ewe and her lamb within, and where she is provided with a manger b to contain sliced turnips or oil-cake, and a rack c for hay, to fill both of which access is obtained by the lid d, movable on its hinges. I have been assured by Mr BurFig. 226.

2599. A snow-harrow and a snow-plough will be found useful implements for the purpose, and those recommended by Mr Hepburn of Culquhalzie seem to possess every requisite. The snowharrow is represented by fig. 227. It consists of a single bull a b, 4 inches square, and 6 feet Fig. 227.

nett, that in using this contrivance, which, being a light implement, can be easily carried to any spot, he has had the satisfaction of using it as a means of saving the lives both of ewes and lambs which would have otherwise perished from exposure. The size of the ewe-house, as it is called, may be made to suit that of the sheep bred on the farm, and as it is not costly, any number can be made to be used at a time; but a useful size will be found to be the following: Length 5 feet 6 inches, breadth 3 feet, height 3 feet, breadth of the covered part d, 2 feet 7 inches, and rise of the slope at d, 7 inches. The fork e leaning against the side of the ewe-house may be used to grasp a ewe's neck, while lying on the ground, and to fasten it down, while the shepherd is lambing her without other assistance; but the method of holding a ewe between the heel and knee, which I have described above, (2547,) renders such an instrument of little use.

2598. One of the greatest sources of loss among lambs on hill farms is a fall of snow at the lambing season, or a continuance of snow to that period, Ground rendered wet by the melting of new-fallen snow is in a worse state for lambs than when made wet by rain, as in the latter case the temperature of the air is higher, though wet ground of every kind is inimical to the safety of new-dropped lambs. In such a case, the driest part of the farm, combined with shelter, should be chosen for the lambing ground, though it may be inconvenient in some other respects; but should the best lambing ground be covered with old snow, especially in sheltered spots, and the temperature of the air be generally above the freezing point, could the snow be stirred by any means, it would melt much faster than it would of itself.

THE MOUNTAIN SNOW-HARROW.

long; and in the middle of which, on the under side, a piece of 14-inch plank c, 3 feet long, is sunk flush transversely, for the attachment of the draught-hook c, and the stilt d to steady the motion of the implement. In the bull are fixed, by screw-nuts at intervals of 10 inches, 7 cutters ee, &c., 9 inches long and 18 inch broad, sabre shaped, with their points turned backwards, so as to be less liable to be arrested by obstacles on the surface of the ground. Between these cutters are fixed 6 shorter ones f, &c., 3 inches long, having their points turned forwards. This implement, dragged by one horse ridden by a boy, and the stilt held by a man, cuts the frozen snow into stripes of 5 or 6 inches broad, which are easily pulverised by the feet of the sheep, or divided by the snow-plough. The severe snowstorm of 1823 lay on the hills from February to May; and the protracted snow-storms of 1837-8, with repeated falls and alternatioas of frost and thaw, caused the death of many a sheep before and at the lambing season. The snow became so compact in the latter year, that the common snow-plough was unable to penetrate it, and the common harrow to break its glazed surface.

2600. With the view of obviating both these inconveniences, Mr Hepburn contrived the snowharrow described above, and also the snow-plough, of which the following is a description in Mr Hepburn's own words:-" The severity of the winter of 1837-8 in mountain sheep-pasture, led me to attempt the snow-plough, with or without the aid of the snow-harrow, for being applied in such situations. To enable the plough to clear tracks for the sheep along the hill sides, it is necessary it should be made to throw the snow wholly to the lower side. To effect this I caused to be fitted to the plough a, fig. 228-the body of which forms an isoceles triangle whose sides are 7 feet, and its base 6 feet in length, the depth of the sides being 15 inches-a shifting head b c d, with unequal sides; one, b c, being 18 inches, the other, bd, 30 inches long, fixed by iron pins passing through two pairs of eyes as seen at c, attached to the head and to the sides of the plough respectively, so as to bring the point of the attached head of the plough nearly into the line of its upper side, or next the hill.

THE MOUNTAIN TURN-WRIST SNOW-PLOUGH.

stretcher e, either in the line bisecting the angle, as at e, which is the position for level

ground, or in the line, alternately, of either of the sides, b a or b c, when to be used on a declivity. The draught-chain is fixed, not to the shifting head, but to the upright frame-post f, in the nose of the plough, which rises 10 or 12

inches above the mould-boards. When the plough so constructed is to be worked along a declivity, with the left hand towards the hill, the shorter limb of the shifting head is fixed on the left side of the plough, near the point, and the longer limb on the right side, towards the middle; and the stilt being fixed in the left extrestre mity of the cross-bar, nearly in a line with the temporary point, the plough is necessarily drawn in the direction of its left side, so as to throw the snow wholly to the right down the hill.

ON CROSS-PLOUGHING LAND.

2603. Immediately after the sowing of the oats is finished, preparations are made for sowing such of the turnip land with barley as has been made bare by the direct removal of the turnips, or the eating them off by the sheep, after the time for sowing the spring wheat has expired; and the first preparation of the soil for the barley seed is the ploughing it across, or at right angles to the future ridges. This operation I shall describe, not merely in reference to the preparation for the sowing of the barley, but to other operations.

2604. I have already stated in (768,)

with its right side to the hill, the movable head is detached by drawing out the linch-pins, is turned upside down, and fixed in the reverse position; the shorter limb being attached to the right side, and the longer to the left side of the plough, while the stilt is brought to the right extremity of the cross-bar. The plough is then drawn in the direction of the right side, and the snow is thrown wholly to the left, near the lower side. Should the lower side of the plough show a tendency to rise, it may either be held down by a second movable stilt, fixed to the middle e of the cross-bar, or a block of wood, or other ballast weight may be placed on that side of the plough. The plough will be found to remove considerably more than its own depth of snow. When a plough of 1 foot high passes through snow 18 inches or 2 feet deep, very little of the snow falls back into the track, and what does so fall is easily cleared out by the plough in returning."*

2601. In lowland farms the snow remains around the fences long after the middle of the fields are clear. A speedy means of getting rid of the snow is to cut it with the common plough repeatedly. Had I not adopted this expedient in the spring of 1823, the oat-seed would not have been begun for a fortnight later than it did.

2602. In regard to the treatment of sheep on * Prize Essays of the Highland and

cut the furrow-slices into small pieces, so that the land may be the more easily pulverised; and I have also shown that the land is feered and the horses directed for cross

ploughing, in the same manner as for ploughing two-out and two-in; and have indicated the state in which the land is left by that operation-a state in which it would be very improper to leave it all winter (2448.)

2605. The surface of the ground, as left by the sheep on eating the turnips growing on it, is in a smooth state, presenting no clods of earth but numbers of small round stones, when the soil is a dry gravally loam. The larger of these stones should be removed with carts filled by the field-workers before the cross-ploughing is even begun to be feered. These small stones are useful in filling any drain that may be near at hand, or they may be broken in a convenient place for metal to repair a farm road. A plough then starts and feers the ground for cross-ploughing, and the rest of the ploughs cross-plough the land as described in (768.) Agricultural Society, vol. xiii. p. 191.

2606. The reason that the land is crossploughed for barley, and not for spring wheat, after turnips eaten off by sheep, is that wheat thrives best when the soil is somewhat firm, and not too much pulverised-whereas the land cannot be in too pulverised a state for barley; and, besides, if the turnip land were not cross-ploughed after the sheep have left it, their manure would not be sufficiently mingled with the soil, and the consequence would be that the barley would grow irregularly in small stripes, corresponding to the drills that had been manured for the turnip crop.

2607. During the time the land is gradually preparing for the barley seed, as the sheep clear the ground of the turnips, the stubble land, which had been ploughed early in winter, and which is to bear the green crops in the ensuing season, should now be cross-ploughed as opportunity offers, after the oat seed is completely finished upon ploughed lea-land; for in high districts, where barley is not sown, oats are sown on the turnip land after sheep; and, where this is done, the oats are treated in the same manner as

barley. The portion of the stubble land first to be cross-ploughed is for the culture of the potato.

2608. The first thing to be done in preparing any winter-ploughed field for cross-ploughing is to render its surface as free of large clods as possible; and this is effected by harrowing. The winter's frost may have softened the clods of the most obdurate clay-soil, and the mouldboard of the plough may be able to pulverise them fine enough, and the lighter soils may have no clods on them at all; from all which circumstances, it may be regarded as a loss of time to harrow the ground before cross-ploughing it in spring, and, for these reasons, I believe, some farmers do not then practise harrowing; but it appears to me to be the most certain plan of pulverising the soil to harrow it before cross-ploughing the winter furrow; because you cannot be sure that, even in the strongest soil, all the clods have been softened to the heart by frost; and should any happen to be buried by the crossfurrow while still hard, they will not afterwards be so easily pulverised as when lying exposed upon the surface of the

2610. Two pairs of harrows should be set to cross-harrow together, as being the best method of harrowing effectually in all cases; and, when unconfined by ridges in cross-harrowing, will cover at least 16 feet in breadth, and proceeding at the rate of 2 miles per hour, for 9 working hours, will give 19 acres of ground a double tine, without interruptions; but, as much time is lost in turnings, as you have already seen (721,) and as time for taking breath must occasionally be given to the horses, that quantity of land cannot be cross-harrowed a double tine at that rate of travelling; but say that 16 acres are cross-harrowed in the course of a day, a half day's harrowing will make room for a number of ploughs.

2611. If time presses, the feerings for cross-ploughing may be commenced to be formed by one plough almost immediately after the harrows have started; and if the harrows cannot get away before the plough, it should take a bout or two in the first feering, till the harrows have reached the next feering, or the harrows may pass along the line of each feering, preparing each line for the plough, and then return and finish the harrowing of the ground between the lines of feerings. Thus, in fig. 229, after the line of feering e ƒ across the ridges has been harrowed, the plough can either take a bout or two around ef, till the harrows have passed the next line of feering g h; or the harrows can go along each line of

the ploughing of the different feerings, may be proceeded with at the same time. But if the time is not urgent, the systematic mode is to harrow the field across in a continuous manner, beginning along the fence a b from the gate at b, and proceeding by breadths of the harrows across the field till the other side of it c d is reached; or another equally effective mode is to step off feerings from a b, in breadths of 30 yards in succession, across the field towards c d, which has the advantage of giving a wider, and therefore easier turning to the horses at the landings.

2612. Suppose, then, that all or as much of the field to be cross-ploughed has been harrowed as will give room to a single plough to make the feerings without interruption. In choosing the side of the field at which the feerings should commence, it is a convenient rule to begin at the side farthest from the gate, and approach gradually towards it, and the convenience consists in not having to pass the ends of the finished feerings, and thus avoiding the trampling of the ploughed land to get at the unploughed. The convenience of this rule is felt not only in cross-ploughing, but in prosecuting every species of field-work; and besides avoiding the risk of damage to finished work,

it is gratifying to the minds of labourers to think that, as their work proceeds, they approach the nearer home; while it conveys to others the idea of a well-laid plan, to witness the operations of a field which have commenced at its farthest end, and are finished at the gate, where all the implements employed meet, ready to be conveyed to another field. The gate is like home, and in most cases it is placed on that side or corner of the field nearest the steading. In the particular case, however, of the field represented in fig. 229, all these conveniences are not available, owing to the form of the field, which is a very common one; and peculiarities of form involve considerations in regard to conducting field operations of more importance than mere convenience; and one of these considerations is the important one of loss of time. It is always desirable to commence a feering at a straight side of a field, whence but little risk of error can arise in striking off the feerings to include parallel spaces of ground; and where this particular is not attended to, much time is needlessly spent in ploughing a number of irregular pieces of ground. It is better to leave all irregularities of ploughing to the last; and as an irregularity must occur, at all events, along the side of a crooked fence, it is a saving of time to throw the

irregular ploughing to that side. In fig. 229 it so happens that the straighter side of the field is nearest the gate at b, and the crooked fence, c to d, farthest from it. In pursuance of the rule propounded, the feering should begin along the side of the straight fence a b, and terminate in an irregular space along the crooked fence c d. A straight feering could, no doubt, be made at first near c d, leaving irregularities between it and the fence; but the setting off that feering exactly parallel with the straight fence a b, to avoid making another irregularity there, would impose considerable trouble, and take up more time than the advantage would compensate for avoiding the inconvenience of having to pass the ends of the ploughed ground along the side-ridge from d to b.

2613. Let the first feering, then, be made about 7 or 8 yards from the fence a b, or from the ditch-lip of the fence where there is a ditch. Some farmers neglect the head-ridge in the cross-ploughing, and measure the feering from the open furrow between it and the ends of the ridges. I maintain that the headridges should be ploughed at this time, as well as the rest of the field, and if neglected now, the busy seasons of spring and of early summer will prevent attention being paid to them, till, what with the trampling of horses in working the land for green crop, and the probable drought of the weather, they will become so very hard, as to be found impracticable to plough them at all, and they will then be deprived of the ameliorating effects of the sun and air in the best part of the year. Let them, therefore, be included in the cross-ploughing of the field, though they cannot be cross-ploughed themselves.

2614. But if it be desired to plough them with the side-ridges, which form the head-ridges in the cross-ploughing, after the cross-ploughing of the field has been finished, and the side-ridges must be ploughed before the crop, whatever it may be, can be sown upon them, the first feering should then be struck at 7 or 8 yards down the ridges from the side of the head-ridge. Suppose that this line of feering is fe; and as it is executed in the same way as already described in feeringridges in fig. 19, where the furrow-slices

VOL. I.

m n are shown to be thrown out right and left from the lines of feering k l, and on, I refer you to (742.) The next line of feering is h g, fig. 229, at 30 yards' distance from fe, and so on a feering is made at every 30 yards' distance, to the last feering o n. As each feering is formed by the ploughman appointed to make them, the rest of the ploughmen begin the crossploughing at every feering in succession; and should all the feerings have been finished before the ploughs have entered the field, the ploughs can commence the ploughing at once.

2615. The ploughing of the ordinary feerings is all plain work; but a difficulty occurs at the last or irregular feering at on-not that any intricacy is involved in the ploughing of irregular pieces of ground, but the loss of time incurred is considerable. This feering is ploughed like the rest, till the nearest point to the open-furrow of the head-ridge is attained; and if the head-ridges have been included in the feerings, the ploughing proceeds till the ditch-lip or fence is reached by the plough; but if left to be ploughed with the side-ridges, the last feering should be made across the lowest end of the ridges at the head-ridge open-furrow, as on, and the ground included between the openfurrow and the feering should be ploughed out by hieing the horses, with the ordinary furrow above, on, and an interrupted one below it, the plough passing along the head-ridge opposite to s, and leaving it unploughed. This feering will take longer time to plough than any of the rest, in proportion to the quantity of ground turned over.

2616. Had the field been a true rectangle, like the space included within the dotted lines a n t b, the feering might have been struck from either fence, and there would have been no loss of time in ploughing alternate long and short furrows. Scarcely a more instructive estimate can be made of the loss of time occasioned in ploughing land of the same extent than between a field of irregular and regular form.

2617. The distances between the black and dotted lines represent the single, and those between the black and between the dotted lines, double ridges.

2 Q