as of a fig. 46, with no bank such as b near it, but having the ditch c before it as a fence to the hedge, with a paling on its lip. If a stone wall is built in such a situation, there seems no use at all of the hedge as a fence, and if a turf one, then surely thorns will thrive much better with a bank of earth behind them, such as b, than at the bottom of a turf wall.

(637.) On considering the condition of this country and the state in which the fences are usually kept, it must be admitted that the plan of fencing the land is generally good; but, in regard to the state of the fences, it is not so well as might be. 1. With regard to the extent of fencing, the low country is sufficiently, and, in many places, too densely fenced, too much ground being occupied, to the detriment of the crops growing within them. A slight glance at the small enclosures of England will convince you of this, though the smallest enclosures are perhaps mostly occupied by meadows of permanent grass. In the north of Ireland, too, the enclosures are too small, though there the universal practice of small holdings better justify the prevalence of small enclosures. 2. The upland districts, on the other hand, are very deficient of enclosures throughout the kingdom. Most of the hill-farms have even no march-fences, the marches being marked out by natural objects, such as the water-shed point of a hill, the course of a rivulet, a ravine, or even cairns of stones. The great desideratum, however, in such farms is shelter, which cannot be afforded by any single fence in such situations. The shelter of upland districts can hardly be accomplished but on a scale that would render it of national importance; for the attempt on a comparatively small property would confer as much benefit on the property on each side of it as on itself, and the proprietor of a large estate would not incur the great expense of sheltering the whole of it. It would be desirable were proprietors of upland districts to have a mutual understanding on this subject, because plans could then be adopted which would have the effect of sheltering a great extent of country at comparatively insignificant cost. Were extensive surveys taken of the lie of alpine country, by engineers well acquainted with the prevailing winds there, and competent to suggest line fences, which would be sure to check their course, much good might be derived by live-stock; and no class of engineers could take so comprehensive a view of the subject as those engaged in the trigonometrical survey of the country.* 3. When the thorn-fences of the country are examined, we shall not find them always in a creditable state. One is allowed to grow in a rambling state, carrying a heavy head and exposing bare stems near the ground; another is far advanced in old age, and about to decay for ever; a third is entirely covered with lichens and mosses; a fourth is full of gaps, which are filled up with slabs, paling, or loose stones; a fifth is occasionally overflown with water, which gets leave to pass off of its own accord, and which it can seldom do in winter before another flood overtakes it; a sixth is completely overgrown with every weed that gets leave to shed its seeds for miles around; a seventh is almost overcome with wild plants, which have usurped the place of the thorns; such as the whin, the sloe, the crab-apple, the elder, the hazel, the mountain-ash, the holly, besides saplings and seedlings of forest trees; an eighth is so hacked and hewed with the hatchet that a greater part is a long time of recovering the butchery, whilst

* On the utility of shelter on the great scale, see Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. x. p. 199-vol. xi. p. 320-and vol. xii. pp. 37 and 231.

others have died in consequence of the rain descending the split stems and rotting the roots; a ninth is so overlaid with plashing, that the already half-amputated stems die in a short time; a tenth is suspended by the principal root, after the earth has been washed away from it into the ditch; an eleventh has been cut over too high up, where it has put out innumerable twigs, whilst the stems below are quite bare; and the twelfth, the round dozen, has been so shaken at the roots, when left exposed for want of water-tabling, in consequence of the wind acting on them, by the leverage of its high stems, that after it has been cut down it dies for want of power to push out new stems. Such are the indignities to which thorn-hedges are subjected.

(638.) In conclusion on this part of the subject of hedges, no thorn-hedge ought to be switched or cut over in winter, for reasons that will be given in spring.

25. OF THE PLOUGH.

"Howsoever any plough be made or fashioned, so it be well tempered, it may the better be suffered."

FITZHERBERT.

(639.) The plough serves the same purpose to the farmer as the spade to the gardener, both being used to turn over the soil; and the object of doing this is, that this form of operation is the only means known of obtaining such a command over the soil as to render it friable and enclose manure within it, so that the seeds sown into it may grow into a crop of the greatest perfection.

(640.) The spade is an implement so simple in construction, that there seems but one way of using it, whatever peculiarity of form it may receive, namely, that of pushing its mouth or blade into the ground with the foot, lifting up as much earth with it as it can carry, and then inverting it so completely as to put the upper part of the earth undermost. This operation, called digging, may be done in the most perfect manner; and any attempt at improving it, in so far as its uniformly favourable results are concerned, seems unnecessary. Hitherto it has only been used by the hand, no means having yet been devised to apply greater power than human strength to wield it. It is thus an instrument which is entirely under man's personal controul.

(641.) The effect attempted to be produced on the soil by the plough is an exact imitation of the work of the spade. From the circumstance, however, of the plough being too large and heavy an implement to be wielded by the hand, it is not so entirely under man's controul as the spade. To wield it as it should be, he is obliged to call in the aid of

horses, which, though not capable of wielding it personally, as man does the spade, can, nevertheless, through the means of appropriate appliances, such as harness, do so pretty effectually. It is thus not so much man himself as the horses which he employs that turn over the ground with the plough, they, in a great measure, becoming his substitutes in performing that operation; and they are so far his superiors, that they can turn over a greater quantity of soil with the plough in a given time than he can with the spade. Man, however, has this advantage over horses in turning over the soil, that he can do it well with a very simple instrument, the spade; whereas horses require an instrument of more complex structure-the plough-to perform the same sort of work not so well; and the reason is this, that although the spade is really a very simple instrument, the act of digging with it is not a simple operation, but requires every muscle of the body to be put into action, so that any machine that can imitate work that has called into requisition all the muscles of the body, must have a complex structure. This would be the case, even were such a machine always fixed to the same spot, and, for such a purpose, there is little difficulty in practical mechanics in imitating the work of man's hands, by complicated machinery; but it is not so simple a problem in practical mechanics, as it at first sight may appear, to construct a light, strong, durable, convenient instrument, which is easily moved about, and which, at the same time, though complex in its structure, operates by a simple action; and yet the modern plough is an instrument possessing all these properties in an eminent degree.

(642.) The common plough used in Scotland is made either wholly of iron, or partly of wood and partly of iron. Until a few years ago it was universally made both of wood and iron, but now it is generally made entirely of iron. A wooden plough seems a clumsier instrument than an iron one, though it is somewhat lighter. The plough is now made wholly of iron, partly from the circumstance of its withstanding the vicissitudes of weather better than wood; and, however old, iron is always worth something; and partly because good ash timber, of which ploughs were usually made, is now become so scarce in many parts of the country, that it fetches the large price of 3s. per cubic foot; whereas iron is now becoming more abundant and cheap (204.), being no more than L.14 per ton for common cast goods, and from L.10 to L.18 per ton for malleable iron. A wooden plough with iron mountings usually weighs 13 stones imperial, and an iron one for the same work 15 stones. The cost of a wooden one is L.3, 16s., capable of being serviceable, with repairs, for the currency of a lease of 19 years; that of an iron one L.4, 4s., which will last a lifetime, or at least many years. Some farmers, how

ever, still prefer the wooden one, alleging that it goes more steadily than the iron. Whatever of prejudice there may be in this predilection for the wooden plough, it must be owned that the iron one executes its work in a satisfactory manner. There is, I believe, no great difference of economy in the use of the two kinds of ploughs.

(643.) The plough, as it is now made, consists of a number of parts, which are particularly described below at (667), fig. 48, and to which you should immediately refer, in order to become acquainted with them. How well soever these different parts may be put together, if they are not all tempered, as it is termed, to one another, that is, if any part has more to do than its own share of the work, the entire implement will go unsteadily. It can be easily ascertained whether a plough goes steadily or not, and the fact is thus practically ascertained; and its rationale will be found below.

(644.) On taking hold of a plough by the handles with both hands, while the horses are drawing it through the land, if it have a constant tendency to go deeper into the soil than the depth of the furrow-slice previously determined on, it is then not going steadily. The remedy for this error is twofold, namely, either to press harder upon the stilts with the hands, and, by their power as levers, bring the sock nearer the surface of the ground, and this is called "steeping;" or to effect the same thing in another way, is to put the draught-bolt of the bridle a little nearer the ground, and this is called giving the plough "less The pressure upon the handles or stilts should first be tried, as being the most ready remedy at your command; but should it eventually fail of effecting the purpose, or the holding the stilts so be too severe upon your arms, the draught-bolt should be lowered as much as required. But should both these attempts at amendment fail, then there must be some error in another part of the plough. On examining the sock, or share, its point may possibly be found to dip too much below the line of the sole, which will produce in it a tendency to go deeper than it should. This error in the sock can only be rectified at the smithy.

earth."

(645.) Again, the plough may have an opposite tendency, that is, a tendency to come out of the ground. This tendency cannot well be counteracted by the opposite method of supporting the stilts upwards with the arms, because in this condition of body you cannot walk steadily, having no support for yourself, but rather affording support to the plough. It is for this reason, that a very short man can scarcely hold a plough steady enough at any time; and hence such a man does not make a desirable ploughman. The draught-bolt should, in the first instance,

be placed farther from the ground, and in so doing, the plough is said to get "more earth." Should this alteration of the point of draught not effect the purpose, the point of the sock will probably be found to rise above the line of the sole, and must therefore be brought down to its proper level and position by the smith (699.)

(646.) You may find it difficult to make the plough turn over a furrow-slice of the breadth you desire. This tendency is obviated by moving the draught-bolt a little to the right; but in case the tendency arise from some casual circumstance under ground, such as collision against a small stone, or a piece of unusually hard ground, it may be overcome by leaning the plough a little over to the right, until the obstruction is passed. These expedients are said to give the plough "more land.”

(647.) The tendency of the plough, however, may be quite the opposite from this, it may incline to take a slice broader than you want; in which case, for permanent work, the draught-bolt should be put a little farther to the left, and for a temporary purpose the plough may be leaned a little over to the left, and which are said to give the plough "less land." (648.) These are the ordinary instances of unsteadiness in the going of ploughs; and though they have been narrated singly, two of them may combine to produce the same result, such as the tendency to go deeper or come out with that of a narrower or broader furrow-slice. The remedy should first be tried to correct the most obvious of the errors; but both remedies may be tried at the same time, if you apprehend a compound error.

(649.) Some ploughmen habitually make the plough lean a little over to the left, thus giving it in effect less land than it would have, were it made to move upon the flat of the sole; and to overcome the consequent tendency of the plough to make a narrower furrow-slice than the proper breadth, they move the draught-bolt a little to the right. The plough. ing with a considerable lean to the left is a bad custom, because it makes the lowest side of the furrow-slice, when turned over, thinner than the upper side, which is exposed to view, thereby deluding you into the belief that the land has all been ploughed of equal depth; and it causes the horses to bear a lighter draught than those which have turned over as much land in the same time, with a more equal and therefore deeper furrow-slice. Old ploughmen, becoming infirm, are very apt to practise this deceptive mode of ploughing. The plough should always move flat upon its sole, and turn over a rectangular furrow-slice; but there are certain exceptions to this rule, depending on the peculiar construction of parts of certain forms of ploughs, which will be pointed out to you afterwards.

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