THE THREE-SHARE PLOW. 
209 
THE THREE-SHARE PLOW. 
This implement is frequently used by thor¬ 
ough farmers, for plowing in their wheat, oats, 
and other small grains, when sown broadcast. 
There is a great advantage in its use for this 
purpose. 
1. It requires going over the ground but once 
instead of several times, as with the harrow; 
for when properly done, every seed is effectu¬ 
ally covered by the first operation. 
2. It buries the seed deeper than is done by 
the harrow, which is advantageous for grain, as 
the roots thereby have a strong foothold, and 
the stem a firm support. This is a great pre¬ 
ventive of winter-killing, so destructive in cer¬ 
tain sections and on peculiar soils. 
3. It leaves the ground in slight ridges, thus 
roughening the surface, which is a decided ad¬ 
vantage to the growing crop. If to be followed 
by grass, without subsequent plowing, and the 
Three-Share Plow.—Fig. 45. 
ridges have not become levelled before the time 
for cutting the grass, as the rains and frosts 
will be very likely to do, a roller will speedily 
remedy the difficulty. 
4. Rust, and perhaps smut, may often be 
prevented by having a series of uninterrupted 
parallel openings across the entire field, so as 
to admit the free circulation of air, as is the 
case where the wheat is plowed in with the 
three-share plow, or drilled or dibbled in with 
the seed sower. 
A VIRGINIA PLANTATION. 
Thou shalt not covet, is a commandment which 
we should not break; yet, if any one can visit 
Sabine Hall, and not disobey that injunction, he 
is a more perfect Christian than I can pretend 
to be. It is one of those noble old mansions 
which are to be found scattered all over the tide¬ 
water region of Virginia, marking an age of 
wealth and refinement, that in some measure 
has faded away. For the ancient families have 
forsaken the old halls, and in many cases, house 
and household are known no longer in the land 
that was once graced by their presence. 
Sabine Hall still retains its pristine grandeur 
and is owned and occupied by as true a noble¬ 
man as ever welcomed a guest beneath the hos¬ 
pitable roof of a Virginia gentleman of the good 
old time. Let the traveller who happens to en¬ 
joy the pleasure of Captain Mayer’s company 
upon the steamer Mary Washington, from Bal¬ 
timore to Fredericksburg, (a very pleasant route 
it is too, and good boat and‘very accommodat¬ 
ing officers,) ask him to point out this promi¬ 
nent landmark, a couple of miles below Tappa- 
hannock, on the opposite side of the river. It 
stands upon an elevated site, some two miles 
from the shore, overlooking a broad tract of rich 
bottom land, upon which great fields of wheat 
and corn are spread out in bounteous profusion. 
Covering the slope of the hill, immediately in 
front, is a terraced garden of fruits and flowers, 
and grassy banks; and a little lower down, a 
i full supply of esculents for the table. Here the 
fig ripens its luscious sweetness, 
and the peach gives its subacid 
goodness in great perfection. 
The carriage approach is from 
the rear, or rather the landward 
front, through a park of noble old 
IBlW trees, green grass, and hedges. 
” There is one thing about this 
entrance which I wonder is not 
more common. A neat lodge 
stands by the outer gate, the 
residence of one of the house 
servants, and some of the chil¬ 
dren are always on hand to open and close it 
when passed by resident or stranger. The house 
itself is not extraordinary in its dimensions, nor 
grandeur of appearance; but it is sufficiently 
roomy, and is one of that class of old-time 
dwellings whose walls are as substantial as the 
hospitality which welcomes the stranger within. 
Through the centre, runs a broad hall, big 
enough to parade a militia company ; upon the 
right, are two parlors large enough to entertain 
another; upon the left, a dining room and sit¬ 
ting room, and between them a heavy wainscot- 
ted and balustered, deep-worn staircase, and a 
passage out upon the gallery of the wing, lead¬ 
ing to the store rooms and kitchen. Of course, 
there is a gallery, or colonnade, upon the river 
front, for what finished southern house ever 
lacked this ornamental appendage? 
The present proprietor, colonel Robert W. 
Carter, is a descendant of one of the oldest and 
most wealthy families in the state, and almost 
the only one upon the northern neck of Virginia, 
where the name was once great among the 
great names of that region. 
