170 



[February, 1909. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



ON PLOUGHING. 



We are all familiar with the phrase, 

 " A little farm well tilled." That short 

 sentence describes the modest wish of 

 everyone who launches into an agricul- 

 tural career. Having got the "little 

 farm," the wish expands into a " big 

 farm," and, by keeping the '* little farm" 

 well tilled the " big farm" may become 

 an accomplished fact. Tillage in agri- 

 culture is a most important operation, 

 its object being, of course, to bring the 

 ground into that state of tilth best 

 suited to the growth of grass and crops. 

 In order to obtain this tilth, the employ- 

 ment of many kinds of implements are 

 required, and the first of these is the 

 plough. It is not now regarded as the 

 most important, because the cultivators, 

 grubbers, disc harrows, and similar im- 

 plements reduce the ground to a proper 

 condition for a seed bed, even if the 

 ploughing has been badly done. There 

 can be no doubt, however, that the 

 plough is a very important machine in 

 agriculture, and must continue to be so 

 till tne end of time. It is the most 

 ancient implement known, but within 

 the last century it has been improved 

 very much indeed— in fact, there are 

 few machines which have been more 

 altered in its appearance and in its work. 

 Wood has been replaced by iron ; steel 

 has taken the place of iron ; and mechan- 

 ical laws have been applied to make 

 the implement easier to pull and more 

 effective in its work. As the years go 

 on, new principles are being applied, and 

 there are now quite a number of 

 different kinds of ploughs on the market 

 and in general use. There are the ordi- 

 nary single aud double furrow ploughs 

 (swing ploughs are rarely seen now- 

 a-days), digging ploughs, subsoil ploughs, 

 gang and stump-jumping ploughs, one- 

 way or hillside ploughs, multiple 

 ploughs, and, last of all, disc ploughs. 

 Some of these, as their name denote, are 

 special-purpose ploughs, and with these 

 there is no necessity to deal in the 

 present article. 



Single-furrow ploughs are not used 

 except on c mall holdings and in gardens. 

 They are now fitted with wheels, which 

 keep them steady and at a uniform 

 depth. Swing ploughs are balanced by 

 the ploughmen, and require more skill 

 in their management than wheeled 

 ploughs. Single-furrow ploughs are 

 often used for opening lands or striking 

 out, and also for finishing. They are 



also used for such work as potato-plant- 

 ing, alth ough the double-furrow is also 

 used. 



The double-furrow plough has for 

 long time been the principal kind o 

 plough used in New Zealand. It is now 

 in some districts being superseded by 

 the treble-furrow, which is in reality a 

 double-furrow with another beam and 

 mould-boai'd attached. The principle is 

 exactly the same. The idea of the extra 

 furrow is to give the larger teams, which 

 must be used in cultivating and drilling, 

 sufficient work to do when ploughing. 

 It is not so long ago that three and four 

 horse teams wer e in vogue. Now a days 

 the five and six horse team is in 

 more general use, because of the extra 

 strength required to haul up-to-date 

 cultivators, disc harrows, and drills. 

 Then, again, digger and disc ploughs are 

 being used ve ry largely, and these 

 demand larger teams than the old four 

 horse team. 



A plough is, in reality, a combination 

 of instruments fastened to a beam. The 

 most important of these instruments are 

 the coulter or skeith, the share or sock, 

 the mould-board or breast, and the 

 bridle. Other parts are added, accord- 

 ing to the kind of plough desired, but 

 usually there is a lever and a steering- 

 rod. It is not necessary for me, I 

 suppose, to describe the function of each 

 of these parts. Before describing the 

 different kinds of work done by several 

 kinds of ploughs and the uses of each, I 

 will give a few of the terms used in 

 ploughing. 



There are two principal methods of 

 ploughing— viz., in lands and round-and- 

 round. The former method is used on 

 flat land and on undulating downs, 

 while the latter is used in steep localities. 



With practice, a perfectly straight 

 furrow may be maintained, and with a 

 little patience almost any plough may 

 be set to cut and throw all its furrows 

 alike and evenly. The turning-ooints 

 at the ends of the "lands" are called 

 " headlands," and it is important that 

 youths starting to plough should be 

 taught to keep their furrows square with 

 the headland, and the headlands them- 

 selves the same width right through. A 

 plough cannot do good work unless it is 

 kept in good order, and every ploughman 

 should know how to keep his plough 

 wheels packed and his skeiths running 

 true. For skeiths, I find the " cones " 

 the best kind of axle to use, Skeiths 



