58 



On the Agriculture of the Netherlandi 



ploughman to draw the plough out of the furrow on turning, and 

 to direct it into the next. The sole is 10 inches broad, of an 

 equal width from the fin of the share to the heel. The turn- 

 furrow is made of sheet iron, J or J an inch thick, and bent as if 

 it had been rolled obliquely round a cylinder of about 2 feet 

 diameter ; the concave side is outward. It is nearly horizontal 

 at the fin, and its inclination increased till its upper edge is 



Old Flemish Plough. 



considerably to the right of the line of the furrow. This raises 

 th^ furrow-slice, and turns the earth over, crumbling it at the 

 same time. There are no wheels, but a piece of wood with 

 part of it shaped like a club-foot or inverted hammer projects 

 downwards from near the end of the beam : it can be moved 

 up or down in a mortice, so that the foot shall graze the ground 

 when the plough is at work. This serves to regulate the depth 

 of the furrow, and prevents the points of the share from striking 

 too deep. This simple plough has been adopted or imitated in 

 most countries, and for light soils without stones none can surpass 

 it. The old Rotheram plough, which was improved by Small, 

 was only a copy of it. In France and Switzerland it has almost 

 superseded the old ploughs of the country wherever improve- 

 ments have been introduced, and, with a few modifications, to 

 adapt it to different soils, it has re-appeared in England as an im- 

 proved plough. 



Besides the old Walloon plough, which is the same as the 

 Kentish turnwrest-plough, and is used in the stiffer soils of Hol- 

 land and Belgium, there is a lighter Turnwrest- Plough with two 

 small wheels attached to the beam, on the principle of Ransome's 

 Rutland and Bedford ploughs : it answers very well to plough 

 up clover-ley or grass-land ; but it is inferior to the foot-plough 

 in light soils. 



There is a Double-breasted Plough, without a coulter, usually 

 made entirely of wood, with which the inter-furrows between 

 the stitches are sometimes smoothed out ; and, in particular cul- 

 tivations where ridges are formed, it is very useful to make them 



