Book V. LABOURS WITH CATTLE ON THE SOIL. 529 



soils, a small plough often answers better than any of the pronged or coultered imple- 

 ments, at least for the first and last operations of bean culture. Dr. Anderson, indeed^ 

 affirms with great truth, that nearly all the various operations of horse-hoeing may be 

 executed by the common swing-plough, in an equally effectual manner as by any of the 

 hoe-ploughs usually made use of. 



3266. Drilling, or the deposition of seed in rows by means of a drill machine, is 

 an operation that requires considerable care in the performance. The points that require 

 particular attention are keeping the rows straight and at equal distances throughout tbeir 

 length, depositing the seed at a proper depth, and delivering the seed in proper quantity 

 according to its kind and the nature of the soil. For these purposes the ground must 

 have been previously well prepared by ploughings and harrowings, except in the parti- 

 cular case of drilling beans with one furrow. This operation is generally performed in 

 the course of ploughing, either by a person pushing forward a bean-drill barrow, or by 

 attaching a hopper and wheel, with the necessary apparatus, to the plough itself. The 

 mode of regulating the depth of the drill, and the quantity of seed delivered, must 

 depend on the kind of drill used, and only requires attention in the holder. In drilling 

 turnips the land is most generally made up into ridgelets twenty-seven or thirty inches centre 

 from centre, by a single bout (go about), or return, of the common plough. The North- 

 umberland machine, which sows two rows at once, is then drawn over them by one horse 

 walking between the ridges without a driver, the holder at once perforniing that operation 

 and keeping the machine steady on the tops of the drills. One of the two rollers of this 

 machine smooths the tops of the ridges before the seed is deposited, and the other 

 follows and compresses the soil and covers the seed. 



3267. In drilling corn several rows are sown at once, and great care is requisite to keep 

 the machine steady and in a straight line : for most soils two horses and a driver are 

 required for this purpose ; the driver aiding in filling the hopper with seed, &c. 



3268. I?i all cases of drilling it must be recollected that the principal intention of the 

 operation is to admit of horse-hoeing the crop afterwards ; hence the necessity of straight 

 rows and uniform distances ; and hence also the advantage of burying the manure under 

 the drill or row, that it may not be exposed to the air in after-working. 



3269. Rolling is the operation of drawing a roller over the surface of the ground with 

 the view of breaking down the clods, rendering it more compact, and bringing it even 

 and level ; or it may be limited to smoothing and consolidating the surface. It is prac- 

 tised both upon the tillage and grass lands, and is of much utility in both sorts of 

 husbandry. In the former case it is made use of for the purpose of breaking down and 

 reducing the cloddy and lumpy parts of the soil in preparing it for the reception of crops, 

 and in rendering light soils more firm, even, and solid, after the seed is put in. It is 

 likewise found beneficial to the young crops in the early spring, in various instances. In 

 order to perform this operation in the most complete and effectual manner a roller of 

 considerable weight is necessary ; and in order as much as possible to prevent the ground 

 from being injured by the feet of the animals that draw it, as may frequently be the case 

 where they follow each other in the same track, it is the best practice to have them yoked 

 double, as by that means there will be less treading on the same portion of surface. 

 Where two horses are sufficient to execute the work, more should never be made use of; 

 but if a third should be found necessary, it may be attached as a leader in the middle 

 before the other two : a greater number of horses can seldom or never be of any material 

 advantage in this sort of work. It is necessary to see that every part of the surface 

 receives the due impression of the implement, and that the head lands are not injured by 

 the turnings. On lands where the work is regularly performed, it will seldom be requisite 

 to pass more than once in a place, but in other cases it may often be done more frequently 

 with benefit, and in particular cases a more frequent repetition of the operation is abso- 

 lutely requisite, in order to bring the ground into a proper state. 



3270. In rolling grass lands it is necessary to attend in a particular manner to the 

 season, as it cannot be performed with advantage either when the surface is in too dryer 

 too moist a condition. In these' cases the work of rolling may be advantageously per- 

 formed at different seasons, as in the beginning of the autumn, and in the commence- 

 ment of the year, or very early spring months ; but the latter is the most common 

 period. In the drier descriptions of land it may frequently be performed, in the most 

 beneficial manner, after the land has been rendered a little soft by a moderate fall of 

 rain ; but in those of the contrary sort it may be necessary to wait till the superabundant 

 moisture be so much dried up, as to admit the animals employed in drawing the machine 

 without subjecting the surface of the ground to poaching or other injury, while the process 

 is going on. The rolling of watered meadows, it has been remarked by Boswell, should 

 be executed towards the latter end of February or beginning of the follovidng month, 

 after the land has been left in a dry state for a week or ten days. The work should be 

 performed along the panes, going up one side of the trenches and down the other ; and 

 in the case of rolling the common hay lands, it is a good mode to proceed up one side of 



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