2618. The furrow given at cross-ploughing is always deep, deeper than the one given at the commencement of winter; and this is easily accomplished, by the land not having had time to consolidate by the labour bestowed upon it, when the plough passes easily under the old furrow, and raises a portion of the soil below it. It is requisite to go deeper to keep the plough steady, otherwise the winter turned-over furrow having in it still much unrotted stubble, would affect its motion and prevent the maintaining of an equal depth of furrow. Cross-ploughing the first furrow in spring is always an unsteady work, the open-furrows presenting no resistance to the plough compared with the land in the centre of the ridge. Perhaps 9 inches may be considered a good average depth in cross-ploughing with a pair of horses.

2619. But means are frequently used at this season to cross-plough with a deeper furrow than can be done by a pair of horses, by employing 3 or 4 horses for the purpose. The third horse is very commonly yoked in front of the furrow horse of the plough, and harnessed in the cart-traces, as represented in the trace-horse of the Plate III, the hooks of the tracechain being passed into a link of the plough-chains, behind the haims, of the rear horse. A simpler plan is adopted by using the plough harness, and lengthening the plough-chains by short-ends, which are short pieces of chain hooked in a similar manner to the trace-chains just described. Neither of these methods, however, will bear a comparison, in point of draught, with the yoking of 3 horses, as represented in fig. 8. I have an objection, however, to this mode of yoking, which is founded, not on its principle, which is faultless, but on account of the inconvenience experienced by the middle horse, which becomes more heated in the work than either of the other two. The inconvenience may not be much felt in early spring work, but at the time the largest proportion of cross-ploughing is executed, or in summer, the middle horse must suffer considerably more than the others, and I have frequently witnessed this in places where 3 horses are still yoked abreast to the harrows. Three horses will take a depth of furrow of 11 or 12 inches, according to the texture and depth of the soil.

2620. A still greater depth may be attained, by yoking 4 horses to a plough, 2 leading and 2 following, the 2 off ones walking in the furrow, and the 2 near ones on the firm land. Two convenient and efficient modes of yoking 4 horses may be seen in figs. 9 and 10. Yoked as in fig. 9, the leading horses are best harnessed, as in the traces of the cart, Plate III; but, as in fig. 10, they are in their usual plough harness, with the exception of the chains, which are made for this particular mode of yoking. The depth reached by a 4-horse plough is, on an average of soils, 14 inches. I have used the 4-horse plough much, and stout, wellmatched horses have never reached less than 14 inches in obdurate subsoils; while in freer soil and substratum, the plough went to 16 inches of perpendicular depth, and the work was most satisfactory.

2621. An ordinary stout plough will answer for 3 horses, and so it may for 4, where no boulder stones are in the land; but where a considerable quantity of 4-horse ploughing is desired to be executed, it is better to have a plough made for the purpose a little stronger than the ordinary 2-horse plough.

2622. In a 3-horse yoke, one man may drive all the horses by means of reins or by the voice, though a boy, to assist the turning of the leading horse, will save as much time as will compensate for his wages. Where 3 horses are yoked abreast, one man may as easily manage the three as two. In the case of 4 horses, one of the ploughmen drives the horses, and this with the whip instead of the reins, though the near leader should have reins, and the other ploughman holds the plough.

2623. Deep-ploughing is well executed by two 2-horse ploughs following one another in the same furrow; and when the substratum is free, this is a good way of stirring up the soil to the moderate depth of 10 or even 12 inches.

2624. The 3 and 4 horse ploughs should not be inconsiderately employed in crossploughing in spring, because either mode of ploughing occupying a considerably longer time with the same number of ploughs, and employing more horses than

ordinary ploughing, cannot be prudently employed on land which is immediately to be occupied by an early spring crop, such as beans, though the time in which turnips and fallow, and perhaps potatoes, when cultivated to a limited extent, are respectively finished, will afford sufficient leisure to have the land for them deeply crossploughed in the best manner.

2625. Deep cross-ploughing with a 3 or 4 horse plough should not be confounded with trench-ploughing, which only deserves the name when a 2-horse plough goes before and turns over a furrow-slice, and in the bottom of which the 4 horse plough follows and goes as deep as it can.

deep-ploughing the 4 horse plough goes as deep as it can of itself; and it is rare that it meddles with the subsoil, but, on the contrary, it is the special object of trenchploughing to disturb the subsoil.

ON RIBBING LAND FOR THE SEED FURROW.

is exactly similar in construction to the common plough, fig. 2, but in such smaller dimensions and lightness as a single horse can work it with ease. A single swing-bar attached to the bridle is all the means of attachment required for the use of the horse. To afford the stilts the means of resisting any cross-strain upon them, an iron rod is fixed at one end to the inside of the landside of the plough, and on being brought diagonally across the stilts, is fastened at the other end to the right hand or little stilt, a little below the handle. The other parts of the implement require no particular description.

2628. Of the two modes of making single drills, that made by this plough is necessarily restricted to the one which lays the furrow-slices towards the unploughed ground, (2388;) because the ribs being necessarily narrow, were clods and stones to fall into the hollows, which the other method would inevitably cause, the purpose of the ribs forming a kindly seed-bed would in a great measure be frustrated. The ribs with great pains can be formed as narrow

as 9 inches, and by careless ploughmen they extend as wide as 14 inches, so that 12 inches may be considered a good medium width. They are always formed on the land after it has been ridged, being only used for the seed-furrowing. The best width of feering for making them is 2 ridges, beginning on the furrow-brow and laying the furrow slice into the middle of the open furrow between the two ridges, returning by the same furrow to the headridge whence the feering was begun; and by hieing the horses round this feering, the furrow-slices will be laid towards the firm land. By laying the furrow-slice into the open furrow, the seed is kept out of it, and retained upon the best parts of the ridges. Ribs are thus formed on the entire length of the ridges. Supposing the ribs 12 inches asunder, there will just be 30 ribs in every feering of 2 ridges of 15 feet each.

2629. The object of making these ribs is this; when heavy rain happens to fall between the ploughing of the seed-furrow and the sowing of the barley, the land may

be so much wetted as to have become too consolidated for barley seed; and were it ploughed again in the ordinary way, a tough heavy clod might be brought up which would be difficult to reduce at that season, particularly if drought followed the recent ploughing immediately. Instead of disturbing this waxy ground, it is better to rib the land for the seed with the small plough, which, only stirring the upper surface to the depth of 3 inches or so, a sufficient mould is at once afforded to bury the seed, and that is all that is wanted at the time, the land having been sufficiently ploughed before. A couple of these ploughs will soon form a considerable extent of ground with ribs.

2630. As the small plough only makes one rib at a landing, and as only two small ploughs are to be found on most farms, and as it may be desirable, in some seasons, to rib a considerable extent of ground in a short time, an implement that will do more work in the same time, and in the same manner, should be preferable to the small plough. Such an implement may be found in the ribbing coulters, fig. 231, which is drawn by one horse, and Fig. 231.

makes 5 drills at a time, of a sufficient depth to cover the seed. It consists of a frame a a, bearing 5 coulters bbc cc, which operate on the surface soil exactly as the double mould-board plough, dividing it with small mould-boards, into a narrow furrow of mould on each side. Two coulters bb, are placed in the foremost part of the frame, and three c c c, in the hindmost part, at intermediate distances, and forming 5 drills, embracing four spaces of 12 inches each in width. The horse is attached by the hooks of the plough chains to the eyes at d d, in the bar d d, which is fastened to the frame a a by the chains e e, which are 2 feet long, and, by their weight, together with that of the bar dd, give steadiness to the draught. The implement might be rendered more important if requisite, by attaching two horses to it by a shackle at f, to the swing-trees of the common harrows; and the framing might also be mounted on an axle and wheels.

ON THE SOWING OF GRASS-SEEDS.

2631. Any time after the beginning of March, when the weather is dry, and is likely to continue so, grass-seeds may be

sown.

2632. They are sown in company with another crop, never by themselves, except for a particular purpose, such as the laying down of a lawn to grass; and the crops they invariably accompany are cereal ones.

2633. The grass-seeds sown among one and all of these crops are the same, and they are few in number. They consist of red clover, Trifolium pratense, white clover, Trifolium repens, rye-grass, Lolium perenne, and sometimes, on light soils, the yellow clover, Medicago lupulina.

2634. These, in common parlance, are called the artificial grasses, because they are sown every year like any other crop of the farm, whereas the other grasses occur in a state of nature, and are permanent.

2635. The quantities of these sown vary but little over the country, and never vary on the same farm. It is considered that 12 lbs. per acre of clover-seeds are

sufficient. The seeds are proportioned according as the grasses are to remain for one year or longer. When longer than one year, the proportion is from 6 lbs. to 8 lbs. of red clover, 4 lbs. of white clover, and 2 lbs. of yellow clover, when that is sown, per acre. One bushel of rye-grass per acre is sufficient for all purposes. When only one year, the proportion is 10 lbs. of red clover and 2 lbs. of white.

2636. The plants possess different properties. The red or English clover has a red flower, as its name indicates, the spikes of which are dense, globular, and slightly elongated, leaves three lobed hence its generic name-habit of growth upright and branching, stem and leaves juicy, and root subfusiform. The plant flowers in June and July. It is an annual if sown by itself, but when sown with a cereal crop it is biennial, and comes into use in the second year of its existence. The plant grows to a height of 2 feet or more, affords a forage much relished by all sorts of stock; is generally cut twice, and, in favourable seasons, three times, and yields a heavy crop of hay, which is highly nourishing. The aftermath of the hay forms excellent pasturage in autumn. The plant only yields a crop for one year, and then dies.

2637. The white or Dutch clover is a name also derived from the colour of the flower, which is white, tinged with light pink. The flower is globular, surmounting an upright stalk, destitute of leaves. The leaves are small and three lobed, growing in creeping stems rooting at the joints, producing a thick close covering on the ground. The plant flowers from June to autumn. It makes but little appearance in the same year as the red clover, but is conspicuous the year after, makes a valuable pasture grass, and is peren

nial.

2638. The flower of the yellow clover, as its name also indicates, is yellow and small, and very prolific of seed, which is, consequently, sold much cheaper than the seeds of the plants mentioned above; and I suspect this circumstance, more than any other, induces farmers to cultivate it; for although the crop is rather bulky, its stems are so hard and wiry that both cattle and

sheep are not fond of it, either in a green or dry state, and only eat it when mixed with better fare.

2639. The rye- grass may be divided into two varieties, which are chosen for sowing according to the nature of the husbandry. If the grass is to remain only one year in the ground, the common variety is sown, which can only be depended upon to exist one year after the cereal crop has been removed, and thereby becoming a biennial, as the red clover does. When the grasses remain for a longer period than one year, the perennial variety is chosen, of which there are many sub-varieties. The seed of all the varieties of rye-grasses is light in the hand, because it is coated with two-valved paleæ, which adhere firmly to it when ripe.

2640. The seed of the red clover, when grown in England, is large, full, glossy, and of bold purple colour; weighs 64 lbs. per bushel, affords 2000 grains to 1 drachm weight, and sells from 56s. to 75s. per cwt. The red clover seed of Holland is large, not well filled, with a yellow tinge along with the purple, indicative of humidity of climate. The seeds of French red clover are small, plump, and highly purple.

2641. The seeds of the white clover are very small, and of a rich golden yellow colour. They weigh 65 lbs. a bushel, sell at 56s. to 75s. per cwt. and afford 4000 grains to 1 drachm weight.

2642. The seeds of the yellow clover are large, and of dull greenish yellow colour. They weigh 64 lbs. a bushel, sell at from 18s. to 28s. per cwt, and afford 2600 grains to 1 drachm weight.

2643. Of the seed of the rye-grasses, that of the annual weighs 30 lbs. a bushel, sells for 20s. to 28s. a quarter, and affords 1712 grains to the drachm weight. The perennial rye-grass seed weighs 18 lbs. a bushel, sells from 248. to 288. a quarter, and affords 2000 grains to the drachm weight.

2644. Other seeds have been recommended to be sown alongst with these, to suit the purposes for which the future

grass is intended. Among these is the Italian rye-grass, Lolium Italicum, which, possessing the valuable properties of celerity of growth and sweetness of taste, is well deserving of cultivation; but its remarkable quickness of growth renders it inconvenient to sow amongst grain. The great disparity between its period of growth and that of the grains, as also that of the other grass seeds usually sown, indicates that it should be cultivated by itself, although its growth is checked when sown with grain. It places itself rather among the forage plants, such as tares and rape, than the hay and pasture plants.

2645. In the case of grass of one year's duration, there is not much room for improvement in the proportions of the seeds given above; but as regards pastures of more than one year's standing, a greater variety of seeds might be introduced with advantage. On this subject Mr Lawson makes these suggestions. "For 3 years' pasture on good soils," he says, "the substitution of 2 lbs. of Dactylis glomerata, the common rough cock's-foot, for about 3 lbs. of the perennial rye-grass, will be found advantageous; while in sheep pastures the addition of 1 lb. per acre of parsley-seed, Petroselinum satirum, would also be attended with good results; and in certain upland districts, established practice will point out the introduction of 2 lbs. or 3 lbs. of rib-grass, Plantago lanceolata. In proportion to the retentiveness of heavy soils, as well as for those of a peaty nature, Phleum pratense, the meadow cat's-tail, should be added, to the extent of 24 lbs. to 34 lbs. per acre." The improvement of pasture of 2 or 3 years' standing, not permanent pastures, has received less attention from farmers than it deserves. Had Italian rye-grass been a perennial, it would have formed a valuable ingredient in all such pastures, both for sheep and cattle. Sheep are remarkably fond of parsley, and will not allow it to run to seed, but I suspect it is only a biennial.

2646. The grass-seeds when sown amongst the cereal grains are not sown separately, but mixed together. Having weighed the respective quantities of seed required

for the size of the particular field to be sown, they are mixed in this manner upon the floor of the corn-barn. The ryegrass seed is laid on the floor in a heap, which is made flat on the top to receive the clover seeds to be mixed with it. The red clover, being the larger sized seed, is put on first, and spread over the top of the rye-grass; and the white clover is poured over the red. The entire heap is then turned over in the manner described for pickling wheat (2309,) with 2 barnshovels, fig. 166. The turning is repeated until the seeds, on being examined, appear well mixed. Although the clover-seeds are much heavier than the rye-grass, they do not fall through it to the bottom of the heap, on account of their smallness, which enables them to lie between the two valves of the palece of the rye-grass seed. The mixture is put into sacks, and taken to, and set down upon one of the head-ridges of the field to be sown.

2647. Grass-seeds are sown by hand and with machines. The hand sowing is now confined to small farms, while on the larger ones the grass-seed sowing-machine is universally used. The sowing of grassseeds by the hand is a simple process, although it requires activity to do it well. The sower is equipped, as represented in fig. 202, and a carrier of the seed provided with a rusky, fig. 201, accompanies him, and he proceeds to sow, by grasping the mixed seeds between the fore and middle fingers and the thumb, instead of the whole hand, and makes the cast and steps exactly in the manner described for sowing corn in (2319.) Clover and ryegrass seeds being so very different in form and weight, it is not possible to cast them from the hand as that both shall alight on the same spot. The sower has little control over the rye-grass seed, the least breath of wind taking it wherever it may, and the heavy clover leaves it to its fate; and this is the case even in the calmest state of the air. His object is to cast the heavy clover seed equally over the surface, and, as its smallness prevents it being seen to alight on the ground, it is the more necessary for the sower to preserve the strictest regularity in his motions. In windy weather, the clover may be cast with pretty