NORFOLK SYSTEM OF CULTIVATING BARLEY. 203 



now described it to be, it has nevertheless been found that 

 in all soils, except those of the very lightest and the most 

 sandy character, the use of the plough for originally or 

 for the first breaking-up of the land for the barley crop, 

 is not so beneficial as the use of the grubber or the scari- 

 fier; the furrows turned over by the plough being gene-- 

 rally of such a close and impervious character as to be 

 little influenced by the beneficial effect of the frost and 

 atmospheric influences during the winter months. In 

 some cases, therefore, a strong scarifier, with the teetli 

 closely set, is dragged over the land in autumn by four 

 horses, and it is left in the consequent rough and uneven 

 condition all the winter. The plough is then used to 

 prepare the land for sowing in the spring, this being 

 done immediately before the seed-time, the seed being then 

 put in. Another plan is sometimes, folio wed; in this the 

 iron mould-board of the plough is removed, and a piece of 

 rough wood substituted, the object of this being to pre- 

 vent the furrow being turned completely over, leaving it in 

 an unfinished or roughly broken condition. By the im- 

 plement thus prepared the land is broken up in autumn, 

 and left rough till spring. As soon as the season is suffi- 

 ciently far advanced, and the land dry, it is well harrowed ; 

 and immediately before the . seed is thought right to be 

 put in, the second ploughing is performed, and the seed 

 put in. In the large light-land fields of the western dis- 

 tricts of Norfolk it is usual to plough the whole field, and 

 drill across the ridges or furrows. This plan of drilling 

 across the furrows produces a more uniformly deep seed- 

 bed; for it is obvious that where the converse of this 

 holds, and the drill follows the furrows of the plough, the 

 seed will not be deposited equally deep, the surface being 

 uneven, and the drill-coulters running into the furrows will 

 render the work done uneven. After the drilling is per- 

 formed, the land is well harrowed, and sometimes the roller 

 is used in place of the harrow; the grass-seed machine 

 then follows, after that the light harrow, and the sowing 

 process is then completed. Where the soil is stronger, the 



