HAMPDEN SOCIETY. 37 



quite as well as the spade. At all events, nothing short of this 

 should satisfy the cultivator or the plough-wright. 



The importance of pulverizing the soil cannot be too much 

 regarded. The fact should always be borne in mind, that the 

 impalpable powder is the only active part of the soil. No other 

 portion has any direct influence upon vegetation. Jethro Trull, 

 an English writer on agriculture, went so far as to say, that, if 

 the soil is pulverized well, manure may be dispensed with. 

 This remark is extravagant, but it shows how much import- 

 ance this distinguished agriculturalist attached to a proper pul- 

 verization of the soil. 



The depth of ploughing depends upon the character and 

 depth of the arable soil. But it is an unquestionable fact, that 

 the deeper the soil is stirred or loosened, the better will the 

 crops bear a drought or a superabundance of moisture. 



The utility of ploughing matches may be questioned by 

 some. But no one, who is fully acquainted with the subject, 

 will discourage them. An English writer says, that the face of 

 the country, in many parts of Great Britain, has been strikingly 

 improved by the change which good ploughing has 'efl!ected, 

 and much of this improvement is attributed to the influence of 

 ploughing matches. The same degree of improvement has un- 

 doubtedly been observed in this country. We have recently 

 been informed, by an observing agriculturalist, that there has 

 been a great improvement in ploughs and ploughing, in this 

 vicinity, within the last twelve years. All can remember when 

 no one thought of ploughing turf land without a four ox-team 

 and a driver ; now the same work is very much better done 

 with a single pair of oxen, or a pair of horses, and no driver. 

 The generous emulation excited by ploughing matches, has led 

 to the improvement in ploughs and in the use of them. 



But, were ploughing matches of no benefit to the interests of 

 agriculture, are not their social advantages ample justification 

 for sustaining them ? What is more gratifying, as an enter- 

 tainment, than a spirited competition in the all-important 

 branch of tillage ? 



The committee regret to say that, on the present occasion, 

 the match v/as less spirited than usual, on account of the small 



