARMING. 



Tables showin-^ the Quantity of ground ploughed according to the different breadths 

 oT the furrow slices and the rates of the horses' walking. 



It is supposed that in England, in general, the common breadth of the furrow-slice 

 is about 9 inches ; but the generality of the farmers in Norfolk, for various reasons, 

 prefer having their furrow-slices full 11 inches broad, so that the quantity of the 

 o-rouml stirred in the same number of hours worked by them, must be considerably 

 more than farmers in other districts can do, where the' nature of the soil requires to 

 have the furrow-slice of a narrower breadth. The effect of short ridges, and conse- 

 quently of frequent turnings, is most strikingly exemplified in the following table, 

 drawn up by the same gentleman from actual experiment. 



Thus it appears, when ridges are 78 yards in length, that no less a space of time 

 than 4 hours and 39 minutesls spent in turnings, in a journey of 8 hours ; whereas, 

 when ridges are 274 yards long, 1 hour 19 minutes is sufficient in the same length of 

 time." 



The following estimntes as to amount of land which can be ploughed, &c., are 

 taken from the British Husbandry. The author of that work says, that according to 

 the common calculation for the year round, 1 acre of average soil may be ploughed 

 in a day ; 1^ acres is the utmost with a common furrow on any soil, and an average 

 of 1 acre to 1^ in summer, and ^ of an acre in winter is a fair day's work with a 

 team ; elsewhere also he gives ^ of an acre as a fair average daily. As to the 

 ground gone over in plousrhing an acre, he asserts that with a broad furrow-slice it 

 equals about 11 miles, or' with one of 8 inches 12 miles and 3 furlongs, exclusive of 



