Horse-hoeing Husbandry

The chief Art of an Husbandman is to feed Plants to the best Advantage; but how shall he do that, unless he knows what is their Food? By Food is meant that Matter, which, being added and united to the first Stamina of Plants, or Plantulæ, which were made in little at the Creation, gives them, or rather is their Increase.

’Tis agreed, that all the following Materials contribute, in some manner, to the Increase of Plants; but ’tis disputed which of them is that very Increase or Food. 1. Nitre. 2. Water. 3. Air. 4. Fire. 5. Earth.

I will not mention, as a Food, that acid Spirit of the Air, so much talk’d of; since by its eating asunder Iron Bars it appears too much of the Nature of Aqua Fortis, to be a welcome Guest alone to the tender Vessels of the Roots of Plants.

Nitre is useful to divide and prepare the Food, and may be said to nourish Vegetables in much the same Manner as my Knife nourishes me, by cutting and dividing my Meat: But when Nitre is apply’d to the Root of a Plant, it will kill it as certainly as a Knife misapply’d will kill a Man: Which proves, that Nitre is, in respect of Nourishment, just as much the Food of Plants, as White Arsenick is the Food of Rats. And the same may be said of Salts.

Water, from Van-Helmont’s Experiment, was by some great Philosophers thought to be it. But these were deceived, in not observing, that Water has always in its Intervals a Charge of Earth, from which no Art can free it. This Hypothesis having been fully confuted by Dr. Woodward, no body has, that I know of, maintain’d it since: And to the Doctor’s Arguments I shall add more in the Article of Air.

Air, because its Spring, &c. is as necessary to the Life of Vegetables, as the Vehicle of Water is; some modern Virtuosi have affirm’d, from the same and worse Arguments than those of the Water-Philosophers, that Air is the Food of Plants. Mr. Bradley being the chief, if not only Author, who has publish’d this Phantasy, which at present seems to get Ground, ’tis fit he should be answer’d: And this will be easily done, if I can shew, that he has answer’d this his own Opinion, by some or all of his own Arguments.

His first is, that of Helmont, and is thus related in Mr. Bradley’s general Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening, Vol. I. p. 36. ‘Who dry’d Two hundred Pounds of Earth, and planted a Willow of Five Pounds Weight in it, which he water’d with Rain, or distill’d Water; and to secure it from any other Earth getting in, he covered it with a perforated Tin Cover. Five Years after, weighing the Tree, with all the Leaves it had borne in that Time, he found it to weigh One hundred Sixty-nine Pounds Three Ounces; but the Earth was only diminish’d about two Ounces in its Weight.’

On this Experiment Mr. Bradley grounds his Airy Hypothesis. But let it be but examined fairly, and see what may be thence inferr’d.

The Tin Cover was to prevent any other Earth from getting in. This must also prevent any Earth from getting out, except what enter’d the Roots, and by them pass’d into the Tree.

A Willow is a very thirsty Tree, and must have drank in Five Years time several Tuns of Water, which must necessarily carry in its Interstices a great Quantity of Earth (probably many times more than the Tree’s[5] Weight, which could not get out, but by the Roots of the Willow.

Therefore the Two hundred Pounds of Earth not being increased, proves that so much Earth as was poured in with the Water, did enter the Tree.

Whether the Earth did enter to nourish the Tree, or whether only in order to pass through it (by way of Vehicle to the Air), and leave the Air behind for the Augment of the Willow, may appear by examining the Matter of which the Tree did consist.

If the Matter remaining after the Corruption or Putrefaction of the Tree be Earth, will it not be a Proof, that the Earth remained in it, to nourish and augment it? for it could not leave what it did not first take, nor be augmented by what pass’d through it. According to Aristotle’s Doctrine, and Mr. Bradley’s too, in Vol. I. pag. 72. “Putrefaction resolves it again into Earth, its first Principle.”

The Weight of the Tree, even when green, must consist of Earth and Water. Air could be no Part of it, because Air being of no greater specific Gravity than the incumbent Atmosphere, could not be of any Weight in it; therefore was no Part of the One hundred Sixty-nine Pounds Three Ounces.

Nature has directed Animals and Vegetables to seek what is most necessary to them. At the Time when the Fœtus has a Necessity of Respiration, ’tis brought forth into the open Air, and then the Lungs are filled with Air. As soon as a Calf, Lamb, &c. is able to stand, it applies to the Teat for Food, without any Teaching. In like manner Mr. Bradley remarks, in his Vol. I. pag. 10. ‘That almost every Stem and every Root are formed in a bending manner under Ground; and yet all these Stems become strait and upright when they come above-ground, and meet the Air; and most Roots run as directly downwards, and shun the Air as much as possible.’

Can any thing more plainly shew the Intent of Nature, than this his Remark does? viz. That the Air is most necessary to the Tree above ground, to purify the Sap by the Leaves, as the Blood of Animals is depurated by their Lungs: And that Roots seek the Earth for their Food, and shun the Air, which would dry up and destroy them.

No one Truth can possibly contradict or interfere with any other Truth; but one Error may contradict and interfere with another Error, viz.

Mr. Bradley, and all Authors, I think, are of Opinion, that Plants of different Natures are fed by a different Sort of Nourishment; from whence they aver, that a Crop of Wheat takes up all that is peculiar to that Grain; then a Crop of Barley all that is proper to it; next a Crop of Pease, and so on, ’till each has drawn off all those Particles which are proper to it; and then no more of these Grains will grow in that Land, till by Fallow, Dung, and Influences of the Heavens, the Earth will be again replenish’d with new Nourishment, to supply the same Sorts of Corn over again. This, if true (as they all affirm it to be), would prove, that the Air is not the Food of Vegetables. For the Air being in itself so homogeneous as it is, could never afford such different Matter as they imagine; neither is it probable, that the Air should afford the Wheat Nourishment more one Year, than the ensuing Year; or that the same Year it should nourish Barley in one Field, Wheat in another, Pease in a Third; but that if Barley were sown in the Third, Wheat in the First, Pease in the Second, all would fail: Therefore this Hypothesis of Air for Food interferes with, and contradicts this Doctrine of Necessity of changing Sorts.

I suppose, by Air, they do not mean dry Particles of Earth, and the Effluvia which float in the Air: The Quantity of these is too small to augment Vegetables to that Bulk they arrive at. By that way of speaking they might more truly affirm this of Water, because it must be like to carry a greater Quantity of Earth than Air doth, in proportion to the Difference of their different specific Weight; Water, being about 800 times heavier than Air, is likely to have 800 times more of that terrestrial Matter in it; and we see this is sufficient to maintain some Sort of Vegetables, as Aquatics; but the Air, by its Charge of Effluvia, &c. is never able to maintain or nourish any Plant; for as to the Sedums, Aloes, and all others, that are supposed to grow suspended in the Air, ’tis a mere Fallacy; they seem to grow, but do not; since they constantly grow lighter; and tho’ their Vessels may be somewhat distended by the Ferment of their own Juices which they received in the Earth, yet suspended in Air, they continually diminish in Weight (which is the true Argument of a Plant) until they grow to nothing. So that this Instance of Sedums, &c. which they pretend to bring for Proof of this their Hypothesis, is alone a full Confutation of it.

Yet if granted, that Air could nourish some Vegetables by the earthy Effluvia, &c. which it carry’d with it[6]; even that would be against them, not for them.

They might as well believe, that Martins and Swallows are nourish’d by the Air, because they live on Flies and Gnats, which they catch therein; this being the same Food, which is found in the Stomach of the Chameleon.

If, as they say, the Earth is of little other Use to Plants, but to keep them fix’d and steady, there would be little or no Difference in the Value of rich and poor Land, dung’d or undung’d; for one would serve to keep Plants fix’d and steady, very near, if not quite as well as the other.

If Water or Air was the Food of Plants, I cannot see what Necessity there should be of Dung or Tillage.

4. Fire. No Plant can live without Heat, tho’ different Degrees of it be necessary to different Sorts of Plants. Some are almost able to keep Company with the Salamander, and do live in the hottest Exposures of the hot Countries. Others have their Abode with Fishes under Water, in cold Climates: for the Sun has his Influence, tho’ weaker, upon the Earth cover’d with Water, at a considerable Depth; which appears by the Effect the Vicissitudes of Winter and Summer have upon subterraqueous Vegetables.

Tho’ every Heat is said to be a different Degree of Fire; yet we may distinguish the Degrees by their different Effects. Heat warms; but Fire burns: The first helps to cherish, the latter destroys Plants.

5. Earth. That which nourishes and augments a Plant is the true Food of it.

Every Plant is Earth, and the Growth and true Increase of a Plant is the Addition of more Earth.

Nitre (or other Salts) prepares the Earth, Water and Air move it, by conveying and fermenting it in the Juices; and this Motion is called Heat.

When this additional Earth is assimilated to the Plant, it becomes an absolute Part of it.

Suppose Water, Air, and Heat, could be taken away, would it not remain to be a Plant, tho’ a dead one?

But suppose the Earth of it taken away, what would then become of the Plant? Mr. Bradley might look long enough after it, before he found it in the Air among his specific or certain Qualities.

Besides, too much Nitre (or other Salts) corrodes a Plant; too much Water drowns it; too much Air dries the Roots of it; too much Heat (or Fire) burns it; but too much Earth a Plant never can have, unless it be therein wholly buried; and in that Case it would be equally misapply’d to the Body, as Air or Nitre would be to the Roots.

Too much Earth, or too fine, can never possibly be given to Roots; for they never receive so much of it as to surfeit the Plants, unless it be depriv’d of Leaves, which, as Lungs, should purify it.

And Earth is so surely the Food of all Plants, that with the proper Share of the other Elements, which each Species of Plants requires, I do not find but that any common Earth will nourish any Plant.

The only Difference of Soil[7] (except the Richness) seems to be the different Heat and Moisture it has; for if those be rightly adjusted, any Soil will nourish any Sort of Plant; for let Thyme and Rushes change Places, and both will die; but let them change their Soil, by removing the Earth wherein the Thyme grew, from the dry Hill down into the watry Bottom, and plant Rushes therein; and carry the moist Earth, wherein the Rushes grew, up to the Hill; and there Thyme will grow in the Earth that was taken from the Rushes; and so will the Rushes grow in the Earth that was taken from the Thyme; so that ’tis only more or less Water that makes the same Earth fit either for the Growth of Thyme or Rushes.

So for Heat; our Earth, when it has in the Stove the just Degree of Heat that each Sort of Plants requires, will maintain Plants brought from both the Indies.

Plants differ as much from one another in the Degrees of Heat and Moisture they require, as a Fish differs from a Salamander.

Indeed Misletoe, and some other Plants, will not live upon Earth, until it be first alter’d by the Vessels of another Plant or Tree, upon which they grow, and therein are as nice in Food as an Animal.

There is no need to have Recourse to Transmutation; for whether Air or Water, or both, are transform’d into Earth or not, the thing is the same, if it be Earth when the Roots take it; and we are convinced that neither Air nor Water alone, as such, will maintain Plants.

These kind of Metamorphoses may properly enough be consider’d in Dissertations purely concerning Matter, and to discover what the component Particles of Earth are; but not at all necessary to be known, in relation to the maintaining of Vegetables.

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All Sorts of Dung and Compost contain some Matter, which, when mixt with the Soil, ferments therein; and by such Ferment dissolves, crumbles, and divides the Earth very much: This is the chief, and almost only Use of Dung: For, as to the pure earthy Part, the Quantity is so very small, that, after a perfect Putrefaction, it appears to bear a most inconsiderable Proportion to the Soil it is design’d to manure: and therefore, in that respect, is next to nothing.

Its fermenting Quality is chiefly owing to the Salts wherewith it abounds; but a very little of this Salt applied alone to a few Roots of almost any Plant, will (as, in my Mint Experiments, it is evident common Salt does) kill it.

This proves, that its Use is not to nourish, but to dissolve; i. e. Divide the terrestrial Matter, which affords Nutriment to the Mouths of Vegetable Roots.

It is, I suppose, upon the Account of the acrimonious fiery Nature of these Salts, that the Florists have banish’d Dung from their Flower-Gardens.

And there is, I’m sure, much more Reason to prohibit the Use of Dung in the Kitchen-Garden, on Account of the ill Taste it gives to esculent Roots and Plants, especially such Dung as is made in great Towns.

’Tis a Wonder how delicate Palates can dispense with eating their own and their Beasts Ordure, but a little more putrefied and evaporated; together with all Sorts of Filth and Nastiness, a Tincture of which those Roots must unavoidably receive, that grow amongst it.

Indeed I do not admire, that learned Palates, accustom’d to the Goût of Silphium, Garlick, la Chair venee, and mortify’d Venison, equalling the Stench and Rankness of this Sort of City-Muck, should relish and approve of Plants that are fed and fatted by its immediate Contact.

People who are so vulgarly nice, as to nauseate these modish Dainties, and whose squeamish Stomachs even abhor to receive the Food of Nobles, so little different from that wherewith they regale their richest Gardens, say that even the very Water, wherein a rich Garden Cabbage is boil’d, stinks; but that the Water, wherein a Cabbage from a poor undung’d Field is boil’d, has no Manner of unpleasant Savour; and that a Carrot, bred in a Dunghill, has none of that sweet Relish, which a Field-Carrot affords.

There is a like Difference in all Roots, nourish’d with such different Diet.

Dung not only spoils the fine Flavour of these our Eatables, but inquinates good Liquor. The dung’d Vineyards in Languedoc produce nauseous Wine; from whence there is a Proverb in that Country, That poor People’s Wine is best, because they carry no Dung to their Vineyards.

Dung is observ’d to give great Encouragement to the Production of Worms; and Carrots in the Garden are much worm-eaten, when those in the Field are free from Worms.

Dung is the Putrefaction of Earth, after it has been alter’d by Vegetable or Animal Vessels. But if Dung be thoroughly ventilated and putrefy’d before it be spread on the Field (as I think all the Authors I have read direct) so much of its Salts will be spent in fermenting the Dung itself, that little of them will remain to ferment the Soil; and the Farmer who might dung One Acre in Twenty, by laying on his Dung whilst fully replete with vigorous Salts, may (if he follows these Writers Advice to a Nicety) be forced to content himself with dunging one Acre in an Hundred.

This indeed is good Advice for Gardeners, for making their Stuff more palatable and wholesome; but would ruin the Farmer who could have no more Dung than what he could make upon his Arable Farm.

For every Sort of Dung, the longer Time it ferments without the Ground, the lesser Time it has to ferment in it, and the weaker its Ferment will be.

The Reason given for this great Diminution of Dung is, that the Seeds of Weeds may be rotted, and lose their vegetating Faculty; but this I am certain of by Demonstration, that let a Dunghil remain Three Years unmov’d, though its Bulk be vastly diminish’d in that Time, and its best Quality lost, Charlock-seed will remain found in it, and stock the Land whereon it is laid: For that Ferment which is sufficient to consume the Virtue of the stercoreous Salts, is not sufficient to destroy the vegative Virtue of Charlock-seeds, nor (I believe) of many other Sorts of Weeds.

The very Effluvia of animal Bodies, sent off by Perspiration, are so noxious as to kill the Animal that emits them, if confin’d to receive them back in great Quantity, by breathing in an Air replete with them; which appears from the soon dying of an Animal shut up in a Receiver full of Air. Yet this seems to be the most harmless of all sorts of animal Excrements the Air can be infected with. How noxious then must be the more fetid Steams of Ordure!

If a Catalogue were publish’d of all Instances from Charnel-houses (or Cœmeteries) and of the pestiferous Effects, which have happen’d from the Putrefaction of dead Bodies, after great Battles, even in the open Air, no body, I believe, would have a good Opinion of the Wholsomeness of Animal Dung; for if a great Quantity do so infect the Air, ’tis likely a less may infect it in proportion to that less Quantity.

In great Cities the Air is full of these Effluvia, which in hot Climes often produce the Pestilence; and in cold Climes People are generally observ’d to live a less time, and less healthfully, in Cities, than in the Country; to which Difference, ’tis likely, that the eating unwholsome Gardenage may contribute.

This Dung is a fitter Food for venomous Creatures[19] than for edible Plants; and ’tis (no doubt) upon Account of this, that dung’d Gardens are so much frequented by Toads, which are seldom or never seen in the open undung’d Fields.

What can we say then to the Salubrity of those Roots themselves, bred up and fatten’d among these Toads and Corruption? The Leaves indeed are only discharging some of the Filth, when we eat them; but the Roots have that unsavoury infected Food in their very Mouths, when we take them for our Nourishment.

But tho’ Dung be, upon these and other Accounts, injurious to the Garden, yet a considerable Quantity of it is so necessary to most Corn-fields, that without it little Good can be done by the old Husbandry.

Dung is not injurious to the Fields[20] being there in less Proportion: And the Produce of Corn is the Grain. When the Leaves have done their utmost to purify the Sap, the most refin’d Part is secern’d to be yet further elaborated by peculiar Organs; then, by the Vessels of the Blossoms, ’tis become double-refin’d, for the Nourishment of the Grain; which is therefore more pure from Dung, and more wholsome, than any other Part of the Plant that bears it.

And common Tillage alone is not sufficient for many Sorts of Corn, especially Wheat, which is the King of Grains.

Very few Fields can have the Conveniency of a sufficient Supply of Dung, to enable them to produce half the Wheat those will do near Cities, where they have Plenty of it.

The Crop of 20 Acres will scarce make Dung sufficient for one Acre, in the common Way of laying it on.

The Action of the Dung’s Ferment affords a Warmth[21] to the Infant-plants, in their most tender State, and the most rigorous Season.

But ’tis hard to know how long the Warmth of this Ferment lasteth, by reason of the great Difficulty to distinguish the very least Degree of Heat from the very least Degree of Cold.

Under the Name of Dung we may also understand whatever ferments with the Earth (except Fire); such as green Vegetables cover’d in the Ground, &c.

As to the Difference of the Quantity of artificial Pasture made by Dung without Tillage, and that made by Tillage without Dung; the latter is many Times greater, of which I had the following Proof. An unplow’d Land, wherein a Dunghil had lain for two or three Years, and being taken away, was planted with Turneps; at the same time a till’d Land, contiguous thereto, was drill’d with Turneps, and Horse-ho’d; the other, being Hand-ho’d, prospered best at the first; but at last did not amount to the Fifth Part of the Till’d and Horse-ho’d, in Bigness, nor in Crop. The Benefit of the Dung and Hand-hoe was so inconsiderable, in comparison of the Plough and Hoe-plough; the little Quantity of artificial Pasture raised to the other, was only near the Surface, and did not reach deep enough to maintain the Turneps, till they arrived at the Fifth Part of the Growth of those, whose artificial Pasture reach’d to the Bottom of the Staple of the Land.

A like Proof is; that several Lands of Turneps, drill’d on the Level, at three Foot Rows, plow’d, and doubly dung’d, and also Horse-ho’d, did not produce near so good a Crop of Turneps, as Six Foot Ridges adjoining, Horse-ho’d, tho’ no Dung had been laid thereon for many Years: There was no other Difference, than that the three Foot Rows did not admit the Hoe-plough to raise half the artificial Pasture, as the Six Foot Rows did. The Dung plow’d into the narrow Intervals, before drilling, could operate no further, with any great Effect, than the Hoe-plough could turn it up, and help in its Pulveration.

Dung, without Tillage, can do very little; with some Tillage doth something; with much Tillage pulverizes the Soil in less Time, than Tillage alone can do; but the Tillage alone, with more Time, can pulverize as well: This the Experiments of artificially pulverizing of the poorest Land, as they are related by Mr. Evelyn, fully prove.

And these Experiments are the more to be depended on, as they are made both in England and Holland by Persons of known Integrity.

This Truth is also further confirmed by those Authors who have found, that High-way Dust alone is a Manure preferable to Dung: And all these Pulverations being made by Attrition or Contusion, why should not our Instruments of Pulveration, in Time, reduce a sufficient Part of the Staple of a dry friable Soil, to a Dust equal to that of a Highway?

The common Proportion of Dung used in the Field pulverizes only a small Part of the Staple: but how long a time may be required for our Instruments to pulverize an equal Part, it depending much upon the Weather, and the Degree of Friability of the Soil, is uncertain.

I have seen surprising Effects from Ground, after being kept unexhausted, by plowing with common Ploughs for Two whole Years running: And I am confident, that the Expence of this extraordinary Tillage and Fallow will not, in many Places, amount to above half the Expence of a dressing with Dung; and if the Land be all the Time kept in our Sort of little Ridges of the Size most proper for that Purpose, the Expence of plowing will be diminished one half; besides the Advantage the Earth of such Ridges hath, of being friable in Weather which is too moist for plowing the same Land on the Level.

I have made many Trials of fine Dung on the Rows; and, notwithstanding the Benefit of it, I have, for these several Years last past, left it off, finding that a little more Hoeing will supply it at a much less Expence, than that of so small a Quantity of Manure, and of the Hands necessary to lay it on, and of the Carriage.

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Tillage is breaking and dividing the Ground by Spade, Plough, Hoe, or other Instruments, which divide by a Sort of Attrition (or Contusion) as Dung does by Fermentation[22].

By Dung we are limited to the Quantity of it we can procure, which in most Places is too scanty: But by Tillage, we can inlarge our Field of subterranean Pasture without Limitation, tho’ the external Surface of it be confin’d within narrow Bounds: Tillage may extend the Earth’s internal Superficies, in proportion to the Division of its Parts; and as Division is infinite, so may that Superficies be.

Every Time the Earth is broken by any Sort of Tillage, or Division, there must arise some new Superficies of the broken Parts, which never has been open before. For when the Parts of Earth are once united and incorporated together, ’tis morally impossible, that they, or any of them, should be broken again, only in the same Places; for to do that, such Parts must have again the same numerical Figures and Dimensions they had before such Breaking, which even by an infinite Division could never be likely to happen: As the Letters of a Distichon, cut out and mixt, if they should be thrown up never so often, would never be likely to fall into the same Order and Position with one another, so as to recompose the same Distich.

Although the internal Superficies may have been drain’d by a preceding Crop, and the next Plowing may move many of the before divided Parts, without new-breaking them; yet such as are new-broken, have, at such Places where they are so broken, a new Superficies, which never was, or did exist before; because we cannot reasonably suppose, that any of those Parts can have in all places (if in any Places) the same Figure and Dimensions twice.

For as Matter is divisible ad infinitum, the Places or Lines whereat ’tis so divisible, must be, in relation to Number, infinite, that is to say, without Number; and must have at every Division Superficies of Parts of infinite Variety[23] in Figure and Dimensions.

And because ’tis morally impossible, the same Figure and Dimensions should happen twice to any one Part, we need not wonder, how the Earth, every time of Tilling, should afford a new internal Superficies (or artificial Pasture); and that the till’d Soil has in it an inexhaustible Fund, which by a sufficient Division (being capable of an infinite one) may be produc’d.

Tillage (as well as Dung) is beneficial to all Sorts of Land[24]. Light Land, being naturally hollow, has larger Pores, which are the Cause of its Lightness: This, when it is by any Means sufficiently divided, the Parts being brought nearer together, becomes, for a time, Bulk for Bulk, heavier; i. e. The same Quantity will be contain’d in less Room, and so is made to partake of the Nature and Benefits of strong Land, viz. to keep out too much Heat and Cold, and the like.

But strong Land, being naturally less porous, is made for a Time lighter (as well as richer) by a good Division; the Separation of its Parts makes it more porous, and causes it to take up more Room than it does in its natural State; and then it partakes of all the Benefits of lighter Land.

When strong Land is plow’d, and not sufficiently, so that the Parts remain gross, ’tis said to be rough, and it has not the Benefit of Tillage; because most of the artificial Pores (or Interstices) are too large; and then it partakes of the Inconveniences of the hollow Land untill’d.

For when the light Land is plow’d but once, that is not sufficient to diminish its natural Hollowness (or Pores;) and, for Want of more Tillage, the Parts into which ’tis divided by that once (or perhaps twice) Plowing, remain too large; and consequently the artificial Pores are large also, and, in that respect, are like the ill-till’d strong Land.

Light-land, having naturally less internal Superficies, seems to require the more Tillage[25] or Dung to enrich it; as when the poor, hollow, thin Downs have their upper Part (which is the best) burnt, whereby all, (except a Caput Mortuum) is carried away; yet the Salts of this spread upon that barren Part of the Staple, which is unburnt, divide it into so very minute Particles, that their Pasture will nourish two or three good Crops of Corn: But then the Plough, even with a considerable Quantity of Dung, is never able afterwards to make a Division equal to what those Salts have done; and therefore such burnt Land remains barren.

Artificial Pores cannot be too small, because Roots may the more easily enter the Soil that has them, quite contrary to natural Pores; for these may be, and generally are, too small, and too hard for the Entrance of all weak Roots, and for the free Entrance of strong Roots.

Insufficient Tillage leaves strong Land with its natural Pores too small, and its artificial ones too large. It leaves Light-land, with its natural and artificial Pores both too large.

Pores that are too small in hard Ground, will not easily permit Roots to enter them.

Pores that are too large in any Sort of Land, can be of little other Use to Roots, but only to give them Passage to other Cavities more proper for them; and if in any Place they lie open to the Air, they are dry’d up, and spoil’d, before they reach them.

For fibrous Roots (which alone maintain the Plant; the other Roots serve for receiving the Chyle from them, and convey it to the Stem) can take in no Nourishment from any Cavity, unless they come into Contact with[26], and press against, all the Superficies of that Cavity, which includes them; for it dispenses the Food to their Lacteals by such Pressure only: But a fibrous Root is not so press’d by the Superficies of a Cavity whose Diameter is greater than that of the Root.

The Surfaces of great Clods form Declivities on every Side of them, and large Cavities, which are as Sinks to convey, what Rain and Dew bring, too quickly downwards to below the plow’d Part.

The first and second Plowings with common Ploughs scarce deserve the Name of Tillage; they rather serve to prepare the Land for Tillage.

The third, fourth, and every subsequent Plowing, may be of more Benefit, and less Expence, than any of the preceding ones.

But the last Plowings will be more advantageously perform’d by Way of Hoeing, as in the following Chapters will appear.

For the finer Land is made by Tillage, the richer will it become, and the more Plants it will maintain.

It has been often observ’d, that when Part of a Ground has been better till’d than the rest, and the whole Ground constantly manag’d alike afterwards for six or seven Years successively; this Part that was but once better till’d, always produc’d a better Crop than the rest, and the Difference remain’d very visible every Harvest.

One Part being once made finer, the Dews did more enrich it; for they penetrate within and beyond the Superficies, whereto the Roots are able to enter: The fine Parts of the Earth are impregnate, throughout their whole Substance, with some of the Riches carried in by the Dews, and there reposited; until, by new Tillage, the Insides of those fine Parts become Superficies; and as the Corn drains them, they are again supply’d as before; but the rough large Parts cannot have that Benefit; the Dews not penetrating to their Centres, they remain poorer.

I think nothing can be said more strongly to confirm the Truth of this, than what is related by the Authors quoted by Mr. Evelyn[27], to this Effect, viz.

‘Take of the most barren Earth you can find, pulverize it well, and expose it abroad for a Year, incessantly agitated[28]; it will become so fertile as to receive an exotic Plant from the furthest Indies; and to cause all Vegetables to prosper in the most exalted Degree, and to bear their Fruit as kindly with us as in their natural Climates.’

This artificial Dust[29], he says, will entertain Plants which refuse Dung, and other violent Applications; and that it has a more nutritive Power than any artificial Dungs or Compost whatsoever: And further, that by this Toil of pulverizing, “’tis found, that Soil may be so strangely alter’d from its former Nature, as to render the harm and most uncivil Clay[30] obsequious to the Husbandmen, and to bring forth Roots and Plants, which otherwise require the lighted and hollowest Mould[31].”

’Tis to be suppos’d, that the Indian Plants had their due Degrees of Heat and Moisture given them; and I should not chuse to bestow this Toil upon the poorest of Earth in a Field or Garden, tho’ that be the most sure wherein to make the Experiment[32].

I never myself try’d this way of pounding or grinding, because impracticable in the Fields.

But I have had the Experience of a Multitude of Instances, which confirm it so far, that I am in no Doubt, that any Soil[33] (be it rich or poor) can ever be made too fine by Tillage[34].

For ’tis without Dispute, that one cubical Foot of this minute Powder may have more internal Superficies, than a thousand cubical Feet of the same, or any other Earth till’d in the common Manner; and, I believe no two arable Earths in the World do exceed one another in their natural Richness Twenty Times; that is, one cubical Foot of the richest is not able to produce an equal Quantity of Vegetables, cæteris paribus, to Twenty cubical Feet of the poorest; therefore ’tis not strange, that the poorest, when by pulverizing it has obtain’d One hundred Times the internal Superficies of the rich untill’d Land, it should exceed it in Fertility; or, if a Foot of the poorest was made to have Twenty Times the Superficies of a Foot of such rich Land, the poorest might produce an equal Quantity of Vegetables with the rich[35]. Besides, there is another extraordinary Advantage, when a Soil has a larger internal Superficies in a very little Compass; for then the Roots of Plants in it are better supply’d with Nourishment, being nearer to them on all Sides within Reach, than it can be when the Soil is less fine, as in common Tillage; and the Roots in the one must extend much further than in the other, to reach an equal Quantity of Nourishment: They must range and fill perhaps above twenty Times more Space to collect the same Quantity of Food.

But in this fine Soil, the most weak and tender Roots have free Passage to the utmost of their Extent, and have also an easy, due, and equal Pressure every-where, as in Water.

Hard Ground makes a too great Resistance, as Air makes a too little Resistance, to the Superficies of Roots.

Farmers, just when they have brought their Land into a Condition fit to be further till’d to much greater Advantage, leave off, supposing the Soil to be fine enough, when, with the Help of Harrows, they can cover the Seed; and afterwards with a Roller they break the Clods; to the End that, if a Crop succeed, they may be able to mow it, without being hinder’d by those Clods: By what I could ever find, this Instrument, call’d a Roller, is seldom beneficial to good Husbands; it rather untills the Land, and anticipates the subsiding of the Ground, which in strong Land happens too soon of itself[36].

But more to blame are they, who neglect to give their Land due Plowing, trusting to the Harrow to make it fine; and when they have thrown in their Seed, go over it twenty Times with the Harrows[37] till the Horses have trodden it almost as hard as a Highway, which in moist Weather spoils the Crop; but on the contrary, the very Horses, when the Earth is moist, ought all to tread in the Furrows only, as in plowing with a Hoe-Plough they always do, when they use it instead of a common Plough.

---

Plants, that come up in any Land, of a different Kind from the sown or planted Crop, are Weeds.

That there are in Nature any such things as inutiles Herbæ, the Botanists deny; and justly too, according to their Meaning.

But the Farmer, who expects to make Profit of his Land from what he sows or plants in it, finds not only Herbæ inutiles, but also noxiæ, unprofitable and hurtful Weeds; which come like Muscæ, or uninvited Guests, that always hurt, and often spoil his Crop, by devouring what he has, by his Labour in Dunging and Tilling, provided for its Sustenance.

All Weeds, as such, are pernicious; but some much more than others; some do more Injury, and are more easily destroy’d; some do less Injury, and are harder to kill; others there are, which have both these bad Qualities. The hardest to kill are such as will grow and propagate by their Seed, and also by every Piece of their Roots, as Couch-grass, Coltsfoot, Melilot, Fern, and such-like. Some are hurtful only by robbing legitimate (or sown) Plants of their Nourishment, as all Weeds do; others both lessen a legitimate Crop by robbing it, and also spoil that Crop, which escapes their Rapine, when they infect it with their nauseous Scent and Relish, as Melilot, wild Garlick, &c.

Weeds starve the sown Plants, by robbing them of their Provision of Food[61], not of their Room (as some Authors vainly imagine); which will appear by the following Experiment.

Let three Beds of the same Soil, equal, and equally prepared, be sown with the same Sort of Corn. Let the first of these Beds be kept clean from Weeds: In the Second, let a Quantity of Weeds grow along with the Corn; and in the Third, stick up a Quantity of dead Sticks, greater in Bulk than the Weeds.

It will be found, that the Produce of the Corn in the First will not exceed that of the Third Bed; but in the Second, where the Weeds are, the Corn will be diminish’d in Proportion to the Quantity of Weeds amongst it.

The Sticks, having done no Injury to the Corn, shew there was room enough in the Bed for Company to lodge, would they forbear to eat; or else (like Travellers in Spain) bring their Provision with them to their Inn, or (which would be the same thing) if Weeds could find there some Dish so disagreeable to the Palate of the Corn, and agreeable to their own, that they might feed on it without robbing; and then they would be as innocent as the Sticks, which take up the same Room with the Weeds.

The Quantity of Nourishment Weeds rob the Corn of, is not in Proportion only to their Number and Bulk, but to the Degrees of Heat in their Constitution; as appears by the Instance of Charlock and Turneps, mention’d in the Chapter Of Change of Species.

’Tis needless to go about to compute the Value of the Damage Weeds do, since all experienc’d Husbandmen know it to be very great, and would unanimously agree to extirpate their whole Race as intirely, as in England they have done the Wolves, tho’ much more innocent, and less rapacious than Weeds[62].

But alas! they find it impossible to be done, or even to be hoped for, by the common Husbandry; and the Reasons I take to be these.

The Seeds of most Sorts of Weeds are so hardy, as to lie sound and uncorrupt for many Years[63], or perhaps Ages in the Earth; and are not kill’d until they begin to grow or sprout, which very few of them do, unless the Land be plow’d; and then enough of them will ripen amongst the sown Crop, to propagate and continue their Species, by shedding their Off-spring in the Ground (for ’tis observ’d they are generally ripe before the Corn); and the Seeds of these do the same in the next sown Crop; and thus perpetuate their savage, wicked[64] Brood, from Generation to Generation.

Besides, their Seeds never all come up in one Year, unless the Land be very often plow’d; for they must have their exact Depth, and Degrees of Moisture and Heat, to make them grow; and such as have not these, will lie in the Ground, and retain their vegetative Virtue for Ages; and the common usual Plowings, not being sufficient to make them all, or the greatest Part, grow, almost every Crop that ripens increases the Stock of Seed, until it make a considerable Part of the Staple of such Land as is sown without good Tillage and Fallowing.

The best Defence against these Enemies, which the Farmer has hitherto found, is to endeavour their Destruction by a good Summer-fallow: This indeed, if the Weather be propitious, does make Havock of them; but still some will escape one Year’s Prosecution. Either by being sometimes situate so high, that the Sun’s Heat dries them, or sometimes lying so deep, that it cannot reach them; either way their Germination, which would have proved their Death, is prevented.

Another Faculty secures abundance of them, and that is, their being able to endure the Heat and Moisture of one Year without growing; as[65] wild Oats, and innumerable other Sorts of Weeds, will do; for gather these when ripe, sow them in the richest Bed, water them, and do all that is possible to make them grow the First Year, it will be vain Labour; they will resist all Enticements till the Second; that is, if you gather them in Autumn, you cannot force them to grow until the next Spring come Twelve-month; and many of them will remain dormant even to the next Year alter that, and some of them longer.

By this Means, One Year’s Summer-Fallow can have no Effect upon them, but to prepare the Soil for their more vigorous Growth and plentiful Increase the next Year after; and very rarely will the Farmer fallow his Land Two Years successively; and often the Dung, which is made of the Straw of sown Corn, being full of the Seeds of Weeds, when spread on the Fallows, incumbers the Soil with another Stock of Weeds, as ample as that the Fallowing has destroy’d; and tho’ perhaps many of these may not grow the next Year, they will be sure to come up afterwards.

The other old Remedy is what often proves worse than the Disease; that is, what they call Weeding among sown Corn; for if by the Hook or Hand they cut some Sorts (as Thistles) while they are young, they will sprout up again, like Hydras, with more Heads than before; and if they are cut when full-grown, after they have done almost their utmost in robbing the Crop, ’tis like shutting the Stable-Door after the Steed is stolen.

Hand-weeders often do more Harm to the Corn with their Feet, than they do Good by cutting or pulling out the Weeds with their Hands; and yet I have known this Operation sometimes cost the Farmer Twelve Shillings an Acre; besides the Damage done by treading down his Wheat; and, after all, a sufficient Quantity of them have escaped, to make a too plentiful Increase in the next Crop of Corn.

The new Hoeing-Husbandry in Time will probably make such an utter Riddance[66] of all Sorts of Weeds[67], except such as come in the Air, that[68] as long as this Management is properly continued, there is no Danger to be apprehended from them; which is enough to confute the old Error of equivocal Generation, had it not been already sufficiently exploded, ever since that Demonstration of Malpighius’s Experiment. For if Weeds were brought forth without their proper Seeds, the Hoeing could not hinder their Production, where the Soil was inclined naturally to produce them. The Belief of that blind Doctrine might probably be one of the Causes that made the Antients despair of finding so great Success in Hoeing, as now appears; or else, if they had had true Principles, they might perhaps have invented and improved that Husbandry, and the Instruments necessary to put it in Practice.

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As far as I can be inform’d, ’tis but of late Years that Turneps have been introduc’d as an Improvement in the Field.

All Sorts of Land, when made fine by Tillage, or by Manure and Tillage, will serve to produce Turneps, but not equally; for chalky Land is generally too dry (a Turnep being a thirsty Plant); and they are so long in such dry poor Land before they get into rough Leaf, that the Fly is very apt to destroy them there; yet I have known them succeed on such Land, tho’ rarely.

Sand and Gravel are the most proper Soil for Turneps, because that is most easily pulveriz’d, and its Warmth causeth the Turneps to grow faster, and so they get the sooner out of the Danger of the Fly; and such a Soil, when well-till’d, and Horse-ho’d, never wants a sufficient Moisture, even in the driest Weather; and the Turneps being drill’d will come up without Rain, and prosper very well with the sole Moisture of the Dews, which are admitted as deep as the Pulveration reacheth; and if that be to Five or six Inches, the hottest Sun cannot exhale the Dews thence in the Climate of England: I have known Turneps thrive well in a very dry Summer by repeated Horse-hoeings, both in Sand and in Land which is neither sandy nor gravelly.

When I sow’d Turneps by Hand, and ho’d them with a Hand-hoe, the Expence was great, and the Operation not half perform’d, by the Deceitfulness of the Hoers, who left half the Land unho’d, and cover’d it with the Earth from the Part they did hoe, and then the Grass and Weeds grew the faster: Besides, in this Manner a great Quantity of Land could not be managed in the proper Season.

When I drill’d upon the Level[69], at Three Feet Intervals, a Trial was made between those Turneps and a Field of the next Neighbour’s, sown at the same Time, whereof the Hand-hoeing cost Ten Shillings per Acre, and had not quite half the Crop of the drill’d, both being measur’d by the Bushel, on Purpose to find the Difference[70].

In the new Method they are more certain to come up quickly; because in every Row, half the Seed is planted about Four Inches deep[71]; and the other Half is planted exactly over that, at the Depth of half an Inch, falling in after the Earth has cover’d the first Half: Thus planted, let the Weather be never so dry, the deepest Seed will come up; but if it raineth (immediately after planting), the Shallow will come up first: We also make it come up at Four[72] Times, by mixing our Seed, half new and half old (the new coming up a Day quicker than the old): These four Comings up give it so many Chances for escaping the Fly, it being often seen, that the Seed sown over Night will be destroy’d by the Fly, when that sown the next Morning will escape, and vice versa[73]; or you may hoe-plow them, when you see the Fly is like to devour them; this will bury the greatest Part of those Enemies; or else you may drill in another Row, without new-plowing the Land.

This Method has also another Advantage of escaping the Fly, the most certain of any other, and infallible, if the Land be made fine, as it ought to be: This is to roll it with a heavy Roller across the Ridges, after ’tis drill’d, which closing up the Cavities of the Earth, prevents the Fly’s Entrance and Exit, to lay the Eggs, hatch, or bring forth the young ones to prey upon the Turneps; which they might intirely devour, if the Fly came before they had more than the first two Leaves, which, being form’d of the very Seed itself, are very sweet; but the next Leaves are rough and bitter, which the Fly does not love: I have always found the Rolling disappoint the Fly; but very often it disappoints the Owner also, who sows at Random; for it makes the Ground so hard, that the Turneps cannot thrive, but look yellow, dwindle, and grow to no Perfection, unless they have a good Hoeing soon after the rough Leaves appear; for when they stand long without it, they will be so poor and stinted, that the Hand-hoe does not go deep enough to recover them; and ’tis seldom that these rolled Turneps can be Hand-ho’d at the critical Time, because the Earth is then become so hard, that the Hoe cannot enter it without great Difficulty, unless it be very moist; and very often the Rain does not come to soak it, until it be too late; but the drill’d Turneps being in single Rows with Six-feet Intervals, may be roll’d without Danger: For be the Ground ever so hard, the Hand-hoe will easily single them out, at the Price of Six-pence per Acre, or less (if not in Harvest); and the Horse-hoe will, in those wide Intervals, plow at any Time, wet or dry; and, tho’ the Turneps should have been neglected till stinted, will go deep enough to recover them to a flourishing Condition.

Drill’d Turneps, by being no-where but in the Rows[74], may be more easily seen than those which come up at Random; and may therefore be sooner[75] singled out by the Hand-hoe; which is another Advantage; because the sooner they are so set out, the better they will thrive[76].

Three or Four Ounces of Seed is the usual Quantity to drill; but, at random, Three or Four Pounds are commonly sown, which, coming thick all over the Ground, must exhaust the Land more than the other, especially since the sown must stand longer, before the Hoers can see to set them out.

The Six-feet Ridges, whereon Turneps are drill’d in single Rows, may be left higher than for double-row’d Crops; because there will be more Earth in the Intervals, as the single Row takes up less.

There is no prefix’d Time for planting Turneps, because that must be according to the Richness of the Land; for some Land will bring them as forward, and make them as good, when planted the beginning of August, as other Land will, when planted in May; but the most general Time is, a little before, and a little after Midsummer.

Between these Rows of Turneps[77], I have planted Wheat in this Manner; viz. About Michaelmas, the Turneps being full grown, I plow’d a Ridge in the Middle of each of their Intervals, taking most of the Earth from the Turneps, leaving only just enough to keep them alive; and on this Ridge drill’d my Crop of Wheat[78], and towards the Spring pull’d up my Turneps, and carried them off for Cattle.

When Turneps are planted too late, to have Time and Sun for attaining to their full Bulk, some drill a double Row on each Six-feet Ridge, with a Partition of Fourteen Inches; but I am told, that in this double Row the Turneps do not, even at that late Season, grow so large, as those planted at the same time in single Rows, tho’ the double Row requires double the Expence in setting out; and there will be less Earth ho’d by the Breadth of fourteen Inches of the deepest Part of the Ridge, and consequently the Land will be the less improv’d for the next Crop. We need not to be very exact, in the Number[79] or Distance[80] we set them out at; we contrive to leave the Master-turneps (when there is much Difference in them), and spare such when near one another, and leave the more Space before and behind them; but if they be Three Master-turneps too near together, we take out the middlemost.

Turneps that were so thick as to touch one another when half-grown, by means of well Hoeing their wide Intervals, have afterwards grown to a good Bigness, and by thrusting against one another became oval, instead of round.

’Tis beneficial to hoe Turneps (especially the first Time) alternately; viz. to hoe every other Interval, and throw the Earth back again before we hoe the other Intervals; for by this Means the Turneps are kept from being[81] stinted: ’Tis better to have Nourishment given them moderately at twice, than to have it all once, and be twice as long before a Repetition[82].

Tho’ the Earth on each Side the Row be left as narrow as possible[83]; yet ’tis very profitable to hoe that little with a Bidens[84], called here a Prong-hoe[85]; for this will be sure to let out all the Roots into the Intervals; even such as run very nearly parallel to the Rows.

This alternate Way of Hoeing Plants that grow in single Rows, is of such vast Advantage, that four of these, which are but equal to Two of the whole Hoeings in Labour, are near equal to four whole Hoeings in Benefit; for when one Side is well nourished, the other Side cannot be starv’d[86].

Besides, where a great Quantity of Turneps are to be ho’d, the last ho’d may be stinted, before the first are finish’d by whole Hoeings.

In this alternate Hoeing, the Hoe-plough may go deeper[87] and nearer to the Row, without Danger of thrusting it down on the Left Side, whilst the Plants are very small; because the Earth on the other Side of the Row always bears against it for its Support: But in the whole Hoeing, there is an open Furrow left the first Time on both Sides of the Row, and there is Danger of throwing it into one Furrow in plowing the other; or, if the Row is not thrown down, it may be too much dry’d in hot Weather, by the Two Furrows lying too long open: Yet, when the Turneps are large before Hoeing, we need not fear either of these Dangers in giving them a whole Hoeing; as I have found by Experience, even when there has been left on each Side of the Row only about Three Inches Breadth of Earth; tho’ it is not best to suffer it to lie long open[88].

Dry Weather does not injure Turneps when Horse-ho’d, as it does sown Turneps; the Hand-hoe does not go deep enough to keep the Earth moist, and secure the Plants against the Drought; and that is the best Season for Horse-hoeing, which always can keep the Roots moist[89].

Dung and Tillage together will attain the necessary Degree of Pulveration, in less time than Plowing can do alone: Therefore Dung is more useful for Turneps, because they have commonly less time to grow than other Plants.

Turneps of Nineteen Pounds Weight I have several Times heard of, and of Sixteen Pounds Weight often known; and Twelve Pounds may be reckon’d the middle Size of great Turneps: And I can see no Reason, why every Turnep should not arrive to the full Bigness of its Species, if it did not want Part of its due Nourishment.

The greatest Inconvenience, which has been observ’d in the Turnep-husbandry, is, when they are fed off late in the Spring (which is in many Places the greatest Use of them), there is not time to bring the Land in Tilth for Barley; the Loss of which Crop is sometimes more than the Gain of the Turneps: This is intirely remedied by the drilling Method; for, by that, the Land may be almost as well till’d before the Turneps are eaten, or taken off, as it can afterwards.

If Turneps be sown in June, or the Beginning of July, the most experienced Turnep-Farmers will have no more than Thirty to a square Perch left in Hand-hoeing; and find that when more are left, the Crop will be less; but, in drilling the Rows at Six Feet Intervals, there may be Sixty to a Perch; and the Horse-hoe, by breaking so much more Earth than the Hand-hoe does, can nourish Sixty drill’d, as well as Thirty are by the sowing Method, which has been made appear upon Trial; but, I think, about Forty or Forty-five better than Sixty on a Perch; and the Number of Plants should always be proportion’d to the natural and artificial Pasture which is to maintain them; and sixty Turneps on a square Perch, at Five Pounds each (which is but a Third of the Weight of the large Size of Sheep-Turneps), make a Crop of above Eighty Quarters to an Acre[90].

When Turneps are planted late (especially upon poor Ground), they may be a greater Number than when planted early; because they will not have time enough of Heat to enjoy the full Benefit of Hoeing, which would otherwise cause them to grow larger.

The greatest Turnep-Improvement used by the Farmer, is for his Cattle in the Winter; one Acre of Turneps will then maintain more than Fifty of Meadow or Pasture-ground.

’Tis now so well known, that most Cattle will eat them, and how much they breed Milk, &c. that I need say nothing about it.

Sheep always refuse them at first, and, unless they have eaten them whilst they were Lambs, must be ready to starve before they will feed on them; tho’, when they have tasted them, they will be fatted by them; and I have seen Lambs of Three Weeks old scoop them prettily, when those of a Year old (which are called Tegs) have been ready to die with Hunger amongst them; and for Three or Four Days would not touch them, but at last eat them very well.

In some Places, the greatest Use of Turneps (except for fatting Oxen and Sheep) is for Ewes and Lambs in the Spring, when natural Grass is not grown on poor Ground; and if the artificial Grass be then fed by the common Manner, the Crop will be spoil’d, and it will yield the less Pasture all the Summer: I have known Farmers, for that Reason, oblig’d to keep their Ewes and Lambs upon Turneps (tho’ run up to Seed) even until the Middle of April.

There are now three Manners of spending Turneps with Sheep, amongst which I do not reckon the Way of putting a Flock of Sheep into a large Ground of Turneps without dividing it; for in that Case the Flock will destroy as many Turneps in a Fortnight, as should keep them well a whole Winter.

The First Manner now in Use is, to divide the Ground of Turneps by Hurdles, giving them leave to come upon no more at a Time than they can eat in one Day, and so advance the Hurdles farther into the Ground daily, until all be spent; but we must observe, that they never eat them clean this Way, but leave the Bottoms and Outsides of the Turneps they have scoop’d in the Ground. These Bottoms People pull up with Iron Crooks, made for that Purpose; but their Cavities being tainted with Urine, Dung, and Dirt from their Feet, tho’ the Sheep do eat some of the Pieces, they waste more, and many the Crooks leave behind in the Earth; and even what they do eat of this tainted Food, can’t nourish them so well as that which is fresh and cleanly.

The second Manner is, to move the Hurdles every Day, as in the First; but that the Sheep may not tread upon the Turneps, they pull them up first, and then advance the Hurdles as far daily as the Turneps are pull’d up, and no farther: By this Means there is not that Waste made as in the other Way; the Food is eaten fresh and clean; and the Turneps are pull’d up with less Labour than their Pieces can be[91].

The Third Manner is, to pull them up, and to carry them into some other Ground in a Cart, or Waggon, and there spread them every Day on a new Place, where the Sheep will eat them up clean, both Leaf and Root: This is done when there is Land not far off, which has more Need of Dung, than that where the Turneps grow, which perhaps is also too wet for Sheep in the Winter; and then the Turneps will, by the too great Moisture and Dirt of the Soil, spoil the Sheep, and in some Soils give them the Rot, yet such Ground will bring forth more and larger Turneps than dry Land; and when they are carry’d off, and eaten on plow’d Ground in dry Weather, and on Green-swerd in wet Weather, the Sheep will thrive much better; and that moist Soil, not being trodden by the Sheep, will be in much the better Order for a Crop of Corn. And generally the Expence of Hurdles, and removing them, being saved, will more than countervail the Labour of carrying off the Turneps.

These Three Ways of spending Turneps with Sheep are common to those drill’d, and to those sown in the random Manner; but they must always be carry’d off for Cows and Oxen; both which will be well fatted by them, and some Hay in the Winter: The Management of these is the Business of a Grazier.

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Tho’ all Sorts of Vegetables may have great Benefit from the Hoe, because it supplies them with Plenty of Food, at the Time of their greatest Need, yet they do not all equally require Hoeing; but the Plant that is to live the longest, should have the largest Stock of Sustenance provided for it: Generally Wheat lives, or ought to live, longer than other Sorts of Corn; for if it be not sown before Spring, its Grain will be thin, and have but little Flour in it, which is the only useful Part for making Bread. And when sown late in the Winter, ’tis in great Danger of Death from the Frost, whilst weak and tender, being maintained (as a Fœtus) by the umbilical Vessels, until the Warmth of the Sun enables it to send out sufficient Roots of its own to subsist on, without Help of the Ovum.

To prevent these Inconveniences, Wheat is usually sown in Autumn: Hence, having about thrice the Time to be maintain’d that Spring Corn hath, it requires a larger Supply of Nourishment, in proportion to that longer Time; not because the Wheat in its Infancy consumes the Stock of Food, during the Winter, proportionably to what it does afterwards; but because, during that long Interval betwixt Autumn and Spring Seed-times, most of the artificial Pasture is naturally lost, both in light and in strong Land.

For this very Reason is that extraordinary Pains of fallowing and dunging the Soil, necessary to Wheat; tho’, notwithstanding all that Labour and Expence, the Ground is generally grown so stale by the Spring, and so little of the Benefit of that chargeable Culture remains, that, if Part of the same Field be sown in the Beginning of April, upon fresh Plowing, without the Dung, or Year’s Fallow, it will be as great or a greater Crop, in all Respects, except the Flour, which fails only for want of Time to fill the Grain.

Poor light Land, by the common Husbandry, must be very well cultivated and manur’d, to maintain Wheat for a whole Year, which is the usual Time it grows thereon; and if it be sown late, the greatest Part of it will seldom survive the Winter, on such Land; and if it be sown very early on strong Land, tho’ rich, well till’d, and dung’d, the Crop will be worse than on the poor light Land sown early. So much do the long Winter’s Rains cause the Earth to subside, and the divided Parts to coalesce, and lock out the Roots from the Stock of Provision, which, tho’ it was laid in abundantly at Autumn, the Wheat has no great Occasion of until the Spring; and then the Soil is become too hard for the Roots to penetrate; and therefore must starve (like Tantalus) amidst Dainties, which may tempt the Roots, but cannot be attain’d by them.

But the new Method of Hoeing gives, to strong and to light Land, all the Advantages, and takes away all the Disadvantages, of both; as appears in the Chapters of Tillage and Hoeing. By this Method the strong Land may be planted with Wheat as early as the light (if plow’d dry); and the Hoe-Plough can, if rightly apply’d, raise a Pasture to it[92], equal to that of Dung in both Sorts of Land.

About the Year 1701, when I had contrived my Drill for planting St. Foin, I made use of it also for Wheat. Drilling many Rows at once, which made the Work much more compendious, and perform’d it much better than Hands could do, making the Channels of a Foot Distance, drilling in the Seed, and covering it, did not in all amount to more than Six-pence per Acre Expence, which was above ten Times over-paid by the Seed that was saved; for One Bushel to an Acre was the Quantity drill’d; there remain’d then no need of Hand-work, but for the Hoeing; and this did cost from Half a Crown to Four Shillings per Acre. This way turn’d to a very good Account, and in considerable Quantities; it has brought as good a Crop of Wheat on Barley-stubble, as that sown the common Way on Summer-fallow; and when that sown the old Way, on the same Field, on Barley-stubble, intirely fail’d, tho’ there was no other Difference but the Drilling and Hoeing: It was also such an Improvement to the Land, that when, one Part of a strong whitish Ground, all of equal Goodness, and equally fallow’d and till’d, was dung’d and sown in the common Manner, and the other Part was thus drill’d and hand-ho’d without Dung, the ho’d Part was not only the best Crop, but the whole Piece being fallow’d the next Year, and sown all alike by a Tenant, the ho’d Part produc’d so much a better Crop of Wheat than the dung’d Part, that a Stranger would have believ’d by looking on it, that that Part had been dung’d which was not[93], and that Part not to have been dung’d which really was.

Scarce any Land is so unfit, and ill prepar’d, for Wheat, as that where the natural Grass[94] abounds. Most other sorts of Weeds may be dealt withal when they come among drill’d Wheat; but ’tis impossible to extract Grass from the Rows: Therefore let that be kill’d before the Wheat be planted.

The Six-feet Ridges being Eleven, on Sixty-six Feet, which is an Acre’s Breadth, ought to be made Lengthways of the Field, if there be no Impediment against it; as if it be an Hill of any considerable Steepness, then they must be made to run up and down, whether that be the Length or Breadth of the Piece; for if the Ridges should go cross such a Hill, they could not be well Horse-ho’d; because it would be very difficult to turn a Furrow upwards, close to the Row above it, or to turn a Furrow downwards, without burying the Row below it; and even when a Furrow is turn’d from the lower Row, enough of the Earth to bury that Row will be apt to run over on the Left-side of the Plough; unless it goes at such a Distance from the Row, as to give it no Benefit of Hoeing.

These Ridges should be made strait and equal: And to make them strait[95] all good Ploughmen know how; and they will, by setting up Marks to look at, plow in a Line like the Path of an Arrow: But to make the Ridges equal, ’tis necessary to mark out a Number of them, before you begin to plow, by short Sticks set up at each End of the Piece; and then if one Ridge happen to be a little too broad, the next may be made the narrower; for if the Plough comes not out exactly at the second Stick, the Two Ridges may be made equal by the next Plowing, or by the Drilling; but if many contiguous Ridges should be too wide, or too narrow, ’twill be difficult to bring them all to an Equality afterwards, without levelling the whole Piece, and laying out the Ridges all anew.

The exact Height of Ridges, which is best, I cannot determine[96]: A different Soil may require a different Height, according to the Depth, Richness, and Pulveration of the Mould. As Wheat covets always to lie dry in the Winter, so there is no other way to keep it so dry as these Ridges; for when they are, after the first Hoeing, about Eighteen Inches broad[97], with a Ditch on each Side, of almost a Foot deep, the Rain-water runs off such narrow Ridges as fast it falls, and much sooner[98] than ’tis possible for it to do from broad Ridges.

And the deeper the Soil, the more occasion there commonly is of this high Situation; because such Land is wetter for the most Part than shallow Land, where we cannot make the Furrows so deep, nor the Ridges so high[99], as in deep Land; for we must never plow below the Staple. I see the Wheat on these ho’d Ridges flourish, and grow vigorously, in wet Weather, when other Wheat looks yellow and sickly.

The same wide Interval, which is ho’d betwixt Ridges the First time, with Two Furrows, must have had Four Furrows, to hoe it on the Level; or else the Furrow, that is turn’d from the Row, would rise up, and a great Part of it fall over to the Left-hand, and bury the Row; but when turn’d from a Ridge, it will all fall down to the Right-hand.

You must not leave the Tops of the Ridges quite so narrow and sharp for Drilling of Wheat, as you may for drilling Turneps; Wheat being in treble Rows, but Turneps generally in single Rows[100]. This is our Method of making Ridges for the First Crop of drill’d Wheat.

But the Method of making Ridges for a succeeding Crop, after the former is harvested, is best perform’d as follows: In making Ridges for Wheat after Wheat, you must raise them to their full Height, before you plow the old Partitions, with their Stubble, up to them; for if you go about to make the Ridges higher afterwards, the Stubble will so mix with the Mould of their Tops, that it may not only be an Hindrance to the Drill, but also to the First Hoeing; because if the Hoe-plough goes so near to the Rows as it ought, it would be apt to tear out the Wheat-plants along with the Stubble.

In Reaping, we cut as near as we can to the Ground[101]; which is easily done, because the Stalks stand all close together at Bottom, contrary to those of sown Wheat.

I find this Stubble, when ’tis only mixt with the Intervals, very beneficial to the Hoeing of my Wheat; but I know not whether it may be so in rich miry Land.

As soon as conveniently you can, after the Crop of Wheat is carried off (if the Trench in the Middle of each wide Interval be left deep enough by the last Hoeing), go as near as you can to the Stubble with a common Plough, and turn Two large Furrows into the Middle of the Intervals, which will[102] make a Ridge over the Place where the Trench was: But if the Trench be not deep enough, go first in the Middle of it with one Furrow; which with Two more taken from the Ridges, will be three Furrows in each Interval; continue this Plowing as long as the dry Weather lasteth; and then finish, by turning the Partitions (whereon the last Wheat grew) up to the new Ridges, which is usually done at Two great Furrows. You may plow these last Furrows, which complete the Ridges, in wet Weather.

To make a Six-feet Ridge very high, will sometimes require more Furrows; as when the Middle of the Intervals are open very wide and deep, then Six Furrows to the whole Ridge may be necessary, and they not little ones; and the Season makes a Difference, as well as the Size of the Furrows; for when the fine Mould is very dry (which is best), it will much of it run to the Left-hand before the Plough, and also more will run back again to the Left after the Plough is gone past it.

But when such Ridges have been made for Wheat, and the Season continues long too dry for planting it, and the Stubble not thrown up, we then plow one deep Furrow on the Middle of each Ridge, and then plow the whole Ridge at Four Furrows more, which will raise it very high. This Way of replowing the Ridges moves all the Earth of them, and yet is done at Five Furrows.

The Furrows, necessary for raising up the Ridges, must be more, or fewer, in regard to the Bigness of them; because Six small Furrows may be less than Four great ones. ’Tis not best to plow the Stubble up to the Ridges, until just before Planting (especially in the early Plowing); because that will hinder the Re-plowing of the First Furrows, which, if the Season continues dry, may be necessary: Sometimes we do this by opening One Furrow in the Middle of the Ridge, sometimes Two, and afterwards raise up the Ridges again; and when they are become moist enough at Top (the old Partitions being plow’d up to them), we harrow them once[103] (and that only Lengthways); and then drill them.

There is a Necessity of plowing the old Partitions up to the new Ridges to support their other Earth from falling down by the Harrowing and Drilling, which would else make them level.

Our Ridges, after the First Time of Plowing, excel common Ridges of the same Height; because these, tho’ as deep in Mould at the Tops, have little of it till’d at the last Plowing; but ours, being made upon the open Trenches, consist of new-till’d pulveriz’d Mould, from Top to Bottom.

’Tis a general Rule, that all Sorts of Grain and Seeds prosper best, sown when the Ground is so dry, as to be broken into the most Parts by the Plough. The Reason why Wheat is an Exception to that Rule is, because it must endure the Rigours of Winter, which ’tis the better able to do, by the Earth’s being press’d or trodden harder, and closer to it[104], as it is when moved wet.

If Wheat were as hardy as Rye, and its Roots as patient of Cold, it might, no doubt, be sown in as dry a Season as Rye is, and prosper the better for it, as Rye doth. This will appear, if Wheat and Rye be both sown in the same dry Season, after the Winter is over.

But as Wheat requires to have the Earth lie harder on and about it, in the Winter; so it also requires more Dung (or somewhat else) to dissolve the Earth about its Roots, after the cold Winter is past, than Rye doth, whose Roots never were so much confined.

’Tis another general Rule, that all Sorts of Vegetables thrive best, when sown on fresh till’d Ground, immediately after ’tis plow’d.

Wheat is an Exception to this Rule also; for ’tis better to plow the Ground dry, and let it lie till the Weather moistens it (tho’ it be several Weeks), and then drill the Wheat: The Harrows and the Drill will move a sufficient Part of the Ground, which will stick together for Defence of the small Roots, during the Winter, the rest of the Mould, lying open, and divided underneath until Spring, to nourish them.

There is a Sort of binding Sand, that requires not only to be plow’d dry, but sow’d dry also; or else the Wheat will dwindle in the Spring, and fail of being a tolerable Crop.

But what I mean by dry Plowing is, not that the Land should always be so void of Moisture, as that the Dust should fly; but it must not be so wet, as to stick together[105]. Neither should we drill when the Earth is wet as Pap; it suffices that it be moist, but moister in light Land than in strong Land, when we drill.

If the Two Furrows, whereon the treble Row is to stand, be plow’d wet, the Earth of the Partitions may grow so hard by the Spring, that the Roots cannot run freely therein, unless there be Dung to ferment and keep it open.

So we see, that a steep Bank, made of wet Earth, will lie fast for several Years, when another, made of the same Earth dry, will moulder, and run down very soon; because its Parts have not the Cohesion that holds the other together, it continues open, and more porous, and crumbles continually down.

I have seen Trials of this Difference betwixt plowing Dry, and plowing Wet, for planting of Wheat, both in the Old Way, and in the Drilling Way, but most in the latter; and never saw an Instance where the Dry-Plowing did not outdo the Wet; if the Wheat was not planted thereon before the Earth was become moist enough at Top.

And strong Land, plow’d wet in November, will be harder in the Spring, than if plow’d dry in August; tho’ it would then have Three Months longer to lie.

After Rain, when the Top of the Ground is of a fit Moisture for Drilling, harrow it with Two light Harrows, drawn by a Horse going in the Furrow betwixt Two Ridges[106]; once will be enough, the Furrow being just broken to level, or rather smooth it for the Drill.

If the Veerings[107] whereon the next Crop is to stand, be plow’d dry, we may drill at any Time during the common and usual Wheat-seed time, that is proper for the sort of Wheat to be drill’d, and the sort of Land, whether that be early or late, we may drill earlier, but not later than the sowing Farmers. But I have had good Crops of Wheat drill’d at all Times betwixt Harvest and the Beginning of November.

For the Benefit of the middle Rows, ’tis better not to drill Wheat on strong Land before the usual Season; because the later ’tis planted, the more open the Partitions will be for the Roots of those Rows to run through them in the Spring: and yet, if the Earth of the Partitions be plow’d very wet, tho’ late, they may be harder at the Spring, than those which are plow’d early and dry.

There is a Sort of Wheat call’d by some[108] Smyrna Wheat: It has a prodigious large Ear, with many less (or collateral) Ears, coming all round the Bottom of this Ear; as it is the largest of all Sorts of Wheat, so it will dispense with the Nourishment of a Garden, without being over-fed, and requires more Nourishment than the common Husbandry will afford it; for there its Ears grow not much bigger than those of common Wheat: This I believe to be, for that Reason, the very best Sort for the Hoeing Husbandry; next to this I esteem the White-cone Wheat, then the Grey-cone. I have had very good Crops from other Sorts; but look upon these to be the best.

When Wheat is planted early, less Seed is required than when late; because less of it will die in the Winter than of that planted late, and it has more Time to tiller[109].

Poor Land should have more Seed than rich Land, because a less Number of the Plants will survive the Winter on poor Land.

The least Quantity of Seed may suffice for rich Land that is planted early; for thereon very few Plants will die; and the Hoe will cause a small Number of Plants to send out a vast Number of Stalks, which will have large Ears; and in these, more than in the Number of Plants, consists the Goodness of a Crop[110].

Another thing must be consider’d, in order to find the just Proportion of Seed to plant; and that is, that some Wheat has its Grains twice as big as other Wheat of the same Sort; and then a Bushel[111] will contain but half the Number of Grains; and one Bushel of Small-grain’d Wheat will plant as much Ground as Two Bushels of the Large-grain’d; for, in Truth, ’tis not the Measure of the Seed, but the Number of the Grains, to which respect ought to be had in apportioning the Quantity of it to the Land.

Some have thought, that a large Grain of Wheat would produce a larger Plant than a small Grain; but I have full Experience to the contrary. The small Grain, indeed, sends up its first single Blade in Proportion to its own Bulk, but afterwards becomes as large a Plant, as the largest Grain can produce[112], cæteris paribus.

Six Gallons of middle-siz’d Seed we most commonly drill on an Acre; yet, on rich Land planted early, Four Gallons may suffice; because then the Wheat will have Roots at the Top of the Ground before Winter, and tiller very much, without Danger of the Worms, and other Accidents, that late-planted Wheat is liable to.

If it is drill’d too thick, ’twill be in Danger of falling; if too thin, it may happen to tiller so late in the Spring, that some of the Ears may be blighted; yet a little thicker or thinner does not matter.

As to the Depth, we may plant from half an Inch, to three Inches deep; if planted too deep, there is more Danger of its being eaten off by Worms, betwixt the Grain and the Blade[113]; for as that Thread is the Thread of Life during the Winter (if not planted early), so the longer the Thread is, the more Danger will there be of the Worms[114].

’Tis a necessary Caution to beware of the Rooks[115], just as the Wheat begins to peep; for before you can perceive it to be coming up, they will find it, and dig it up to eat the Grain; therefore you must keep them off for a Week or Ten Days; and in that time the Blade will become green, and the Grain so much exhausted of its Flour, that the Rooks think it not worth while to dig after it.

But the Rooks do not molest Wheat that is planted before or a little after St. Michael; for then there remains Corn enough in the Fields, which is left at Harvest above-ground, that Rooks prefer always before Corn which must cost them the Labour of digging to find it.

I have now intirely left out the middle Row for Wheat, and keep only to the double Row, for the following Reasons.

It makes the cleansing from Weeds more difficult, than when there is only a double Row.

The Hand-hoe cannot give near so much Nourishment (i. e. pulverize so much Earth) in Two Seven-inch Partitions, as it can in One Ten-inch Partition.

There is Four Inches less Earth to be pulveriz’d by the Horse-hoe from the Surface of a Ridge that has Two Seven-inch Partitions, than from a Ridge that hath One Ten-inch Partition.

The Ridge must be almost twice as deep in Mould for the treble as for the double Row, or else the middle Row will be very weak and poor; and then, according to the Principles, the whole Ridge will be more exhausted, than by an equal Product produced by strong Plants.

As the Ridges may be much lower that have only the one Partition, so the Intervals may be narrower, and yet have as much Earth in them to be pulveriz’d, as in wide ones that are betwixt treble Rows; because the Four Inches that are in the two Partitions more than in the single Partition, being on the Top of the Ridge, may have more Mould under them than Eight Inches on the Side of a Ridge; and the Four Inches, being in the Partitions, lose the Benefit of Horse-hoeing.

Instead of using the middle Row as an Alloy, ’tis better to plant such Sorts of Wheat as do not require any Alloy to the double Row; and these are the White-cone, and above all other Sorts the right Smyrna.

The White-cone Wheat must not be reaped so green as the Lammas Wheat may; for if it is not full-ripe, it will be difficult to thresh it clean out of the Straw.

It happened once that my White-cone being planted early, and being very high, the Blade and Stalk were kill’d in the Winter; and yet it grew high again in the Spring, and had then the same Fortune a Second time; it lay on the Ridges like Straw, but sprung out anew from the Root, and made a very good Crop at Harvest: Therefore, if the like Accident should happen, the Owner needs not be frighted at it.

One thing that made Six-feet Ridges seem at first necessary, was the great Breadth of the Two Partitions (which were Eight Inches apiece), which, together with the Earth left on each Side of the treble Row not well cleansed by Hand-work, made Two large whole Furrows, at the first Plowing for the next Crop, that could not be broken by Harrows: These Two strong Furrows, being turned to the Two Furrows that are in the middle of a narrow Interval, for making a new Ridge, would cover almost all the pulveriz’d Earth, not leaving room betwixt the Two whole Furrows for the Drill to go in. But now the single Partition, and the Earth left by the Hoe-Plough, on the Outsides of the double Row, making Two narrow Furrows, and the one Partition being cleansed, and deeper Hand-ho’d than those of the treble Row were, or could be, are easily broken by the Harrows; for, besides their Narrowness, they have no Roots to hold their Mould together, except the Wheat-roots, which, being small and dead, have not Strength enough to hold it; and therefore that Necessity of such broad Ridges now ceases along with the treble Row.

When the Two narrow fragile Furrows are harrowed, and mixed with the pulveriz’d Earth of the Intervals, the Roots of the Wheat will reach it; and it is no Matter whether the Crop be drill’d after Two Plowings, in which Case the Row will stand on the very same Place whereon the Row stood the precedent Year, or whether it be drill’d after One or Three Plowings; and then the Rows will stand on the Middle of the last Year’s Intervals.

I cannot prescribe precisely the most proper Width of all Intervals; because they should be different in different Circumstances. In deep rich Land they may be a little narrower than in shallow Land.

There must be (as has been said) a competent Quantity of Earth in them to be pulveriz’d; and, when the Soil is rich, the less will suffice.

Never let the Intervals be too wide to be Horse-hoed at Two Furrows, without leaving any Part unplowed in the Middle of them, when the Furrows are turned towards the Rows.

Some Ploughmen can plow a wider Furrow than others, that do not understand the letting of the Hoe-Plough so well, can.

By making the Plank of the Hoe-plough shorter, and the Limbers more crooked, we can now hoe in narrower Intervals than formerly, without doing any Damage to the Wheat.

I now choose to have Fourteen Ridges on an Acre, and one only Partition of Ten Inches on each of them. This I find answers all the Ends I purpose. If the Partitions are narrower, there is not sufficient room in them for the Hand-hoe to do its work effectually; if wider, too much Earth will lose the Benefit of the Horse-hoe.

The poorer the Soil is, the more Pulveration will be necessary to it.

When a great Season of Wheat is drill’d, it cannot be expected that much of it can be plowed dry, tho’ it is advantageous when there happens an Opportunity for doing it; but by long Experience I find, that in most of my Lands it does very well, when plowed in a moderate Temper of Moisture.

It may not be amiss to harrow it once after it is drill’d, which will, in some Measure, disappoint the Rooks; besides covering the Wheat, if, perchance, any should miss being covered by the Drill-harrow.

But these, and all Harrows that go on a Ridge, both before and after it is drill’d, should be very light, and fastened together in the common Manner; except that the Pole must be fastened to each Harrow in two Places; which keeps them both as level as if they were One single Harrow: Otherwise the Ridges would be too sharp at the Top, and the Partitions would lie higher than the Rows, and some of their Earth would be apt to fall on the Rows when it is Hand-hoed.

By Means of this level Harrowing, there is left an open Furrow in the Middle of the Interval, which much facilitates the First Horse-hoeing.

But when, after a Crop is taken off, the Ridges are plowed twice, as they may be where the one Partition hath been well Hand-ho’d; ’tis better to harrow the first-made Ridges in the common Manner; because then some of the fine Earth, that is harrow’d down, will reach to the middle of the Intervals whereon the Ridges are to be made for Drilling: Or if there should be time for plowing thrice, the Ridges of the First and Second Plowings are to be harrow’d in the common Manner also.

The Harrowing of Ridges must never be cross-ways, unless they are to be made level for Cross-plowing, in order to lay out the Ridges of a Breadth different to what they were of before.

When you perceive the Ridges are too high, harrow them lower by the described manner of Harrowing; first with the heavy Harrows for harrowing out the Stubble, and then with light ones, which may be often, for making the Earth on the Ridges the finer for Drilling, without throwing much of it down; frequent Harrowings in this manner, not being injurious like too much Harrowing on level Ground, which is sometimes trodden as hard as the Highway by the Cattle that draw the Harrows; for in harrowing these Ridges, the Beast draws the Two Harrows, and always treads in the Furrow between them where there is none or very little Mould to tread on.

The Price of Hand-hoeing of these double Rows is a Peny for thirty Perches in Length of Row, which amounts to between Eighteen and Nineteen Pence for an Acre.

I should say, that in Hand-hoeing the Earth must never be turned towards the Wheat; for, if it were, it might crush it when young; neither could the Partition be clean hoed.

The Hand-hoes for hoeing the Ten-inch Partition have their Edges Seven Inches long; they are about Four Inches deep from the Handle; if they were deeper, they would be too weak; for they must be thin, and well steeled. The Labourers pay for them, and keep them in Order, for their own Use.

These Hoes must not cut out any Part of the Two Rows, nor be drawn through them, as the Four-inch Hoes sometimes may through the treble Rows.

If I am taxed with Levity in changing my treble Rows for double ones, it will not appear to be done of a sudden. In p. 132. I advised the Trial of both Sorts: And now, upon fuller Experience, I find the double Rows much preferable to the treble, especially for Wheat.

When Gentlemen saw the middle Row on low Ridges so much inferior to the outside Rows, they were convinced of the Effect of deep Hoeing; for they said, there was no other Reason for this so visible a Difference, except the outside Rows standing nearer to the pulveriz’d Intervals than the middle Row did.

And when on high Ridges the middle Row was nearly or quite as good as one of the outside Rows, I was not convinced, that they were not diminished by the middle Row, as much as the Produce of it amounted to: And this I now find to be the Case; for Four Rows of Oats, without a middle Row, produced somewhat more than the same Number that had a middle Row; Two of which treble Rows were taken on one Side, and Two on the other Side of the double Rows, purposely to make an unexceptionable Trial. And it is, as far as I can judge, the same in Wheat.

’Tis true, I began my Horse-hoeing Scheme first with double Rows; but then they were different to what they are now; for the first had their Partition uneven, being the parting Space, whereby it was less proper for Hand-hoeing, which I then seldom used, except for absolute Necessity, as to cleanse our Poppies, and the like. The Intervals also were too narrow for constant annual Crops.

By all these Three Methods I have had very good Crops; but as this I now describe is the latest, and is (as it ought to be) the best; I publish it as such, without Partiality to my own Opinions; for I think it less dishonourable to expose my Errors, when I chance to detect them, than to conceal them: And as I aim at nothing but Truth, I cannot, with any Satisfaction to myself, suffer any thing of my own knowingly to escape, that is in the lead contrary to it.

I have a Piece of Five or Six Acres of Land which I annually plant with boiling Pease, in the very same manner as Wheat; except that the Second Horse-hoeing (which is the last) throws the Earth so far upon the Pease as to make the Two Rows become One. These Pease cannot be planted until after the 25th of March; else Two Horse-hoeings might not be sufficient. The same Drill that plants Wheat plants Pease; only sometimes we change the Spindle for one that has its Notches a little bigger.

I drill no more Barley, because ’tis not proper to be followed by a Crop of Wheat without a Fallow; for some of the shattered Barley will live over the Winter, and mix with the Wheat in the Rows, and can scarce possibly be thence timely taken out, its first Stalk and Blade being difficult to distinguish from the Wheat; and this is a great Damage to the Sale in the Market; and for the same Reason I plant no more Oats.

The First Hoeing is performed by turning a Furrow from the Row.

We are not so exact as to the Weather in the First Hoeing; for if the Earth be wet, the Hoe-plough may go nearer to the Row, without burying the Wheat; and the Frost of the Winter will pulverize that Part of the[116] Furrow, which is to be thrown to the Wheat in the Spring, altho’ it was hoed wet.

Neither is it necessary to be very exact as to Time; but it must never be till the Wheat has more than One Blade; and it may be soon enough, when it has Four or Five Leaves, so that it is done before[117], or in the Beginning of Winter.

The greatest Fault you can commit in Hoeing, is the First Time, when the Furrow is turned from the Row, not to go near enough to it, nor deep enough. You cannot then go too near it, unless you plow it out, or bury it with Mould, and do not uncover it; nor too deep, unless you go below the Staple of the Ground.

Servants are apt to hoe too far from the Rows, going backwards and forwards, in the Middle of the Intervals, without coming near the Rows: This loses most of the Benefit of Hoeing, and is very injurious to the present Crop, and also to the Two succeeding Crops; for then there will be a Deficiency of pulverized Earth; and nobody can suppose, that the hoed Earth can be of any Benefit to the Rows, before the Roots reach into it; and when ’tis far off, few of the Roots reach it at all; and those that do reach, come there too late to bring the Plants to their full Perfection: Therefore, if the First Furrow was not near enough, nor deep enough, plow a Second Furrow at the Bottom of the former, which will go deeper than the First, and break the Earth more; besides taking away from the Rows such unmoved Ground, which the First Plowing may possibly have missed. If this can’t be conveniently done soon after the First Hoeing, do it before the Ridge is turned back in the Spring.

Always leave the Furrows turned up, to make[118] Ridges in the Middle of the Intervals during the Winter; and then the hollow Furrows, or Trenches next the Rows, being enriched by the Frost[119] and Rains[120], the Wheat will have the Benefit of them earlier in the Spring, than if the Trenches had been left open in the Middle of the Intervals.

The outside Rows of Wheat, from which the Earth is hoed off before or in the Beginning of Winter, and left almost bare till the Spring, one would think should suffer by the Frost coming so near them[121], or for want of Pasture: But it appears to be quite contrary; for where the Hoe has gone nearest to a Row, its Plants thrive best: The Earth, which the Frost hath pulverized, being within the Reach of the young short Roots, on that Side of the Row, from the Top to the Bottom of the Trench, nourishes them at first; and before the Plants have much exhausted this, as they grow larger in the Spring, the Ridge from the Middle of the Interval is thrown to them, having a perfectly unexhausted Pasture, to supply their increasing Bulk with more Nourishment.

The Row standing as it were on the Brink of this almost perpendicular Ditch, the Water runs off quickly, or doth not enter but a very little Way into this deep Side; so that, the Earth at the Plants being dry, the Frost doth not reach quite to all their Roots to hurt them, tho’ the Distance from the Air to the Roots be very short; and dry Earth doth not freeze as wet doth, neither is this Ditch much exposed to the cold Winds.

The Spring-hoeing is performed after the great Frosts are past, and when the Weather will allow it; and then turn[122] the Ridge from[123] the Middle of the Interval, to the Rows on each Side by Two Furrows as near as can be, without covering the Wheat; in doing which have regard to the Row only, without looking at the Middle of the Interval; for ’tis no matter if a little Earth be left there; the next Hoeing, or the next save one[124], will move it.

As to how many times Wheat is to be hoed in the Summer, after this Spring Operation, it depends upon the Circumstances[125] and Condition of the Land[126] and Weather[127]; but be the Season as it will, never suffer the Weeds to grow high, nor let any unmoved Earth lie in the Middle of the Intervals long enough to grow hard; neither plow deep near the Rows in the Summer, when the Plants are large[128], but as deep in the Middle of the Intervals as the Staple will allow; turning the Earth towards the Wheat, especially at the last Hoeing, so as to leave a deep, wide Trench in the Middle of each Interval.

We augment our Wheat-crops Four Ways; not in Number of Plants, but in Stalks, Ears, and Grains.

The First is, by increasing the Number of Stalks from One, Two, or Three, to Thirty or Forty to a Plant, in ordinary Field-land.

And we augment the Crop, by bringing up all the Stalks into Ears, which is the Second Way; for, if it be diligently observed, we shall find, that not half[129] the Stalks of sown Wheat come into Ear.

I saw an Experiment of this in Rows of Wheat that were equally poor: One of these Rows was increased[130] so much, as to produce more Grains than Ten of the other, by bringing up more of its Stalks into Ears, and also by augmenting its Ears to a much greater Bigness; which is the Third Way: For, whatever Varro means by saying, that the Ears remain Fifteen Days in Vaginis, ’tis pretty plain, that the Ears are formed together with the Stalks, and will be very large, or very small, in proportion to the Nourishment given them[131].

The last and Fourth Way of augmenting the Produce of Wheat-plants, is by causing them to have large and plump Grains in the Ears; and this can no way be so effectually done as by late Hoeing, especially just after the Wheat is gone out of the Blossom; and when such hoed Grains weigh double the Weight of the same Number of unhoed (which they frequently will) tho’ the Number of Grains in the hoed are only equal, yet the hoed Crop must be double.

Thus, by increasing the Number of Stalks[132], bringing more of them up into Ear[133], making the Ears larger[134], and the Grain plumper, and fuller of Flour[135], the Hoeing Method makes a greater Crop from a Tenth Part of the Plants[136] than the sowing Method can.

All these Advantages will be lost by those Drillers, who do not overcome the unreasonable Prejudices of the unexperienced, concerning the Width of Intervals.

In wide Intervals, we can raise a good Crop with less Labour, less Seed, no Dung, no Fallow, but not without a competent Quantity of Earth, which is the least expensive of any thing given to Corn; the Earth of a whole good Acre being but about the Tenth Part of the common Expence; and of indifferent Land, a Twentieth; and such I count that of Five Shillings and Six-pence per Acre.

The Crop enjoys all the Earth; for betwixt the last Hoeing, and the Harvest, there remains nothing but Space empty of Mould in the Middle of the Intervals.

’Tis an Objection, that great Part of those wide Intervals must be lost[137], because the Wheat-roots do not reach it; but as we generally turn the Mould towards the Row at the last Hoeings, there is no Part of it above Two Feet distant from even the middle Row, and Seventeen Inches from either of the outside Rows.

And I have plainly proved, that the Roots of Cone-wheat have reached Mould at Two Feet Distance, after passing through another Row at a Foot Distance from it, the Plants being then but Eighteen Inches high, and but half-grown.

Farmers do not grudge to bestow Three or Four Pounds in the Buying and Carriage of Dung for an Acre; but think themselves undone, if they afford an extraordinary Eighteen-penyworth of Earth to the wide Intervals of an Acre; not considering that Earth is not only the best, but also the cheapest Entertainment that can be given to Plants; for at Five Shillings and Six-pence Rent, the whole Earth belonging to each of our Rows costs only Six-pence, i. e. a Peny for a Foot broad, and Six hundred and Sixty Feet long; that being the Sixty-sixth Part of an Acre[138].

And if for constant annual Wheat-crops you make fewer than Eleven Rows on Four Perches Breadth, you will always increase the Expence of Hoeing; because then Two Furrows will not Hoe One of those Intervals, and you will also thereby lessen the Crops, but improve the Land more: And if you increase that Number of Rows, you will thereby increase every Expence; for there must be Two Furrows to hoe a narrow Interval, and an Increase of the Quantity of Seed, and the Labour in uncovering, weeding, and reaping; and also you will less improve the Land, and lessen the Crops after the First Year.

If the Intervals are narrower in deep Land, tho’ there might be Mould enough in them, yet there would not be Room to pulverize it.

If narrower in shallow Land, tho’ there were Room, yet there would not be Mould enough in them to be pulverized.

The Horse-hoe, well applied, doth supply the Use of Dung and Fallow; but it cannot supply the Use of Earth, tho’ it can infinitely increase the vegetable Pasture of it, by pulverizing it, where it is in a reasonable Quantity: Yet if the Intervals be so narrow, that near all the Earth of them goes to make the Partitions raised at the Top of the Ridges, there will be so little to be pulverized, that you must return to Fallowing, and to the Dung-cart, and to all the old exorbitant Charges[139].

Eight Acres, Part of a Ground of Twenty Acres, drilled with Intervals of Three Feet and an half, brought a good Crop; but the Second Year, not being hoed, the Crop was poor; and the Third Crop made that Land so foul and turfy, that ’twas forced to lie for a Fallow, there being no way to bring it into Tilth without a Summer-plowing[140], when the rest of the same Piece, in wider Intervals, being constantly hoed, continued in good Tilth, and never failed to yield a good Crop, without missing one Year.

In another Field, there is now a Sixth Crop of Wheat, in wide Intervals, very promising, tho’ this Ground has had no sort of Dung to any of these Crops, or in several Years before them: The last Year’s Crop was the Fifth, and was the best of the Five, tho’ a Yard of the Row yielded but Eighteen Ounces and Three Quarters; and the Third Crop yielded Twenty Ounces Weight[141] of clean Wheat in the same Spot; but ’twas because the Spot where the Twenty grew, was then a little higher than the rest, which in Two Years became more equal; and the thin Land was more deficient in that Third Crop, than the thick Land exceeded the thin in the Fifth Crop.

In the thick the Hoe-plough went deeper, and consequently raised more Pasture there; but then it went the shallower in the thin; and when the Land became of a more equal Depth the Fifth Year, the Plough and the Hoe-plough went deeper, all the Piece being taken together; for the Crop could be but in proportion to the different Pasture, allowing somewhat for the more or less Seasonableness of the Year.

The Soil, in this our Case, cannot be supplied in Substance, but from the Atmosphere. The Earth which the Rain brings can do it alone, if it fall in great Quantity; for by Water, ’tis plain, the Earth which nourished Helmont’s Tree was supplied; for the Tin-cover of the Box wherein it stood, prevented the Dews from entering.

Dews must add very much to the Land, thus continually tilled and hoed; for they are more heavily charged with terrestrial Matter than Rain is, which appears from their forcing a Descent through the Air, when ’tis strong enough to buoy up the Clouds from falling into Rain: And Dew, when kept in a Vessel long enough to putrefy, leaves a greater Quantity of black Matter at the Bottom of the Vessel, than Rain-water does in a Vessel of the same Bigness, filled with it till putrefied.

Dews at Land, I suppose, are first exhaled from Rivers, and moist Lands, and from the Expirations of Vegetables; most of the Dew which falls on it is exhaled from untilled Land; but most of that which falls on well tilled or well hoed Land, remains therein unexhaled; so that the untilled Ground helps, by that means, to enrich and augment the tilled: For if an Acre be tilled for Two Years together without sowing, it will become richer by that Tillage, than by lying unplowed Four Years, which may be easily proved by Experience[142].

But then, as to Rain, the Sea being larger than all the Land (and its Waters, by their Motion, becoming replete with terrestrial Matter), ’tis not unlikely, that more Vapour is raised from One Acre of Sea, than from One hundred Acres of Land.

Some have been so curious as to compute the Quantity of Rain, that falls yearly in some Places in England, by a Contrivance of a Vessel to receive it; and ’tis found, in one of the driest Places, far from the Sea, to be Fourteen Inches deep, in the Compass of a Year; in some Places much more; viz. at Paris, Nineteen Inches; in Lancashire, Mr. Townley found, by a long-continued Series of Observations, that there falls above Forty Inches of Water in a Year’s time.

Could we as easily compute the true Quantity of Earth in Rain-water, as the Quantity of Water is computed, we might perhaps find it to answer the Quantity of Earth taken off from our hoed Soil annually by the Wheat.

But if Land sown with Wheat be not hoed, its Surface is soon incrustate; and then much of this Water, with its Contents, runs off, and returns to the Sea, without entering the Ground; and in Summer a great deal of what remains is exhaled by the Sun, and raised by the Wind, both in Summer and Winter.

Some there are who think it a fatal Objection, that the more an Interval is hoed, the more Weeds will grow in it; and that the Hoe can produce, or (as they say) breed in it as many Weeds in one Summer, as would have come thereon in Ten Years by the old Husbandry. But by this Objection they only maintain, that the Hoe can destroy as many Weeds in One Summer, as the old Husbandry can in Ten Years.

And they might add, that since all Weeds that grow where the Hoe comes, are killed before they seed, and that few of those Which grow in the old Husbandry, are killed[143] before their Seed be ripe and shed; these Objectors will be forced to allow, that our Husbandry will lessen a Stock of Weeds more in one Summer, than theirs can do to the World’s End; unless they believe the equivocal Generation of Weeds, than which Opinion nothing can be more absurd.

Some object against my Method of[144] weighing a Yard, or a Perch in Length of a Row, saying, this does not determine the Produce of a whole Field.

I answer, that they judge right, if the Produce of the whole Field be not of equal Goodness; but if it be not, it must be because one Part of the Field is richer, or differently managed from the other Part: For the same Causes that produce Twenty Ounces of clean Wheat upon one Yard, must produce the same Quantity upon every Yard, of a Million of Acres.

When the Crop of half a Field is spoiled by Sheep, not hoed at all, or improperly, it would be ridiculous to compute the whole Field together for an Experiment: We might indeed weigh the poorest, to prove the Difference of the one from the other, to try (as they sometimes seem to do) how poor a Crop we can raise; but my Design was, to try how good a Crop I could raise with a Tenth Part of the common Expence.

And I have often weighed the Produce of the same Quantity of Ground[145], of all Sorts of sown Wheat, both the best and the worst; but never have found any of the sown equal to the best of my drilled. Indeed we have none of the richest Land[146] in our Country within my Reach, that being not above One Mile.

As a Yard in Length of my treble Row of the Third successive Crop of Wheat, without Dung or Fallow, produced Twenty Ounces of Wheat; which, allowing Six Feet to the Ridge, is about Six Quarters[147] to an Acre; and, allowing Seven Inches to each Partition, and Two Inches on each Outside, is in all Eighteen Inches of Ground to each treble Row, and but just One-fourth Part of the Ridge. Now, if, in the old Husbandry, the Crop was as good all over the Ground, as it was in these Eighteen Inches of the treble Row, they must have Twenty-four Quarters to an Acre; but let them dung whilst they can, they will scarce raise Twenty-four Gallons of Wheat the Third Year, on an Acre of Land of equal Goodness; and let them leave out their Dung, and add no more Tillage in lieu of it, and I believe they will not expect Three Quarters to an Acre, in all the Three Years put together.

The mean Price of Wheat, betwixt Dear and Cheap, is reckoned Five Shillings a Bushel[148]; and therefore an Acre that would produce every Year, without any Expence, Eight Bushels, would be thought an extraordinary profitable Acre; but yet a drilled Acre, that produces Sixteen Bushels of Wheat, with the Expence of Ten or Fifteen Shillings, is above a Third Part more profitable.

I don’t know that I ever had an Acre yet, that was tolerably well managed in this Manner, but what produced much more.

---

Wheat is blighted at Two Seasons; First, when in the Blossom; and then its Generation is prevented and many of the Husks are empty in the Ear, the Grains not being impregnated.

Secondly, Wheat is blighted, when the Grains are brought to the time of their Maturity, but are light, and of little Value for making of Bread; because they are not well filled with Flour.

The First cannot happen in England by the Frost because the Winters do not suffer it to grow so much, as to come into Blossom before the Month of June; but they are long continual Rains that rot or chill the Blossoms, and prevent their Fertility. Yet this is what seldom happens to any great Degree. Wheat that grows in open Fields has some Advantage from the Wind, that dislodges the Water sooner from the Ears, than it can do in sheltry Places; and Lammas Wheat does not hold the Drops of Rain so long as the Bearded (or Cone) Wheat, which received very great Damage by this sort of Blight in the Year 1725, the like never having been heard of before.

The Second sort of Blight, viz. from light Ears, is that which is most frequent, and more general: This brings the greatest Scarcity of Wheat. The Cause is plainly Want of Nourishment to perfect the Grain, by whatever means that Want is occasioned.

Several Accidents kill the Plants, or injure their Health, and then the Grains are not filled; as Lightning, the Effects whereof may be observed by the blackish Spots and Patches in Fields of Wheat, especially in such Years as have more of it than usual. Against this there is no Defence.

The other Causes of the Blight, which are most general, and do the most Damage, may, in some measure, be prevented.

One Cause is the lodging or falling of Corn; for then the Stalks are broken near the Ground, whereby many of the Vessels are so pressed, that the Juices cannot pass them; and then the free Circulation is hindered; the Chyle cannot mount in sufficient Quantity to be purified, and turned into Sap; the Defect whereof makes the Plants become languid, and only just able to live; they have Strength enough to linger on to the time of their Period, as in very old Age, but not to bring their Fruit, which is the Grain, to its natural Bulk, nor to fill it with Flour: and the sooner the Stalks fall, the less and thinner the Grain will be.

Hence it often happens, that when Tillage, Dung, and good Land have brought a Crop of Wheat, that in the Months of April and May promise to yield the Owner Five or Six Quarters on an Acre, then in June it falls down, and scarce affords Five or Six Bushels; and that perhaps is so thin and lank, that the Expence of reaping and threshing it may overbalance its Value.

That the falling down of Wheat does cause the Ruin of the Crop, is well known; but what causes it to fall, is not so plain.

And, without knowing the true Causes, ’tis not likely that a Remedy should be found against the Disease.

I take this Weakness of the Stalks, which occasions their falling, to proceed from want of Nourishment, want of Air, want of the Sun’s Rays, or of all Three.

One Argument, that it lodges for want of Nourishment, is, that a rich Acre has maintain’d a Crop of Five Quarters standing, when another poorer Acre was not able to support a Crop from falling, which was but large enough to have brought Three Quarters, if it had stood: and this in the same Year, and on the same Situation. And ’tis very plain, that if one Acre was twice as rich as the other, it must be able to nourish Five Quarters better than the other could nourish Three Quarters.

Air is necessary to the Life and Health of all Plants, tho’ in very different Degrees: Aquatics, which live under Water, are content with as little Air, as their Companions the Fishes.

But Wheat, being a terrestrial Plant, (tho’ in Winter it will live many Days under Water, whilst the slow Motion of its Sap gives it little or no Increase), requires a free open Air, and does not succeed so well in low sheltery Places, as upon higher and opener Situations; where the Air has a greater Motion, and can more easily carry off the Recrements from the Leaves, after it has shaken off the Dews and Rains, which would otherwise suffocate the Plants; and therefore the Leaves are made so susceptible of Motion from the Air, which frees them from the Dews, that would stop in the Recrements at the Vesiculæ of the Leaves, but shaken down will nourish the Plants at the Roots: The want of this Motion weakening the Wheat, ’tis (as Animals in the like sickly Case are) the more unable to stand, and the more liable to be press’d down by the Weight of Rain-water, and more unable to rise up again when down: All which Evils are remov’d by the free Motion of the Air, which shakes off both Dews and Rains, and thus contributes to prevent the falling (or lodging) of Wheat.

A great Quantity also of the Sun’s Rays is necessary to keep Wheat strong, and in Health; and in Egypt, and other hot Countries, it is not so apt to fall, as it is when sown in Northern Climates, tho’ the Produce of the South be the greatest[152].

It may be observ’d, that every Leaf is inserted into a Sort of Knot, which probably delivers the Sap to be depurated at the Vesiculæ of the Leaves, and then receives it back again for the Nourishment of the Plant, doing for that Purpose the Office of an Heart: But the Sun with his Rays supplies the Part of Pulse, to keep the Sap in Motion, and carry on its Circulation, instead of the Heart’s Systole and Diastole. Wheat, being doubtless originally a Native of a hot Country, requires by its Constitution a considerable Degree of Heat to bring it to Perfection; and if much of that Degree be wanting, the Wheat will be the weaker; and when the Solar Rays cannot reach the lower Parts of the Stalks, the lowest Leaves and Knots cannot do their Office; for which Reason the Chyle must mount higher before it be made into Sap, and there must be then a greater Mixture of crude Chyle next to the Ground, as by the white Colour it appears[153]. By this Means that Part, which, if it had a due Share of the Sun’s Influence, would be harden’d like a Bone or Spring, for the Support of the Stalks, for lack of that, becomes more like to a Cartilage, soft and weak, unable to sustain the Weight of the bending Ear, which, having its greatest Impetus against this Part, which is most feeble to resist it, it yields, and lets it fall to the Ground; and then the Grain will be blighted.

There is also another Cause of the Blight; and that is, the Wheat’s coming too late into Blossom. The usual Time is the Beginning of June; and if it be later, the Days shorten so fast after the Solstice, that the Autumn of the Year hastening the Autumn of the Wheat’s Life, the full Time of its Pregnancy[154] is not accomplish’d; and then its Fruit, which is the Grain, becomes as it were abortive, and not full-grown. This Time betwixt the Generation, Blossoming, and the Maturity of the Grain, is, or ought to be, about Two Months.

Therefore ’tis advantageous to hasten, what we can, the Time of Blossoming, and to protract the Time of Ripening: And ’tis observ’d, that the earliest sown Wheat generally escapes the Blight the best, because it comes first into Blossom.

Feeding down the Wheat with Sheep prevents the Blight, by doing what the Blight wou’d do, if the Wheat fell down, i. e. causes the Ears to be light[155].

And we find, that those who practise this Method of feeding their Wheat with Sheep in the Spring, to prevent the lodging of it, have most commonly their Straw weak, and Ears light.

These, instead of making the Stalks strong enough to support heavy Ears, make the Ears light enough to be supported by weak Stalks. They know that heavy Ears make the greatest Crop; and yet they still hope to have it from light ones.

They cause the Blight by the very means they make use of to cure it.

This feeding of Wheat much retards the Time of its blossoming; and that it may blossom early, is one chief End of sowing it early, to prevent the Blight. But when it is fed, what the Plants send up next is but a Sort of second or latter Crop, which has longer to stand than the first would have required, and is always weaker than the first Crop would have been; and the longer time it has to continue on the Ground, the more Nourishment is required to maintain it; and yet, as has been shewn, the longer it has been sown, the more the Earth has lost of its Nourishment; and consequently, the Crop will be yet weaker, and in more Danger of the starving Blight[156].

The most effectual Remedy against the Blight is that which removes all its Causes (except such extraordinary ones as Lightning); as,

The Horse-hoe will, in wide Intervals, give Wheat, throughout all the Stages of its Life, as much Nourishment as the discreet Hoer pleases.

Air, being a Fluid, moves most freely in a right or strait Line; for there the fewest of its Parts meet with any Resistance; as a strait River runs swifter than a crooked one, from an equal Declivity; because more of the Water strikes against the Banks at the Turnings, and is there somewhat retarded: and the rest moving no faster than in the strait River, the whole Stream of the crooked must be slower in its Course, than that of the strait River.

The Air cannot pass thro’ sown Corn in a direct Line, because it must strike against, and go round every Plant, they standing all in the Way of its Course, which must stop its Current near the Earth.

And the Air amongst sown Corn is like Water amongst Reeds or Osiers in the Side of a River; it is so stopp’d in its Course, that it almost becomes an Eddy; and since Air is about Eight hundred Times lighter than Water, we may suppose its Current thro’ the Corn is more easily retarded, especially near the Earth, where the Corn has occasion for the greatest Quantity of Air to pass: For, tho’ the upper Part of the Wheat be not able to stop a slow Current of Air, yet it does so much raise even a swift one, as to throw it off from the Ground, and hinder it from reaching the lower Parts of the Stalks, where the Air must therefore remain, in a manner, stagnant; and the thicker the Wheat is, where it stands promiscuously, the less Change of Air can it have, tho’ the greater the Number of the Stalks is, the more fresh Air they must require.

But the confused Manner in which the Plants of sown Wheat stand, is such, that they must all oppose the free Entrance of Air amongst them, from whatever Point of the Compass it comes.

Now it is quite otherwise with Wheat drill’d regularly with wide Intervals; for therein the Current of Air may pass freely (like Water in a strait River, where there is no Resistance), and communicate its Nitre to the lower as well as upper Leaves, and carry off the Recrements they emit, not suffering the Plants to be weakened, as an Animal is, when his Lungs are forc’d to take back their own Expirations, if debarr’d from a sufficient Supply of fresh untainted Air. And this Benefit of fresh Air is plentifully, and pretty equally, distributed to every Row in a Field of ho’d Wheat.

Sown Wheat-plants, by their irregular Position, may be said to stand in one another’s Light, for want of which they are apt to fall.

’Tis true the whole Field of Plants receive the same Quantity of Sun-beams amongst them, whether they stand confusedly, or in Order: But there is a vast Difference in the Distribution of them; for none or the very least Share of Beams is obtain’d by those Parts which need the greatest Share, in the confused Plants. And when the crural Parts, that should support the whole Body of every Plant, are depriv’d of their due Share of what is so necessary to strengthen them, the Plants (like Animals in the same Case) are unable to stand.

But in drill’d Wheat, where the Plants stand in a regular Order, the Sun-beams are more duly distributed to all Parts of the Plants in the Ranks; for which Way soever the Rows are directed, if they be strait, the Rays must, some time of the Day, fall on the Intervals, and be reflected by the Ground, whence the lower Parts of the Wheat-stalks must receive the greater Share of Heat, being nearest to the Point of Incidence, having no Weeds to shadow them.

As to that Cause of the Blight, viz. the Wheat’s dying before the full Time of its Pregnancy be accomplish’d; the Hoe removes all the Objections against planting early, and then it will blossom the earlier: And it has visibly kept Wheat green a whole Week longer, than unho’d Wheat adjoining to it, planted the same Day.

The Antients were perfect Masters of the Vine-Husbandry, which seems to have so engross’d their rural Studies, that it did not allow them so much Reflection, as to apply the Use of those Methods to the Increase of Bread, which they had discover’d to be most beneficial for the Increase of Wine. One Method was, to hoe the Vines after they had blossom’d, in order to fill the Fruit, as in Columella, Lib. iv. Cap. 28. Convenit tum crebris Fossionibus implere: nam fit ulterior Pulverationibus. And if what Palladius says, Tit. ix. be true of the Sarritions and Sarculations in the Month of January, and that if Beans do twice undergo that scratching Operation, they will produce much Fruit, and so large as to fill the Bushel almost as full when shal’d as unshal’d.

Faba, si bis sarculetur, proficiet, & multum Fructum & maximum afferet, ut ad Mensuram Modii complendi fresa propemodum sicut Integra respondeat.

This is to be done when Beans are Four Fingers high, and Corn when it has Four or Five Leaves to a Plant; even then the Harrowing-work, tho’ it tore up some of the Plants, yet it was observ’d to do Good against the Blight.

Si siccas Segetes sarculaveris, aliquid contra Rubiginem præstitisti, maxime si Ordeum siccum sarrietur.

When the Antients observ’d this, ’tis a Wonder they did not plant their Corn so as to be capable of receiving this Benefit in Perfection. They might have imagin’d, that what was effectual against the Blight, when the Corn was in Grass, must, in all Probability, be much more effectual when in Ear.

But the most general Blight that happens to Wheat in cold Climates, is caused by Insects, which (some think) are brought in the Air by an East Wind accompanied with Moisture, a little before the Grain is filling with that milky Juice, which afterwards hardens into Flour. These Insects deposit their Eggs within the outer Skin (or Rind) of the Stalks; and when the young ones are hatched, they feed on the Parenchyma, and eat off many of the Vessels which should make and convey this Juice; and then the Grain will be more or less thin, in Proportion to the Number of Vessels eaten, and as the Insects happen to come earlier or later; for sometimes they come so late, that the Grain is sufficiently fill’d with the said milky Juice before the Vessels are eaten; and then, tho’ the Straw appear thro’ a Microscope to have its Vessels very much eaten and torn, and to be full of black Spots (which Spots are nothing else but the Excrements of those young Insects), yet the Grain is plump, and not blighted, there being an Observation, That the early sown Wheat generally escapes this Blight. And it has been seen, where one Part of a Field is sown earlier than the other Part, without any other Difference than the Time of sowing, that the Grain of the latest sown has been much blighted, and the Grain of the earlier has escaped the Blight, tho’ the Straw of both were equally eaten by the Insects. Hence it may be inferr’d, that the Milk in the one had receiv’d all the Nourishment necessary to its due Consistence, before the Vessels were destroy’d; but, in the other, the Vessels, which should have continued the Supply of Nourishment for thickening the Milk, being spoil’d before they have finish’d that Office, it remains too thin; and then the Grain, when it hardeneth, shrinks up, and is blighted; yet the Grain of one and the other are equally plump until they become hard: The Difference therefore is only in the Thickness of the Milk, that in the blighted being more watery than the other.

The chief Argument to prove, that these Insects are brought by an East Wind, is, that the Wheat on the East Sides of Hedges are much blighted, when that on the West Sides is not hurt: And as to the Objection, that they are bred in the Earth, and crawl thence up the Stalks of the Wheat, because some Land is much more subject to produce blighted Wheat than other Land is; perhaps this Difference may be chiefly owing to the different Situation of those Lands, as they are opposed to the East, or to the West.

Another Cause why some Wheat is more blighted than other Wheat on the same Land, is, the different Condition in which the Insects find it; for the Rind of that which is very strong and flourishing[157] is soft and tender; into this they can easily penetrate to lay their Eggs; but the Wheat that is poor and yellow, has an hard tough skin (or Rind), into which the Insects are not able to bore for the Intromission of their Eggs, and therefore can do it no Mischief. It would be in vain to advise to prevent the Blight, by striving to make the Wheat poor; for tho’ Poverty may preserve Wheat from this Blight, as well as it does People from the Gout, yet that is a Remedy which few take willingly against either of these Diseases: But this, I think, might be possible to remedy it, if we could, from the strongest Wheat, take away so much Nourishment as to turn its Colour[158] a little yellowish just before the Insects come[159] which I suppose to be in June, after the Ear is out, or at least fully formed.

Yet this can only be done in wide Intervals; for, unless the fine Earth can be thrust to some considerable Distance from the Roots after they are cut off, they will soon shoot out again, and reach it, becoming more vigorous thereby.

In dry Summers this Misfortune seldom happens, much Heat, and very little Moisture, being most agreeable to the Constitution of Wheat; for then its Rind is more firm and hard, as it is, on the contrary, made more soft and spongy by too much Moisture.

The most easy and sure Remedy, that I have yet found against the Injury of these Insects, is, to plant a Sort of Wheat that is least liable to be hurt by them; viz. The White-cone (or bearded) Wheat, which has its Stalk or Straw like a Rush, not hollow, but full of Pith (except near the lower Part, and there ’tis very thick and strong): ’Tis probable it has Sap-Vessels that lie deeper, so as the young Insects cannot totally destroy them, as they do in other Wheat: For when the Straw has the black Spots, which shew that the Insects have been there bred, yet the Grain is plump, when the Grey-cone and Lammas Wheat mixt with it are blighted. This Difference might have been from the different times of ripening, this being ripe about a Week earlier than the Grey-cone, and later than the Lammas: But its being planted together both early and late, and at all Times of the Wheat-seed Time, and this White-cone always escaping with its Grain unhurt, is an Argument, that ’tis naturally fortify’d against the Injury of these Insects, which in wet Summers are so pernicious to other Sorts of Wheat; and I can impute it to no other Cause than the different Deepness of the Vessels, the Straw of other Wheat being very much thinner, and hollow from Top to Bottom; this having a small Hollow at Bottom, and there the Thickness betwixt the outer Skin and the Cavity is more than double to that in other Sorts of Wheat; so that I imagine, the Insects reach only the outermost Vessels, and enough of the inner Vessels are left untouch’d to supply the Grain.

This Wheat makes very good Bread, if the Miller does not grind it too small, or the Baker make his Dough too hard, it requiring to be made softer than that of other Flour.

A Bushel of this White-cone Wheat will make more Bread than a Bushel of Lammas, and of the same Goodness; but it gives a little yellow Cast to the Bread.

Another Sort of lodging Blight there is, which some call Moar-Loore, and mostly happens on light Land. This is when the Earth, sinking away from the Roots, leaves the Bottom of the Stalk higher than the subsided Ground; and then the Plant, having only these naked Roots to support it (for which they are too weak), falls down to the Earth.

To remedy this, turn a shallow Furrow against the Rows, when they are strong enough to bear it, and when the Mould is very fine and dry; then the Motion of the Stalks by the Wind will cause such Earth to run through the Rows, and settle about the Roots, and cover them[160].

I have never seen any drill’d Wheat so much spoil’d by falling, as sewn Wheat sometimes is. The drill’d never falls so close to the Ground, but that the Air enters into Hollows that are under it, and the Wind keeps the Ears in Motion. Notwithstanding all the Precaution that can be used, in some unseasonable Years Wheat will be blighted: I have known such a general Blight, when some of my Lammas Wheat, planted late on blighting Land, was blighted, amongst the rest of my Neighbours, by the Insects, but the Grain of the sown Wheat was vastly more injured than that of the drill’d: The former was so light, that the greatest Part was blown away in winnowing, and the Remainder so bad, that it was not fit to make Bread: The drill’d made as good Bread, and had as much Flour in it, as the sown Wheat had, that was not blighted; for the Grains of the drill’d were much larger than those of the sown; being form’d to have been twice as big as the Grains of Wheat generally are, had they not been blighted.

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St. Foin, from the Country we brought it from, is call’d French Grass: And for its long Continuance, some having lasted Forty Years, ’tis call’d Everlasting Grass, tho’ it be not strictly a Gramen.

’Tis call’d in French, Sain Foin, i. e. Sanum Fœnum, from its Quality of Wholsomeness, beyond the other artificial Grasses, green and dry. ’Tis also call’d Sanctum Fœnum, Holy Hay.

’Tis a Plant so generally known to every Body, that there is no need to give any formal Description of that Part of it which appears above-ground, It has many red Flowers, sometimes leaving Ears Five or Six Inches long: I have measured the Stalks, and found them above Five Feet long, tho’ they are commonly but about Two Feet.

The Reason why St. Foin will, in poor Ground, make a Forty times greater Increase than the natural Turf, is the prodigious Length[161] of its perpendicular Tap-root: It is said to descend Twenty or Thirty Feet. I have been inform’d, by a Person of undoubted Credit, that he has broken off one of these Roots in a Pit, and measured the Part broken off, and found it fourteen Feet.

This Tap-root has also a Multitude of very long horizontal Roots at the upper Part thereof, which fill all the upper Stratum, or Staple of the Ground; and of thousands of St. Foin Roots I have seen taken up, I never found one that was without horizontal Roots near the Surface, after one Summer’s Growth; and do much wonder how Mr. Kerkham should be so mistaken, as to think they have none such.

Also these Tap-roots have the horizontal ones all the Way down; but as they descend, they are still shorter and shorter, as the uppermost are always the longest.

Any dry Ground may be made to produce this noble Plant, be it never so poor; but the richest Soil will yield the most of it, and the best.

If you venture to plant it with the Drill, according to the Method wherein I have always had the best Success; let the Land be well prepared before you plant it. The Seed, if not well ordered, will very little of it grow; therefore ’tis convenient to try it in the manner mention’d in the Chapter of Hoeing; where are also Directions to find the proper Quantity and Depth to plant it at: I have observ’d, that the Heads of these Seeds are so large, and their Necks so weak[162], that if they lie much more than half an Inch[163] deep, they are not able to rise through the incumbent Mould; or if they are not cover’d, they will be malted[164]. A Bushel to an Acre is full twenty Seeds to each square Foot, in all I try’d; but there is odds in the Largeness of it, which makes some Difference in the Number.

The worst Seasons to plant it are the Beginning of Winter, and in the Drought of Summer. The best Season is early in the Spring.

’Tis the stronger when planted alone, and when no other Crop is sown with it[165].

If Barley, Oats, or other Corn sown with St. Foin, do lodge, it will kill[166] the young St. Foin that is under it: But then so great a Crop of Corn will certainly answer the very little Expence of drilling the St. Foin again, either the next Year, or as soon as the Corn is off the Ground.

St. Foin drill’d betwixt Rows of Barley or Oats, always is stronger than when drill’d amongst Corn that is sown at random; and therefore is in less Danger of being kill’d by the Lodging of the Corn; neither is the Corn in Rows so liable to fall as the other.

The Quantity of Seed to be drill’d on an Acre will depend, in great Measure, upon the Goodness of it; for in some bad Seed, not more than One in Ten will grow; and in good Seed, not One in Twenty will miss; which is best known by stripping off the Husks of a certain Number of Seeds, and planting the Kernels in Earth, in the manner directed for finding the proper Depth to plant at, which, in this Case, let be half an Inch: This being done, the Quality of the Seed will be known. But until frequent Trials have furnish’d Experience enough to the Planter to know the Difference, let him observe, that the following are good Signs; viz. The Husk of a bright Colour, the Kernel plump, of a light-grey or blue Colour, or sometimes of a shining black; yet the Seed may be good, tho’ the Husk is of a dark Colour, if that is caused by its receiving Rain in the Field, and not by heating in a Heap, or in the Mow; and if you cut the Kernel off in the Middle, cross-ways, and find the Inside of a Greenish fresh Colour, it’s surely good; but if of a yellowish Colour, and friable about the Navel, and thin, or pitted, these are Marks of bad Seed.

The Quantity, or rather Number of Seeds convenient to drill, ought to be computed by the Number of Plants[167] we propose to have for making the best Crop, allowing for Casualties[168].

In drilling St. Foin not to be ho’d, and before the Ploughs of my Drill were so perfect in making narrow Chanels as they are now (for, when the Chanels were open, they had Six times the Breadth, wherein Part of the Seed was wasted), then my Quantity was One Bushel to an Acre, sometimes Six Gallons.

But a single Acre (in the middle of a large Field of St. Foin) being drill’d late in October, the frosty Winter kill’d at least Nineteen of Twenty Parts[169] of that Bushel. At first it made such a poor Appearance, that ’twas by mere Accident, or it had been plow’d up for a Fallow; but, missing of that, a few Plants were perceiv’d in the Summer, which by their Singleness grew so vigorous, and so very large, that the Second Year of Mowing it[170] produc’d a Crop double to the rest of the same Field, which was drill’d in the Spring, with the same Proportion of Seed, and none of it kill’d: tho’ all this Field was a much better Crop than some that was sown in the common Manner, with Seven Bushels to an Acre. I have generally observ’d the thin[171] to make the best Crop, after the First or Second Year.

I have also often observ’d in Lands of St. Foin, lying dispersed in a common Field (but where there was not Common for Sheep), and where the Ends of other Lands kept in Tillage, pointed against the Pieces of St. Foin, and the Horses and Ploughs turning out upon the St. Foin[172] did plow and scratch out a Multitude of its Plants; so that it was thought to be spoil’d, and Law-suits were intended for Recompence of the Damage; that afterwards this scratch’d Part, supposed to be spoil’d, became twice as good as the rest of the same Pieces, where the Ploughs did not come to tear up any Plants.

The Reason why the single St. Foin Plants make the greatest Crops, is, that the Quantity of the Crop is always in Proportion to the Quantity of Nourishment it receives from the Earth; and those Plants which run deepest will receive most; and such as are single will run deeper than those which are not single.

Also the single do send out all round them horizontal Roots, proportionably stronger and larger, whereby they are better able to penetrate, and extract more Nourishment from the Staple, or upper Stratum, than the other can do, if there be a competent Number; which is, when ho’d, fewer than any-body imagines. ’Tis common to see a single St. Foin have a bigger Tap-root than Twenty thick ones: Their Length is in Proportion to their Bigness: Therefore that single Plant may well be supposed to have Twenty times more Depth of Earth to supply it, than all those Twenty small Roots can reach to. And tho’ these under Strata are not so rich as the upper; yet, never having been drain’d by any Vegetable, they do afford a very considerable Quantity of Nourishment to those Roots which first enter them.

The small thick Plants are so far from equalling the Product of the single, by their Excess of Number, that the more they are, the smaller, shorter, and weaker they become; less Nourishment they have, and the less Crop they produce; and are soon starv’d, decay, and die, unless reliev’d by the Expence of frequent Manure, or that the Soil be very rich.

Single Plants exceed the other by a Multitude of Degrees, more than a Giant does a Dwarf, in Strength, as well as Stature; and therefore when natural Grass happens to come, are so much the better able to shift amongst it.

The single Plants seem also to exceed the other in their Longevity; for ’tis observ’d, that all St. Foin that has continu’d great for a good Number of Years without Manure, has been so single, that the Owners have determined to plow it up at the Beginning, for the Thinness of it.

How long this may last by Culture, I can’t tell; but undoubtedly much longer than without it; and I can say, that I never knew a Plant of St. Foin die a natural Death; the most common End of it is Starving. And when an hundred thick Plants have not the Nourishment which One single Plant has, ’tis no Wonder that these (in a Croud[173] thus besieg’d with Hunger) should be starv’d before it.

Another Advantage the single have, in respect of Moisture: These reach to a Depth where that is never wanting, even when the upper Stratum or Staple is parch’d up, as appears by the Experiment of the Mints, that if any Root of a Plant has Moisture, that Root will communicate a Share to all the rest. Hence it is, that, in the driest Summer, these single Plants make a great Crop, when the other yield next to nothing. I remember I once saw a Farmer coming out of a Ground with a Load of St. Foin Hay, which he assured me was all he could find worth cutting, out of Forty Acres of this thick sort, in full Perfection, Three Years after sowing: He valued his Load at Three Pounds; but withal said it came off so much Ground, that the Expence of Mowing, Raking, &c. was more than the Value; when, in the very same dry Summer, there was Three Tun of St. Foin to an Acre in a Field[174], where it was drill’d single and regularly.

And I have often observ’d, that where the Plants are thin, the Second Crop of them springs again immediately after cutting; when Plants that stand thick in the same Ground, spring not till Rain comes; and I have seen the thin grown high enough to cut the Second time, before the other began to spring.

The best way to find what Number of these Plants it is proper to have on a Perch of Ground, is to consider what Quantity of Hay one large Plant will produce (for, if cultivated, they will be all such).

Without Culture these Plants never attain to a Fourth Part of the Bulk they do with it: Therefore very few have seen any one Plant at its full Bigness. One Plant, well cultivated, has in the same Ground made a greater Produce, than One thousand small ones uncultivated.

But the Hay of a large single cultivated Plant will weigh more than half a Pound; and 112 Plants upon a square Perch, weighing but a Quarter of a Pound apiece one with another, amount to Two Tun to an Acre.

If St. Foin be planted on some sorts of Land early in the Spring, and ho’d, it may bring a Crop the same Summer; for I once planted a few Seeds of it on sandy Ground in my Garden, at the End of February, which produced large Plants above Two Feet high, that went into Blossom the following June; tho’ there was a severe Frost in March, which kill’d abundance of Wheat, yet did not hurt these Plants: This shews that St. Foin is a quick Grower, unless it be planted on poor cold Ground, or for Want of Culture.

And tho’ the poor Land, and ill Management generally allotted to it, cause it to yield but One mowing Crop a Year; yet it has yielded Two great ones on rich sandy Land, even when sown in the common ordinary matter.

Thin St. Foin cannot be expected to cover all the Ground at first, any more than an Orchard of Apple-trees will, when first planted at Thirty Feet Distance from each other every Way; yet this is reckon’d a proper Distance to make a good and lasting Orchard. But if these should be planted at Three Feet Distance, as they stand in the Nursery, it would not be more unreasonable than the common Method of sowing St. Foin is; and there would be much the same Consequence in both, from covering all the Ground at first Planting; except that the St. Foin, being abundantly longer rooted downwards than Apple-trees are, has the greater Disadvantage, when by its Thickness ’tis prevented from growing to its full Bulk, and Length of Roots[175].

The Difference is only this: People are accustom’d to see Apple-trees planted at their due Distance: but few have seen St. Foin planted and cultivated at the Distance most proper to St. Foin; or ever consider’d about it, so much as to make the necessary Trials.

I have constantly found, that, upon doubling any Number of narrow Rows, having equal Number of Plants in each Row, the Crops have been very much diminish’d; and, upon leaving out every other Row, that is, lessening the Number of Rows to half, the Crops are increased; and where Two Rows are wide asunder at one End of a Piece, and near at the other End, the Plants are gradually less and less, as the Rows approach nearer together.

We ought never to expect a full Crop of St. Foin the First Year[176], if we intend to have good Crops afterwards, and that it shall continue to produce such, for the same Reasons that must be given for planting an Orchard at other Distances than a Nursery.

The common Error proceeds from mistaking the Cause of a great or small Crop.

Where the Spaces betwixt Rows are wide (if there be not too many Plants in them) we always see the St. Foin grow large, and make the greatest Crop; but when ’tis young, or after cutting, we see room (as we fansy) for more of such Plants, to make a yet larger Crop; not considering that ’tis the Wideness of those Spaces, and less Number of Plants, that cause the Crop to be so large, there being more Pasture for those Plants.

Where these Spaces are narrower, and the Rows of equal Thickness, we see the Plants less when grown, and that they make a less Crop; and yet there seems to be room for more Rows, which we fansy might make the Crop larger, not considering that ’tis the Narrowness of those Spaces that causes the Plants and Crop to be less, for want of sufficient Pasture.

Thus, fondly increasing the Number of our Rows and Plants, we bring our Crop (unless the Soil be rich) to nothing, by too much over-stocking their Pasture; and, if that Pasture be over-stock’d, the Crop will be diminish’d more than in proportion to that Over-charge; for perhaps ’tis not impossible to prove (if we would be curious), that Plants, by wanting a Fourth Part of their due Quantum of Nourishment, will be diminish’d to half[177] of the Bulk they would have attained to, had they been supply’d with the other Fourth Part.

I have observ’d ho’d St. Foin to grow more, and increase its Bulk more, in Two Weeks, than unho’d St. Foin in the same Ground (and without any other Difference) hath done in Six Weeks; and the quicker it grows, by being better fed, the sweeter and richer Food it will make for Cattle, whether it be spent green or dry[178].

At whatever Distance the Rows be set, if they have too many Plants in them, the Crop will be very much injured; and the greater the Excess is beyond the just Number, the more void Space there will be amongst them; because the smaller the Plants are, the less Ground they cover.

I have had the Experience of drilling at all Distances, from Thirty-three Inches to Seven Inches, betwixt the Rows; and recommend the following Distance, for the different Methods of drilling; whether the St. Foin be design’d for hoeing, or not. As,

First, For Horse-hoeing, I think it is best to drill double Rows with Eight-inch Partitions, and Thirty-inch Intervals; which need only be ho’d alternately, leaving every other Interval for making the Hay thereon.

Indeed I have never yet had a whole Field of ho’d St. Foin; but have enough to shew, that Horse-hoeing makes it strong upon very poor Land, and causes it to produce two Crops a Year upon indifferent Land.

It is not necessary to hoe this every Year; but we may intermit the Hoeing for three or four Years together, or more, if the Land be good.

Whilst the Plants are small the first Year, Care must be taken not to cover them with the Plough: Afterwards there will be no great Danger, especially in Winter, the Earth not being suffered to lie on them too long.

Secondly, For Hand-hoeing, drill the Rows Sixteen Inches asunder, and single out the Plants, so as to make them Eight Inches apart at least in the Rows, contriving rather to leave the Master-plants, than to be exact in the Distance: This must be done whilst they are very young, or in Summer; else they will come again that are cut off by the Hoe.

Lastly, when St. Foin is drill’d without any Intention of hoeing, the best Way (I think) is to plant single Rows, at Eight Inches Distance, with no greater Quantity of Seed, than when the Rows are at Sixteen Inches Distance; because, by this Method, the same Number of Plants in the Rows, that are but Eight Inches apart, will be much more single, than those in the Rows at Sixteen Inches apart are, without being set out by the Hoe.

Which of these Methods soever is practis’d, the Land should be made as clean from all Grass, and as well pulveriz’d, as possible, before Drilling.

The Tines of the Drill-harrow must exactly follow the Shares, which leaving the Chanels open, the Tines cover the Seed, some at Bottom, and some on each Side; so that it is cover’d very shallow, tho’ it lies deep within the Ground, where there is more Moisture, than nearer to the upper level Surface: This causes the Seed to come up in dry Weather; and yet it is not in Danger of being buried by a too great Weight of Mould incumbent on it.

But take heed that no other Harrow come on it after ’tis drill’d; for that might bury it. I never care to roll it at all, unless on account of the Barley; and then only in very dry Weather, with a light Roller, lengthways of the Rows, immediately after ’tis drill’d; or else stay Three Weeks afterwards before it be roll’d, for fear of breaking off the Heads of the young St. Foin.

Be sure to suffer no Cattle to come on the young St. Foin the first Winter[179], after the Corn is cut that grows amongst it; their very Feet would injure it, by treading the Ground hard, as well as their Mouths by cropping it; Nor let any Sheep come at it, even in the following Summer and Winter.

One Acre of well-drill’d St. Foin, considering the different Goodness of the Crops, and the Duration of it, is generally worth Two Acres of sown St. Foin on the same Land, tho’ the Expence of drilling be Twenty Times less than the Expence of sowing it.

One of the Causes why St. Foin, that is properly drill’d, lasteth longer[180] without Manure than the sown, is, That the former neither over nor understocks the Pasture; and the latter commonly, if not always, doth one or the other, if not both; viz. Plants too thick in some Places, and too thin in others; either ’tis not single, but in Bunches; or if it be single, ’tis too thin; it being next to impossible to have the Plants come true and regular, or nearly so, by sowing at random. Plants too thick soon exhaust the Pasture they reach, which never is more than a small Part of that below the Staple: When the Plants are too thin, the St. Foin cannot be said to last at all, because it never is a Crop.

They who sow Eight or Ten Bushels of good Seed on an Acre, in a good Season, among their Corn, with Intent that by its Thickness it should kill other Grass, reduce their St. Foin almost to that poor Condition I have seen it in, where it grows naturally wild without sowing or Tillage, upon the Calabrian Hills near Croto: It makes there such a despicable Appearance, that one would wonder how any body should have taken it in their Head to propagate so unpromising a Plant; and yet there has scarce been an Exotic brought to England in this or the last Age, capable of making a greater or more general Improvement, were it duly cultivated.

Some think the Cytisus would exceed it; but I am afraid the Labour of shearing those Shrubs by the Hands of English Servants, would cost too much of its Profit.

Luserne, requiring more Culture, and being much more difficult to be fitted with a proper Soil, never can be so general as St. Foin.

But now let us consider the best Methods of ordering St. Foin for Hay and Seed. The Profit of St. Foin Fields, arising from either of these Ways, is a great Advantage to their Owner, above that of natural Meadows; for, if Meadow-hay cannot have good Weather to be cut in its Season, it can serve for little other Use than as Dung, and yet the Expence of mowing it, and carrying it off must not be omitted. But if there be not Weather to cut St. Foin before blossoming, we may expect it till in Flower, or may stay till the Blossoms are off; and if it still rain on, may stand for Seed, and turn to as good Account as any of the former: So that it has Four Chances to One of the Meadow.

The elevated, but not mountainous, Situation of the dry Land whereon St. Foin is mostly planted, renders it so commodious for making of Hay, that it escapes there the Injury of Weather, when Hay in low Meadows is utterly spoil’d.

On the high Ground the Wind will dry more in an Hour, than on the Meadows in a whole Day. The Sun too has a more benign Influence above, and sends off the Dew about Two Hours earlier in the Morning, and holds it up as much longer in the Evening. By these Advantages the St. Foin has the more Time to dry, and is made with half the Expence of Meadow-hay.

But before the Manner of making it be describ’d, the proper Time of cutting it ought to be determin’d; and upon that depend the Degrees of its Excellence (besides upon the Weather, which is not in our Power); for tho’ all Sorts of this Hay, if well made, be good, yet there is a vast Difference and Variety in them.

The several Sorts may be principally distinguish’d by the following Terms; viz. First, The Virgin. Secondly, The Blossom’d. Thirdly, The Full-grown. And, Fourthly, The Thresh’d Hay.

The First of these is best of all, beyond Comparison; and (except Luserne) has not in the World its Equal. This must be cut before the Blossoms appear: For when it stands till full-blown, the most spirituous, volatile, and nourishing Parts of its Juices are spent on the next Generation; and this being done all at once, the Sap is much depauperated, and the St. Foin can never recover that Richness it had in its Virgin State. And tho’, when in Blossom, it be literally in the Flower of its Age, ’tis really in the Declension of it. If it be said, that what is not in the Stalk is gone into the Flower, ’tis a Mistake; because much the greatest Part of its Quintessence perspires thence into the Atmosphere.

And moreover, That all Vegetables are, in some Degree, weaken’d by the Action of continuing their Kind, may be inferr’d from those Plants which will live several Years, if not suffer’d to blossom; but, whenever they blossom, it causes their Death, tho’ in the first Year of their Life. For in Plants (as Dr. Willis observes in Animals) Nature is more solicitous to continue the Species, than for the Benefit of the Individual.

Part of a drill’d St. Foin Ground was cut the Beginning of May, before blossoming[181]; and from the Time of cutting, until it was set up in Ricks, being about Ten Days, the Sun never shone upon it[182]; but the Weather was misty: At last it was forc’d to be carried together for fear of Rain, so green, that out of the largest Stalks one might wring milky Juice; yet by making the Hay up in several little Ricks, and drawing up a great Chaff Basket in the Middle of each, its Firing was prevented; but it look’d of a dark Colour by heating; and was the very best[183] Hay that ever I had.

The other Part of the Ground was afterwards cut in the Prime of its Flower, and made into Hay by the Heat of the Sun, without Rain or Mist: This came out of the Ricks at Winter with a much finer Colour, and as fine a Smell as the Virgin Hay; but did not come near it in fatting of Sheep, or keeping Horses fat at hard Work without any Corn, as the Virgin Hay did.

This superfine Hay cannot well be had of poor uncultivated[184] St. Foin: because that may not be much above an Handful high, when ’tis in Condition to be so cut; and would then make a very light Crop, and would be a great while ere it sprang up again: But the rich will have Two or Three Tun to an Acre, and spring again immediately for a second Crop; so that little or no Quantity would be lost by so great an Improvement of its Quality. For ho’d St. Foin upon a poor chalky Hill, cut at the same time with that uncultivated on a rich Valley, does in dry Weather grow again without Delay, when the Valley attends a Month or more for a Rain, to excite its vegetative Motion.

This Hay the Owner (if he be wise) will not sell at any common Price; but endeavour to have some of it every Year, if possible, for his own Use.

The Second Sort of St. Foin Hay is that cut in the Flower; and tho’ much inferior to the Virgin Hay, it far exceeds any other Kind, as yet commonly propagated in England; and if it be a full Crop, by good Culture, may amount to above three Tun to an Acre. This is that St. Foin which is most commonly made; and the larger it is, the more nourishing for Horses. I have known Farmers, after full Experience, go Three Miles to fetch the largest stalky St. Foin, when they could have bought the small fine leafy Sort of it at home, for the same Price by the Tun.

The next and last Sort of St. Foin that is cut only for Hay, is, the full-grown, the Blossoms being gone, or going off: This also is good Hay, tho’ it fall short, by many Degrees, of the other Two Sorts: It makes a greater Crop than either of them, because it grows to its full Bulk, and shrinks little in drying.

This gives the Owner a Third Chance of having Weather to make good Hay, and spins out the Hay-Season ’till about Midsummer; and then in about a Fortnight, or Three Weeks; after the Hay is finish’d, the Seed is ripe. But, first, of the manner of making St. Foin Hay.

In a Day or Two after St. Foin is mow’d, it will, in good Weather, be dry on the upper Side: Then turn the Swarths, not singly, but Two and Two together; for by thus turning them in Pairs, there is a double Space of Ground betwixt Pair and Pair, which needs but once raking; whereas, if the Swarths were turn’d singly, that is, all the same Way, suppose to the East or West, then all the Ground will require to be twice raked; at least, more of it, than the other Way.

As soon as both Sides of the Swarths are dry from Rain and Dew, make them up into little Cocks the same Day they are turn’d, if conveniently you can; for when ’tis in Cock, a less Part of it will be exposed to the Injuries of the Night, than when in Swarth.

Dew, being of a nitrous penetrating Nature, enters the Pores of those Plants it reaches, and during the Night possesses the Room from whence some Part of the Juices is dry’d out: Thus it intimately mixes with the remaining Sap; and, when the Dew is again exhal’d, it carries up most of the vegetable Spirits along with it, which might have been there fix’d, had they not been taken away in that subtile Vehicle.

If St. Foin be spread very thin upon the Ground, and so remain for a Week in hot Weather, the Sun and Dew will exhaust all its Juices, and leave it no more Virtue than is in Straw.

Therefore ’tis best to keep as much of our Hay as we can from being exposed to the Dews, whilst ’tis in making; and we have a better Opportunity of doing it in this, than in natural Hay; because the bigger the Cocks are, the less Superficies (in proportion to the Quantity they contain) will be exposed to the Dew, and St. Foin may be safely made in much larger Cocks than natural Hay of equal Dryness can, which, sinking down closer, excludes the Air so necessary for keeping it sweet, that if the Weather prevents its being frequently mov’d and open’d, it will ferment, look yellow, and be spoil’d. Against this Misfortune there is no Remedy, but to keep it in the lesser Cocks, until thoroughly dry. St. Foin Cocks (twice as big as Cocks of natural Hay), by the less Flexibility of the Stalk admitting the Air, will remain longer without fermenting.

This being able to endure more Days unmov’d, is also an Advantage upon another Account besides the Weather; for tho’ in other Countries, People are not prohibited using the necessary Labour on all Days for preserving their Hay, even where the certainer Weather makes it less necessary than here, yet ’tis otherwise in England; where many a Thousand Load of natural Hay is spoil’d by that Prohibition for want of being open’d; and often, by the Loss of one Day’s Work, the Farmer loses his Charges, and Year’s Rent; which shews, that to make Hay while the Sun shines, is an exotic Proverb against English Laws; whereunto St. Foin being, in regard of Sundays and Holidays, more conformable, ought to be the Hay as proper to England as those Laws are.

But to return to our Hay-makers: When the first Cocks have stood one Night, if nothing hinder, let them double, treble, or quadruple the Cocks, according as all Circumstances require, in this manner; viz. Spread Two, Three, or more, together, in a fresh Place; and after an Hour or Two turn them, and make that Number up into one Cock; but when the Weather is doubtful, let not the Cocks be thrown or spread, but inlarge them, by shaking several of them into one; and thus hollowing them to let in the Air, continue increasing their Bulk, and diminishing their Number daily, until they be sufficiently dry to be carried to the Rick.

This I have found the most secure Way: Tho’ it be something longer in making, there is much less Danger than when a great Quantity of Hay is spread at once; for then a sudden Shower will do more Harm to one Acre of that, than to Twenty Acres in Cock.

And the very best Hay I ever knew in England, was of St. Foin made without ever spreading, or the Sun’s shining on it. This Way, tho’ it be longer ere finish’d, is done with less Labour than the other.

Not only a little Rain, but even a Mist, will turn Clover Hay black; but St. Foin will not with any Weather turn black, until it be almost rotten, its Leaves being thinner than those of Clover.

If St. Foin be laid up pretty green, it will take no Damage, provided it be set in small round Ricks, with a large Basket drawn up in the Middle of each, to leave a Vent-hole there, thro’ which the superfluous Moisture of the Hay transpires.

As soon as its Heating is over, these Ricks ought to be thatch’d; and all St. Foin Ricks, that are made when the Hay is full dry’d in the Cocks, ought to be thatch’d immediately after the making them.

That which is laid up most dry’d, will come out of the Rick of a green Colour, that which has much heated in the Rick, will have a brown Colour.

The Seed is a Fourth Chance the Owner has to make Profit of his St. Foin: But this, if the Hoeing-Husbandry were general, would not be vendible in great Quantities for planting; because an ordinary Crop of an Acre will produce Seed enough to drill an Hundred Acres, which would not want replanting in a long Time.

The other Use then of this Seed is for Provender; and it has been affirmed by some, who have made Trials of it, that Three Bushels of good St. Foin Seed given to Horses, will nourish them as much as Four Bushels of Oats. When well order’d, it is so sweet, that most Sorts of Cattle are greedy of it. I never knew so much of it given to Hogs, as to make them become fat Bacon; but I have known Hogs made very good Pork with it, for an Experiment; and being valued at the Beginning of their feeding, and the Pork by the Score when the Hogs were kill’d, which, computed with the Quantity of Seed they eat, did not amount to near the Value of the same Seed sold for sowing; that being Three Shillings per Bushel, and the Profit made by giving it to the Hogs was but Two Shillings a Bushel.

The Goodness of the Seed, and of the Hay out of which it is thresh’d, depends very much upon the manner of ordering them.

This thresh’d Hay, when not damaged by wet Weather, has been found more nourishing to Horses than coarse Water-meadow Hay; and, when ’tis cut small by an Engine, is good Food for Cattle, and much better than Chaff of Corn.

It requires some Experience in it, to know the most proper Degree of Ripeness, at which the seeded St. Foin ought to be cut; for the Seed is never all ripe together; some Ears blossom before others; every Ear begins blossoming at the lower Part of it, and so continues gradually to do upward for many Days; and before the Flower is gone off the Top, the Bottom of the Ear has almost fill’d the Seeds that grow there; so that if we should defer cutting until the top Seeds are quite ripe, the lower, which are the best, would shed, and be lost.

The best time to cut is, when the greatest Part of the Seed is well fill’d, the first-blown ripe, and the last blown beginning to be full.

The natural Colour of the Kernel, which is the real Seed, is grey or bluish when ripe; and the Husk, which contains the Seed is, when ripe, of a brownish Colour. Both Husk and Seed continue perfectly green for some time after full-grown; and if you open the Husk, the Seed will appear exactly like a green Pea when gather’d to boil, and will, like that, easily be split into Two Parts. Yet St. Foin Seed in this green Plight will ripen after Cutting, have as fine a Colour, and be as good in all Respects, as that which was ripe before Cutting: Some, for want of observing this, have suffer’d their Seed to stand so long, till it was all ripe, and lost in Cutting.

St. Foin Seed should not be cut in the Heat of the Day, whilst the Sun shines out: for then much, even of the unripe Seed, will shed in Mowing: Therefore, in very hot Weather, the Mower should begin to work very early in the Morning, or rather in the Night; and when they perceive the Seed to shatter, leave off, and rest till towards the Evening.

After Cutting we must observe the same Rule as in mowing it; viz. not to make this Hay whilst the Sun shines.

Sometimes it may, if the Seed be pretty ripe, be cock’d immediately after the Scythe; or if the Swarths must be turn’d, let it be done whilst they are moist; not Two together, as in the other Hay aforemention’d. If the Swarths be turn’d with the Rake’s Handle, ’tis best to raise up the Ear-sides first, and let the Stub-side rest on the Ground in turning; but if it be done by the Rake’s Teeth, then let them take hold on the Stub-side, the Ears bearing on the Earth in turning over. But ’tis commonly Rain that occasions the Swarths to want Turning[185].

If it be cock’d at all[186], the sooner ’tis made into Cocks, the better; because, if the Swarths be dry, much of the Seed will be lost in separating them, the Ears being entangled together. When moist, the Seed sticks fasts to the Ear; but, when dry, will drop out with the least Touch or Shaking.

There are Two ways of threshing it, the one in the Field, the other in the Barn: The first cannot be done but in very fine Weather, and whilst the Sun shines in the Heat of the Day: The best Manner of this is, to have a large Sheet pegg’d down to the Ground, for Two Men with their Flails to thresh on: Two Persons carry a small Sheet by its Corners, and lay it down close to a large Cock, and, with Two Sticks thrust under the Bottom of it, gently turn it over, or lift it up upon the Sheet, and carry and throw it on the great Sheet to the Threshers; but when the Cocks are small, they carry several at once, thrown upon the little Sheet carefully with Forks; those which are near, they carry to the Threshers with the Forks only. As fast as it is thresh’d, one Person stands to take away the Hay, and lay it into an Heap: And sometimes a Boy stands upon it, to make it into a small Rick of about a Load. As often as the great Sheet is full, they riddle it thro’ a large Sieve to separate the Seed and Chaff from the broken Stalks, and put it into Sacks to be carried into the Barn to be winnow’d.

Two Threshers will employ Two of these little Sheets, and Four Persons in bringing to them; and when the Cocks are thresh’d, which stand at a considerable Distance all round them, they remove the Threshing-sheet to another Place. There belong to a Set for one Threshing-sheet Seven or Eight Persons; but the Number of Sheets should be according to the Quantity to be thus thresh’d: The sooner these thresh’d Cocks are remov’d, and made into bigger Ricks, the better; and unless they be thatch’d, the Rain will run a great Way into them, and spoil the Hay; but they may be thatch’d with the Hay itself, if there be not Straw convenient for it.

But the chiefest Care yet remains; and that is, to cure the Seed: If that be neglected, it will be of little or no Value[187]; and the better it has escap’d the Wet in the Field, the sooner its own Spirits will spoil it in the Barn or Granary. I have known it lie a Fortnight in Swarth, till the wet Weather has turn’d the Husks quite black: This was thresh’d in the Field, and immediately put into large Vessels, holding about Twenty Bushels each. It had by being often wet, and often dry, been so exhausted of its fiery Spirits, that it remain’d cool in the Vessels, without ever fermenting in the least, till the next Spring; and then it grew as well as ever any did that was planted.

But of Seed thresh’d in the Field, without ever being wetted, if it be immediately winnow’d, and a single Bushel laid in an Heap, or put into a Sack, it will in few Days ferment to such a Degree, that the greatest Part of it will lose its vegetative Quality: The larger the Heap, the worse: During the Fermentation it will be very hot, and smell sour.

Many, to prevent this, spread it upon a Malt-Floor, turning it often; or, when the Quantity is small, upon a Barn-floor; but still I find, that this Way a great deal of it is spoil’d; for it will heat, tho’ it be spread but an handful thick, and they never spread it thinner: Besides, they may miss some Hours of the right times of turning it; for it must be done very often; it should be stirr’d in the Night as well as the Day, until the Heating be over; and yet, do what they can, it never will keep its Colour so bright as that which is well housed, well dry’d, and thresh’d in the Winter: For in the Barn the Stalks keep it hollow; there are few Ears or Seeds that touch one another; and the Spirits have room to fly off by Degrees, the Air entering to receive them.

The only Way I have found to imitate and equal this, is to winnow it from the Sheet; then lay a Layer of Wheat-straw (or if that be wanting, of very dry-thresh’d Hay); then spread thereon a thin Layer of Seed, and thus Stratum super Stratum, Six or Seven Feet high, and as much in Breath; then begin another Stack; let there be Straw enough, and do not tread on the Stacks; by this means the Seed mixing with the Straw, will be kept cool, and come out in the Spring with as green a Colour as when it was put in, and not one Seed of a Thousand will fail to grow when planted. A little Barn-room will contain a great Quantity in this Manner.

I have had above One hundred Quarters of clean Seed thus manag’d in one Bay of a small Barn. We do not stay to winnow it clean before we lay it up in the Straw; but only pass it through a large Sieve, and with the Van blow out the Chaff, and winnow it clean in the Spring.

This Field-threshing requires extraordinary fine Sun-shiny Weather, which some Summers do not afford at the Season, for threshing a great Quantity of it; for ’tis but a small Part of the Day in which the Seed can be thresh’d clean out. They who have a small Quantity of it, do carry it into a Barn early in the Morning, or even in the Night; whilst the Dew is on it; for then the Seed sticks fast to the Ear: As it dries, they thresh it out; and if they cure it well, have thus sometimes good Seed, but generally the Hay is spoil’d.

There is one Method of saving all the Seed good, and the Hay too, by carrying it unthresh’d to the Barn or Rick, in a particular Manner, tho’ it be a great Quantity, more than can presently be thresh’d; but must be laid up in Mows or Ricks, as Corn is. Then if it be carry’d in, in the Dews or Damp, the Hay is sure to be spoil’d, if not both Hay and Seed: When ’tis taken up dry, the Seed comes out with a Touch, and the greatest Part is lost in pitching up the Cocks, binding and jolting in carrying home.

To avoid this Dilemma, a Person who happen’d to have a great Crop of Seed on One hundred and Fifty Acres together (and being by Weather delay’d ’till Wheat-harvest came on, so that most Labourers went to Reaping) was forc’d to a Contrivance of getting it in as follows; viz. Three Waggons had each a Board with an Hole in, fix’d cross the Middle of each Waggon, by Iron Pins, to the Top of the Rades or Sides: There was a Crane which a Man could lift, and set into the Hole in the Board, and, having an Iron Gudgeon at the Bottom, which went into a Socket in the Bottom of the Waggon, would turn quite round: The Post of the Crane was Ten Feet Four Inches long, its Arm Four Feet Eight Inches long, brac’d; having a treble Pulley at the End of it, and another to answer it with an Hook.

About Forty Sheets were provided, capable of holding each One hundred and Fifty, or Two hundred Pounds Weight of it; these had Knots or Buttons at the Corners and Middles, made by sewing up a little Hay in these Knots, as big as Apples, into Part of the Sheet; for if any Buckle, or other thing, be sew’d to a Sheet plain, it will tear the Sheet. Half these Buttons have Strings ty’d to them; these Sheets are spread among the Cocks, fill’d by Two, and ty’d up by Two other Persons: There is also a light Fir Ladder, wide at Bottom, the Top of it fasten’d by a Piece of Cord to the brace of the Crane: they hitch the Hook of the lower Pulley to a fill’d Sheet, and by a little Horse at the End of the Pulley-rope, draw it up sliding on the Ladder; ’tis up in a Moment: Then the Man who is below, hitches the Crook of the Pulley to the lower Round of the Ladder, and the Loader above pulls up the Ladder from the Ground, till the Waggon comes to another Sheet. The Waggons are lengthen’d by Cart-Ladders before and behind, for the more easy placing of the Sheets. When about Twelve or Fifteen of them are loaded, they have a Rope fix’d to the Fore-part of each Waggon, which they bring over the Top of all the loaded Sheets, and wrest it at the Tail, to hold on the Sheets fast from falling off with Jolting. Then the Loader pulls out the Crane, and puts it into the next Waggon in the same Manner. One Waggon is loading whilst another is emptying in the Barn, by treble Pulleys likewise; because ’tis inconvenient to take it out of the Sheets by Prongs; but the Pulleys will easily draw off Two or Three Sheets together. One Waggon is always going to the Field, or coming home. This Contrivance makes more Expedition than one would imagine: Three Loads have been loaded, and sent off, in the same Time this way, that one Load of Hay has been loading, binding, and raking off the Outsides of it, in the next Ground, in the common Way.

I will not relate the manner of making a Rick of this Seed in its Hay, of monstrous Dimensions, by a sort of Mast-pole Forty-four Feet high, with a Ten Feet Crane at the Top, which made the same Expedition; because I think, that where such a Quantity is, Dutch Barns with moving Roofs are better. Such a Rick is troublesome to thatch, and the Wind has more Power to blow the Thatch off so high in the Air, than if it were lower. Neither would I advise any one to reserve much more St. Foin for Threshing, than his Barn will contain; because tho’ sometimes it brings the greatest Profit by Threshing, yet some Years ’tis apt to be blighted.

I have been told by my Neighbour, that he had a Crop of Five Quarters of St. Foin Seed on an Acre; but the most Profit that ever I took notice of, was on half an Acre, which was drill’d very thin, and had no Crop of Corn with it; by which Advantage it produc’d a good Crop of Seed the next Year after it was planted, and the Third Year this Half-Acre produc’d (as was try’d by a Wager) within a Trifle of Two Quarters of Seed, which was sold for Two Pounds and Ten Shillings: The thresh’d Hay of it was sold in the Place for One Pound, and Two Quarters of Chaff sold for Twelve Shillings; in all Four Pounds and Two Shillings. There was also a very good Aftermath, which was worth the Charges of Cutting and Threshing: So that the clear Profit of the One Year of this Half Acre of Ground amounted to Four Pounds Two Shillings: And it was remarkable, that at the same Time the rest of the same Field, being in all Ten Acres, had a Crop of Barley sown on Three Plowings, which (the Summer being dry) was offered to be sold at One Pound per Acre.

I believe the greatest Part of the St. Foin that is sown, is spoil’d by being indiscreetly fed by Sheep[188]; which Damage is occasion’d merely by suffering them to continue feeding it too long at a Time, especially in the Spring; for then the Sap moves quick, and must be depurated by the Leaves; and as the Sun’s nearer Approach accelerates the Motion or Ferment of the Juices, more Pabulum is receiv’d by the Roots; but for want of Leaves to discharge the Recrements, and enliven the Sap with nitro-aereous Particles (the Sheep devouring the Buds continually as fast as they appear), the St. Foin’s vital Flame (if I may so call it) is extinguish’d; the Circulation ceasing, the Sap stagnates, and then it ends in Corruption[189]. But let the Sheep eat it never so low, in a short time, without continuing thereon, or cropping the next Buds which succeed those they have eaten, the Plants will recover and grow again as vigorously as ever, and if with a Spade, in the Winter you cut off the St. Foin Heads an Handful deep, and take them away, together with their upper Earth, the Wound in the remaining Root will heal, and send out more Heads as good as those cut off, if those second Heads be preserv’d from Cattle, until they attain to a Bigness competent to bear Leaves sufficient for the Use of the reviving Plants: Nay, I have seen Plants of St. Foin cut off in the Winter a Foot deep, and the Earth of that Depth taken away; and the remaining Root recover’d, and grew to an extraordinary Bigness: But this was preserv’d from Cattle at first.

I esteem St. Foin to be much more profitable than Clover, because St. Foin is never known to do any perceivable Damage to the Corn amongst which ’tis planted; but Clover often spoils a Crop of Barley[190]; and I have known, that the Crop of Barley has been valued to have suffer’d Four Pounds per Acre Damage by a Crop of broad Clover’s growing in it in a wet Summer: In a dry Summer both Sorts of Clover are apt to miss growing; and if it does grow, and the next Summer (wherein it ought to be a Crop) prove very dry, it fails on most sorts of Land, tho’ it was vigorous enough to spoil the Barley the Year it was sown; at best, ’tis of but very short Duration, and therefore is not to be depended on by the Farmer, for maintaining his Cattle, which the broad Clover will also kill, sometimes by causing them to swell, unless great Care be taken to prevent it. The broad Clover is esteem’d a foul Feed for Horses. The Hop Clover is gone out of the Ground sooner than the broad Clover; I never knew it cut more than once: Indeed Cattle are never swollen by feeding on it; but then it affords but very little Feeding for them, except the Land whereon it grows be very rich.

St. Foin is observ’d to enrich whatever Ground ’tis planted on, tho’ a Crop be taken off it yearly.

Poor Slate Land[191], when it has borne sown St. Foin for Six or Seven Years, being plow’d up, and well till’d, produces Three Crops of Corn; and then they sow it with St. Foin again.

Rich arable Land was planted with it, and mow’d annually with very great Crops (’twas drill’d in Nine-inch Rows, with Six Gallons of Seed to an Acre; One Crop of it was sold at Four Pounds per Acre): This, after about Seven Years, and in full Perfection, was plow’d up by a Tenant, and continued for many Years after so rich, that, instead of dunging or fallowing it for Wheat, they were forc’d to sow that upon Barley-stubble, and to feed the Wheat with Sheep in the Spring, to prevent its being too luxuriant.

But ’tis to be noted, that the Land must be well till’d at the breaking up of old St. Foin, or else the First Crops of Corn may be expected to fail: For I knew a Tenant, who, the last Year of his Term, plow’d up a Field of St. Foin, that would have yielded him Three Pounds per Acre; but, thinking to make more Profit of it by Corn, he sow’d it with White Oats upon once Plowing; and it proving a dry Summer, he lost his Plowing and Seed; for he had no Crop of Oats, and was forc’d to leave the Land as a Fallow to his Successor.

Many more Instances there are of this Failure of the Crop of Corn after St. Foin has been broken up, and not well till’d.

When St. Foin is grown old, and worn out, as ’tis said to be when the artificial Pasture is gone, and the natural Pasture is become insufficient for the Number of Plants that are on it, to be maintained; and is so poor, that it produces no profitable Crop, so that the Ground is thought proper to be plow’d up, and sown with Corn, in order to be replanted[192]; the most effectual Way to bring it into Tilth speedily, is, to plow it up in the Winter, with a Four-coulterd Plough, and make it fit for Turneps by the following Season; and if the Turneps be well ho’d, and especially if spent by Sheep on the Ground, ’twill be in excellent Order to be sown with Barley the following Spring; and then it may be drill’d with St. Foin amongst the Barley.

To return to the Benefit Land receives by having been planted some Years with St. Foin: All the Experienc’d know, that Land is enriched by it; but they do not agree upon the Reason why.

They agree as to the Οτι, but not the Διοτι.

Some are of Opinion, ’tis because the St. Foin takes a different Sort of Nourishment to that of Corn: But that I think is disprov’d in the Chapter of Change of Species, where ’tis shewn, that all Plants in the same Soil must take the same Food.

Mr. Kirkham thinks St. Foin has no collateral or horizontal Roots in the upper Part of the Ground where the Plough tills for Corn; and therefore has no Nourishment from that Part of the Soil which feeds the Corn. This would be a very good Account for it, were it not utterly contrary to Matter of Fact, as every one may see.

But so far it is right, that large[193] St. Foin draws the greatest Part of its Nourishment from below the Reach of the Plough; and what Part it does receive from the Staple is overbalanc’d by the Second Crop, or After-lease, being spent by Cattle on the Ground; different from Corn, which is very near wholly maintain’d by the plow’d Part of the Earth, and is all carry’d off.

For tho’ the under Stratum of Earth be much poorer than the upper; yet that, never having been drain’d by any sort of Vegetables, must afford considerable Nourishment to the First that comes there.

And besides, in such Land whose Poverty proceeds from the Rain’s carrying its Riches too quickly down through the upper Stratum, the under Stratum must be the richer[194] for receiving what the upper Stratum lets pass unarrested.

’Tis well known, that many Estates have been much improv’d by St. Foin; therefore there is no occasion to mention Particulars. Only I will take Notice, that the First in England was one of about One hundred and Forty Pounds per Annum, sown with St. Foin, and sold for Fourteen Thousand Pounds; and as I hear, continues, by the same Improvement, still of the same Value. This is, I suppose, the same that Mr. Kirkham mentions in Oxfordshire.

Another Farm of Ten Pounds per Annum Rent, which, whilst in Arable[195], was like to have undone the Tenant; but being all planted with St. Foin by the Owner, was lett at One hundred and Ten Pounds per Annum, and prov’d a good Bargain.

If it should be ask’d, Why St. Foin is an Improvement so much greater in England, than in other Countries? it might be answer’d by shewing the Reason why English Arable is of so much less Value than Foreign[196] where the Land is of equal Goodness, and the Corn produc’d of equal Price.

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La Luserne is that famous Herba Medica so much extoll’d by the Antients.

The high Esteem they had of its Use appears by the extraordinary Pains they bestow’d on its Culture.

Its Leaves resemble those of Trefoil: It bears a blue Blossom very like to double Violets, leaving a Pod like a Screw, which contains the Seeds about the Bigness of broad Clover, tho’ longer, and more of the Kidney-shape.

The Stalks grow more perpendicular than any of the other artificial Grasses that I know, slender, full of Knots and Leaves: ’Tis of very near an equal Bigness from Bottom to Top: When cut, if vigorous, the Stalks will spring out again from the Stubs, immediately below where the Scythe parted them; which makes them the sooner ready for another Mowing; an Advantage which no other Grass has.

It has a Tap-root that penetrates deeper into the Bowels of the Earth, than any other Vegetable she produces.

Tho’ one Luserne-root be much more taper than another towards the upper Part of it, ’tis sometimes seen, that a single ho’d Plant of it has many of these perpendicular Roots, some of them springing out from the very Branches of its Crown.

Its Roots are abundantly longer than the Roots of St. Foin: I have One that measures very near Two Inches Diameter: Those which are higher than the Ground have a Bark like a Tree. Upon this account, and by its Stalks springing again just below the Place where cut off, and by the woody Hardness of its Stalks, when they stand too long without cutting, it seems that Luserne is of a Nature nearly approaching to that of a Shrub.

Luserne is the only Hay in the World that can pretend to excel or equal St. Foin. I have known Instances of the pinguefying Virtue of this Medica Hay, that come up to the highest Encomiums given it by the Romans; which being to the Vulgar incredible, I forbear to relate, but leave to be confirm’d by the Experience of others, when it becomes frequent in England.

Luserne in Grass is much sweeter than St. Foin, or any other artificial or natural Grass. This, when ho’d, may be given to Cattle cut green, for Six Months; but then Care must be taken to[197] prevent their Swelling by its Lusciousness, and not to give them too much at once, until they be accustom’d to it.

The Quantities of Luserne Seed annually imported, and sown without Success, not discouraging People from continuing its Importation, shews there is more need of a successful Way of Planting, than recommending it in England.

I shall take Notice of some of the Reasons why I conclude there is no Hope of making any Improvement by planting it in England, in any manner practis’d by the Antients or Moderns.

I wonder how any one should attempt to plant it here, who has seen in Columella, and other Authors, the Description of the manner the old Romans planted it in. They chose out the very best Land, that was both pinguis and putris; they dung’d and till’d it to the greatest Perfection, and laid it out in Beds, as we do for Onions or Asparagus; they sow’d it very thick, for that miserable Reason of enabling it by its Thickness the better to kill the Grass. The Beds being harrow’d very fine before Sowing, which was in the End of April; the Seed required to be speedily cover’d, lest the Sun’s Heat should spoil it. But with what Instrument must it be cover’d? For, after Sowing, the Place must not be touch’d with Iron. At medica obruitur non aratro, sed ligneis rastellis. ‘Medica-feed is cover’d, not with the Plough, but with little (or rather light) wooden Harrows.’ Two Days Work (of a Team) were spent on this Harrowing of one Acre. Some time after it came up, they scratch’d it again and again with the same wooden Instruments: This was call’d Sarrition: Then by Runcation they weeded it over and over, Ne alterius generis herba invalidam medicam perimat. ‘Lest other Grass should kill it whilst it was weak.’ The First Crop they let stand till some of the Seed shatter’d, to fill the Ground yet fuller of Plants: After that they might cut it as young as they pleas’d; but must be sure to water it often after cutting. Then after a few Days, when it began to spring, they repeated their Runcation: and so continuing to weed out all manner of Grass for the First Two or Three Years, it used to bring Four or Six Crops a Year, and last Ten Years.

English Gardeners make Forty Pounds of an Acre of Asparagus, or Cabbage-plants, with half the Labour and Expence that was bestow’d on an Acre of Roman Medica.

We know not the Price Hay and Grass were at in Italy, while the Roman Empire was in its Glory, and Rome, then the Metropolis of the World, drew the Riches of all Parts thither; its Price must be then very high.

And the Romans had not only Servants, but plenty of Slaves, for whom they had scarce sufficient Employment: This might lessen the Expence of this tedious Method of Planting, and ordering the Medica. But when the Romans were brought down to the Level of other Nations, and in Danger of being Slaves, instead of having them; and the Lands of Italy came to be cultivated by Italian Hands only; they found something else more necessary to employ them in, than the Sarritions, Runcations, and Rigations of the Medica. Their Labour being bestow’d in getting Bread for themselves, they substituted other artificial Grasses of more easy Culture, in the room of Medica, for the Food of their Cattle. They were so bigotted to all the Superstitions of their Ancestors, that they were content to lose the Use of that most beneficial Plant, rather than attempt to cultivate it by a new, tho’ more rational Method, when they were become unable any longer to continue it by the old.

Thus, as I take it, Superstition has chased Medica from the Roman Territories, and so little of it is planted there, that beyond the Alps I could not find one whole Acre of it.

Luserne makes a great Improvement in the South of France: There, when their low sandy Land is well prepar’d, and very clean, they sow it alone, in March, and at Michaelmas, as we do Clover: Their sowing it at those Seasons is of a double Advantage: First, it saves the Labour of watering it, which would be impracticable for so many thousand Acres, as there are planted. Secondly, Those Seasons being much moister than that wherein the Romans sow’d it, the Grub has Opportunity of eating more of it at its first coming up; and often the Frost kills some of it. By these Advantages the Ground is less over-stock’d.

The Summers there are much drier than in Italy, so that the Sun scorches up the natural Grass, and suffers it not to come to a Turf till after some Years; and therefore has less need of Weeding.

But as that natural Grass increases, the Crops of Luserne are proportionably diminish’d: And tho’ Luserne is said to last Ten or Twelve Years; yet it is in Perfection only for a very few Years. Whilst it is at best on their richest Land, and in a kind Summer, they have at Seven Crops Ten Tuns to an Acre, as I have computed them from the Relation of some of the Inhabitants of Pezenas. This was extraordinary: for I observ’d, that most of their common Crops made a very thin Swarth.

When the Ground begins to be turffy and hard, many of the Luserne-plants die, and the rest send up very few Stalks: The People know this is the Destruction of it, and therefore I have seen some of them, in that Case, half-plow it, thinking thereby to destroy the Turf: This does for a time much strengthen the Luserne-plants; but it so much strengthens the Grass also, that the Turf grows the stronger; and then there is no Remedy but to plow it up, make the Ground clean, and replant it.

In more Northern Climates, where it rains oftener, the Ground sooner becomes hard; and in the Land otherwise most proper for Luserne, the Grass grows infinitely faster, and will be as strong a Turf in Two Years, as in the hot Countries in Ten. Upon this Account, about Paris, even near the Walls, they plow up Luserne, and sow St. Foin in its room, because that endures Grass and hard Ground better, tho’ it brings but One Crop a Year, or Two at most.

And in many Places in Franche Comtè and Switzerland, I have seen Luserne in the Corners of Vineyards, not above Two or Three Perches together, which they will at any Expence have to cure their Horses when sick; since they cannot obtain, by their Culture, Quantities sufficient to maintain them as their ordinary Food, there being too much Rain, and too little of the Sun’s violent Heat, to prevent the speedy Increase of Grass amongst it.

How then can we expect Success in sowing it in England, where Rains are yet more frequent, and the Sun is weaker? ’Tis not One Year in Ten, that the natural Grass is here scorch’d up. In our rich Land the Grass comes to a Turf very soon, and poor Land will not by the common Sowing bring Luserne to any Perfection, tho’ no Grass should annoy it.

I have here seen Part of a Meadow Breast-plow’d, and, when the Turf was dead, dug up and planted as a Garden: After it had been drill’d with Carrots, ho’d, and made, in all Appearance, perfectly clean, it was sown with Luserne, which came up and flourish’d very well the First Year, and indifferently the Second; but, after that, the Grass came, and the Luserne grew faint; and in Three or Four Years time there was no more left, but just to shew by here-and-there a single poor Stalk, that there had been Luserne sown, except one Plant of it, which was cleansed of Grass the Third Year; and this recover’d, and sent up Abundance of Stalks for Two Years after it; and then the Grass returning, that Plant dwindled again.

I have often try’d it in the richest Part of my Garden, and constantly find, that, however vigorously it grows at the first, yet it soon declines, when the Grass appears amongst it, which is always the sooner, by how much the Soil (in England) is richer, unless the Spade or Hoe prevent it.

Here have been also many Fields of a poorer whiteish Soil sown with it, which are not very subject to be over-run with Grass, as the rich Land is; and tho’ these were so well till’d as scarce any Grass appear’d, during the many Years the Luserne liv’d therein, yet it never grew to any Perfection here neither; nor was there any one Crop worth much more than the Cutting, it was always so poor, thin, and short. And, by what Intelligence I can get, all Experience proves, that every Soil in this Island is too rich, too poor, or too cold, for the Luserne Improvement by the common Husbandry.

I believe every one will be confirmed in this, who shall upon full Inquiry find, that, amongst the great Quantities which have been sown in this Kingdom in that manner, never any of it was known to continue good and flourishing Three Years; and that, on the contrary, never any one Plant of it in any warm Soil, cultivated by the Hoeing manner, was known to fail here, or in any other Country, as long as the Hoeing (or Digging about it, which is equivalent) was continued to it with proper Repetitions.

A Multitude of such hoed Plants have I known, and are now to be seen in both poor and rich Lands: Therefore it seems possible, that Thousands of English Acres may be capable, by the Hoeing Culture, to produce Crops of Luserne every Year for an Age. For as the greater Moisture, and less intense Heat of this Climate, are, upon the Accounts mentioned, injurious to Luserne, yet this is only to such as is sown and cultivated in the common Manner, because our Climate, upon the very same Accounts, is very advantageous to hoed Luserne.

In hot Countries, when the Summer is drier than ordinary, the Sun so scorches it, that they have fewer and much poorer Crops, than in moister Summers; viz. only Four or Five, instead of Six or Seven; but, in the driest Summer I ever knew in England, hoed Luserne yielded the most Crops.

Our Summer Days are longer, have more of the Sun’s Warmth, and less of his fiery Heat; he cherishes, but never burns Luserne, or any other hoed long Tap-rooted Plant in England.

The well hoed Earth, being open, receives and retains the Dews; the benign solar Influence is sufficient to put them in Motion, but not to exhale them from thence. The Hoe prevents the Turf, which would otherwise by its Blades or Roots intercept, and return back the Dews into the Atmosphere, with the Assistance of a moderate Heat. So that this Husbandry secures Luserne from the Injury of a wet Summer, and also causes the Rain-water to sink down more speedily, and disperse its Riches all the Way of its Passage; otherwise the Water would be more apt to stand on the Surface, chill the Earth, and keep off the Sun and Air from drying it: For, when the Surface is dry and open, Luserne will bear a very great Degree of Heat, or grow with a mean one. I have seen this hoed Luserne, in a sheltry Place of my Garden, so much grown in a mild Winter, as to be measured Fourteen Inches and an half high at Christmas; and a very large single Plant of it, which had not been hoed for Two Years before, was laid bare by digging out the Earth all around it a Foot deep, to observe the Manner of its Tap-root; and then the Earth was thrown in again, and the Hole filled up. This was on the Twenty-seventh of September. Upon this mellowing of the Soil about it, it sent out more Stalks in October, than it had done in the whole Summer before; they grew very vigorously, until a great Snow fell in December, which also preserved the Verdure of them, till that was melted away, and a black Frost came after it, and killed those Stalks. It is probable this Plant sent out immediately new fibrous horizontal Roots, which did grow apace to extract the Nourishment from this new-made Pasture, in proportion to the quick Growth of the Stalks, which in Summer have been measured, and found to grow in Height Three Inches and an half in a Night and a Day; this being almost One Inch in Six Hours.

And it has been my Observation, that this Plant, in hot and cold Countries, thrives both with a much greater, or less Degree of Heat and Moisture, when it is hoed; for if it has Plenty of Nourishment, which Hoeing always gives it, a very little Heat above, and the Moisture alone (which is never wanting to the deep Tap-root) suffice, and that Plenty of Food enables it the better to endure the Extremes of either Heat or Cold.

We need not much apprehend the Danger of English Winters; for Luserne will endure those which are more rigorous. In the Principality of Neufchâtel the Winters are so severe, as to kill all the Rosemary left abroad; yet Luserne survives them there: This proves it more hardy than Rosemary, which is planted for Hedges in England; and here is scarce twice in an Age a Frost able to kill it.

I have one single Luserne-plant in a poor Arable Field, that has stood the Test of Two-and-twenty Winters, besides the Feeding of Sheep at all Seasons, and yet remains as strong as ever. What Quantity of Hay this Plant yearly produces, cannot be known, because at those times that Cattle are kept from it, the Hares constantly crop it, being sweeter than any other Grass.

But this happens to be fortunately situate, where ’tis not altogether destitute of the Benefit of Hoeing. ’Tis in an Angle, where, every time the Field is till’d, the Plough goes over it in turning from the Furrows of one Land and one Head-land; but it is after the Plough is lifted out of the Ground, and turned up on one side, so that the Share only breaks the Turf very small all around it, without plowing up the Plant: Yet it has escaped it so narrowly, that the Fin of the Plough-share has split it into Four Parts; Three of which remain, and grow never the worse, but the Fourth is torn off, and the Wound healed up.

By the extreme hard Winter that happened about the Year 1708, or 1709, some of the Luserne in Languedoc was killed: Yet this was no Argument of its Tenderness, but rather the contrary; because then all the Olive-trees and Walnut-trees were there killed, tho’ the greatest Part of the Luserne escaped unhurt: And I did not hear one Walnut-tree was killed that Winter in England. Perhaps those in France, having being accustomed to much hotter Summers, were unable to endure the Rigour of the same Winter, that could do no Harm to the same Species in England, where our Winters do not seem to exceed some of theirs in Cold, so much as their Summers do ours in Heat. And since the Extremes are not so far asunder here, the same Degree of Cold may to our Plants seem tepid, which to those in Languedoc must seem rigorous, differing a more remote Degree from the opposite Extremity of Heat in Summer.

And, besides the Difference of Heat and Cold in different Climates, there is another more necessary to be observed; and that is, the Difference of the Hardiness in different Individuals of the same Species: The same Frost that kills a faint languishing Plant of Luserne, will be despised by a robust one, which, being well fed by the Hoe, becomes a Giant cloath’d and fenced with a thick Bark, that renders it impregnable against all Weather; its Rind is to it a Coat of Mail or Buff, impenetrable by Frost: But the unhoed is generally small and weak; its thin tender Bark exposes it almost naked to the Frost; it being, for want of a sufficient Pasture, starv’d and half-dead already, ’tis the more easily killed by the Cold.

I formerly lived some Years in Languedoc, where are many Hundred Acres of Luserne; and I never could find a very large Plant amongst it, unless in such Pieces as had been plowed up, tilled, and sown with Corn: Here indeed those Plants that remained (as always some would do) grew to an extraordinary Bulk; and One of those single tilled Plants did seem to produce a greater Quantity of Stalks, than Twenty of such as had not been plowed up; and as there were no large Plants amongst the unplowed, so there were no small amongst the plowed ones. The same thing has been observed in all other Places where Luserne has been plowed[198].

And in Wiltshire several Grounds of it stood some Years without ever coming to a Substance to be of any Value, tho’ the Land was whitish, and scarce any Grass appeared amongst the Luserne; and therefore its Poorness was thought to proceed from the Soil’s being improper; but when it had been broken up, and sown several Years with Corn, and afterwards lain down with St. Foin, all the Luserne-plants which remained (and they were many) grew large and strong, shooting up a Yard in Height soon after the St. Foin was cut; and if there had been a competent Number of them undestroyed by the Plough, they would have yielded Crops of an extraordinary Value, where before Plowing it grew but few Inches above the Ground.

It seems that in this sort of Land the Earth grows stale, ere the Luserne arrives at a Tenth Part of its Stature: But this is most remarkable, that Tillage transforms those Luserne-plants from Dwarfs to Giants; and then they are able to contend with, if not conquer, so strong Plants as St. Foin is, tho’ before Plowing they were unable to resist the Depredations of a few hairy Spires of Grass.

Since Tillage can thus recover Luserne, after it has long languished in the lowest Ebb of Life, and restore it to Health, Youth, and Vigour, and augment its Stature even after it has passed the Age of its full Growth; to what Bulk would it arrive, regularly planted, and hoed from its Infancy to Maturity without any Check to stint it!

We can never know how poor a Soil will bear this Plant, unless it be tried by the Hoeing Culture.

For ’tis wondrous how so great a Man as Dr. Woodward should imagine, that Difference of Soil should be the Reason why Apples in Herefordshire, and Cherries in Kent, succeed better than in other Places, when in truth they are seen to prosper as well almost all over England, where planted, cultivated, and preserved.

I believe Plants are more altered as to their Growth, by being cultivated or not, than by Change of Climates differing in very many Degrees of Latitude. I say, in their Growth, not always in their Fruit; for tho’ a Peach-tree, well cultivated in a Standard, will grow here vigorously, and be very beautiful; yet its Fruit will be of little Value, unless it be planted against a good Wall: So Luserne, unless cultivated upon a well exposed Gravel, will yield little Seed in England.

The Soil to plant it on is either an hot Gravel, a very rich dry Sand, or some other rich warm Land, that has not an under Stratum of Clay, nor is too near the Springs of Water; for, if the Earth below be of a cold Nature, which I take to be occasioned by its holding of Water, the Luserne will not long prosper therein, of whatever Sort the upper Stratum of Earth may be: This may be guessed at by the Vegetables a Soil naturally produces, as Fern, and the like; which, Mr. Evelyn observes, do indicate a Soil subject to Extremities of Heat and Cold; and condemns such a Soil as accursed. I agree to that Sentence, as far as relates to Cold; but am not satisfied of its abounding with Heat; and I am sure I know some Land very subject to Fern, which is very far from being barren, when well cultivated, and well suited with Vegetables; but, from among these, Luserne must be excluded.

Luserne in hot Countries grows best near Rivers, where its Roots reach the Water, which helps to mitigate the excessive Heat of the Climate; but here the Heats are so moderate, that if Luserne-roots are in Water (for ’tis that that makes Earth cold) it diminishes too much the just Proportion of Heat, which Luserne requires.

The natural Poorness of an hot Gravel may be compensated by Dung, more Heat, and the Benefit of the Hoe.

The natural Richness of the other sorts of Land being increased by hoeing and cleansing it from Grass, Luserne will thrive therein with the less Heat; for what the Soil wants of one of these Two Qualities, must be made up with the other; and it has grown high in hoed rich Ground at Christmas, when that in Land of an hotter Nature, but poorer, has not been able to peep out, for want of more Nourishment: So, if rich Land be clayey, very wet and cold, tho’ very rich, it requires much Heat, for as high a Growth of Luserne at Midsummer.

The best Season of planting it in England is in April, after the Danger of Frost is over; for a small Frost will destroy the whole Crop, when the Plants first appear; and too much Wet, with cold Weather, will rot the Seeds in the Ground; so that about the Middle of April may be generally esteemed as the best Season for sowing this Seed.

The hoed Plants of Luserne having larger Roots, and yielding more Crops than those of St. Foin, Reason seems to require, that the Number of the former be less.

But, on the other hand, if we consider, that as the Luserne-roots exceed the St. Foin in Bigness, so they also do in Length, by as great a Proportion; being generally less taper, and as they go deeper, they have more Earth to nourish them; they also require a better Soil, and more frequent Aids from the Hoe; and, by their extraordinary quick Growth, receive a speedier Relief from it, than the Roots of St. Foin do.

Thus, if by reaching deeper in a better Soil, and being more hoed, Luserne receives, from a square Perch of Ground, Nourishment in a proportion double to that whereby its Roots exceed those of St. Foin in Bigness, then I do not see why we should not leave the Number of Luserne-plants double to the Number of those we leave in St. Foin.

But if the Excess of Nourishment were no more than the Excess of Bigness of Roots, I think an equal Number of Plants should be left in Luserne, and in St. Foin: Yet since the hot or cold Constitution of a Plant, and also the Quantity it can produce, ought to be considered, as well as its Bulk, in relation to the Nourishment it requires, more Trials are necessary for determining the exact Number of Luserne-plants proper to be placed on a square Perch, than have been hitherto made.

Perhaps it will be thought heterodox to maintain by any Arguments, that to err in falling somewhat short of the just Number, is not of worse Consequence, than exceeding it.

Where they stand at Four or Five Inches asunder in the Rows, ’tis observed, that tho’ the Intervals betwixt the Rows be wide, yet the Plants are much the larger, and produce more that stand in the outside Rows (the Ground without being clean); and especially those at each End of the outside Rows, that is, the Corner-plants, are largest of all. I need not say, that had all the other Plants as much Room and Tillage as the Corner ones have, they would be as large, and produce each as much Hay; for those which stand perfectly single in Places by themselves, are seen to be larger, and produce more, than those Corner ones; and of the larger and longer Roots our Stock does consist, the more Nourishment they are capable of taking, as has been shewn. Where some Plants of the Luserne have been planted Two Feet asunder, in poor dry Land, which was kept clean from Weeds, and frequently digged, each Plant has sent forth upward of Three Hundred Stalks, and these have been Six or Seven Inches high by the Middle of March.

And it must be likewise observ’d, that the Crop will be produc’d in Proportion to the Nourishment it receives; for if the most gigantic Luserne plant, which, when pamper’d by the Hoe, has made a Produce more like a Tree than an Herb, remains a few Years without that or some equivalent Culture, it will by little and little cease to produce more than a few poor sickly Stalks, just to shew its Species; and then, if this Culture be repeated, will recover its pristine Strength, and yield as great a Crop as ever; but, if that be longer omitted, will die: The Vastness of its Root avails nothing, unless it has Food in proportion to it.

Hence it appears, that the most fatal Disease incident to Luserne is starving, and that rarely suffers any of its Plants to arrive at the full Period of their Growth or Age; it prevents their Fertility even in the Prime of their Youth, and kills them before they have liv’d out Half, or perhaps the Tenth Part, of their Days. How long its Life might otherwise be, nobody knows, unless a Plant could be found to die when well fed; for when it is, ’tis so tenacious of Life, that, I am told, beheading will not dispatch it[199].

’Tis therefore necessary, that our Rows be plac’d at such a Distance, as that their Intervals may be wide enough for the Hoe-plough to raise an artificial Pasture, sufficient to sustain the Number of Plants in them.

Whoever shall make Trials of this Husbandry (for that is all I propose to others), I would advise them to begin with Rows that have Intervals of Thirty-three Inches; for, if they begin with much narrower Distances, they may be by that means disappointed of Success: But tho’ they should afterwards find a Way to hoe them at somewhat nearer Distances; yet the Loss of a few Perches of Ground would not be much; neither can they be wholly lost, since the Roots of these Plants may be prov’d to extend much farther horizontally, than from Row to Row at that Distance. And the wider the Intervals are, the more Earth will be till’d in a Perch of Ground; because Six Rows, which will be therein at Thirty-three Inches Distance, will admit the Hoe-plough to till more Earth, than Nine Rows at Twenty-two Inches Distance from each other: And, besides, ’tis not proper, that every time of hoeing, the Plough should come very near to the Plants, unless when Grass comes amongst them; and then they may, in Thirty-three Inch Spaces, be perfectly cleansed in this manner: viz. Plow a good Furrow from each Side of every Row; and then with Harrows, or other Instruments proper for that Purpose, going cross them, you will pull out both Earth and Grass from betwixt the Plants; then, after a convenient Time, plow these Furrows back again to the Rows; this will in a manner transplant the upper Part of the Roots, and bury the Grass, tho’ it be not dead, by lying open to be dry’d by the Sun: Then harrow the Ground to break it more, and to level it, and go once over it with a very light Roller, to the End that the Hay may be raked up the cleaner.

I am aware of the common Prejudice, which is, that People, when they have never seen a Plantation of these Plants in Perfection, are apt to form to themselves the Idea of such small ones as they have been used to see; and thence imagine it impossible that this (tho’ a double) Number should be sufficient to make a Crop. But they might, with equal Reason, imagine the same of Apple-trees at a Year’s Growth, which are less than these at the same Age; and so plant a Thousand Trees in the Room proper for one. The Antients direct the Planting of Seventeen Cytisus Plants in a Perch of Ground; and I do not believe, that ever those Seventeen could yield a Crop equal to Two hundred Twenty-four Luserne-plants; for as many Ounces of Hay as each of these yields, so many Ton of Hay will one Crop of an Acre produce: Thus by weighing the Product of one Plant (supposing them all equal) the Quantity of the Crop may be determin’d, and prov’d greater than Fancy from their Number represents.

	s.	d.
April 14. One single unho’d Plant of Luserne had Thirty-one Stalks, which, by Silver-Money, weigh’d green	23	0
24. The same dried to Hay, weigh’d	6	6
14. The Stalks of one single ho’d Luserne-plant green, weigh’d	56	0
24. The same dry’d	14	6
14. Eighteen Inches in Length of a Row, being five indifferent Plants, weigh’d green one Pound and an half Avoirdupois
24. Dry’d to Hay, it weigh’d	28	6
25. One Foot of an ho’d Row, being One hundred and Sixty Stalks of two Luserne Plants of Six or Seven Years old, weigh’d Two Pound green
But the same dry’d, to the 9th of May, weigh’d no more than	31	6
Which last is about Three Tons to an Acre.

This I am certain of, that the least competent Number of Plants will bring the greatest Number of Crops: since I see the Stalks of a single ho’d Plant grow higher in Fifteen Days, than one amongst near Neighbours does in Thirty Days.

The greatest Difference between the Culture of this and St. Foin is, that Luserne Rows should be more grown, before the Plants be made single in them by the Hand-hoe, lest the Fly should destroy some afterwards, and then they might become too thin. For Luserne is sometimes eaten by the Fly, as Turneps are, tho’ St. Foin be never liable to that Misfortune, if sown in a proper Season. Luserne must also be more frequently ho’d[200], in some Proportion to the more frequent Crops it produces.

I shall not go about to compute the Difference of Expence bestow’d in the Roman Culture and in this; yet it will appear theirs was incomparably more chargeable, and that the Excess of Charge was occasioned by their Error in the Theory of Husbandry.

They sow’d it so thick, that the Plants must needs be very small; and when Ten of them were no bigger than one good single ho’d Plant would have been, in the same Space of the Earth’s Surface, they could have but a Ninth Part of the Earth’s Depth, which the one would have had. The Defect of Depth must be therefore made up, in some Measure, by the extraordinary Richness of the Surface. Upon this Account few Lands were capable of bearing Medica. Their sowing it so late made the first Waterings necessary; and the Shortness of the Roots required the repeated Rigations, after the Crops were cut: For Columella saith in Lib. ii. Cap. 11. Cum secueris autem, sæpius eam rigato. But had it been cultivated by the hoeing Method, the Tap-roots would have descended as deep as a Well, and, from the Springs below, have sent up Water to the Plants, besides what the Hoe would have caused the horizontal Roots to receive from Dews at the Surface above. At how much a cheaper Rate Water is supply’d by these Means, than by carrying it perhaps a great Way, and then sprinkling it by Hand over the Beds, which were made Ten feet wide between Path and Path for that Purpose, let any one judge; as also what a laborious Task it was to pick out the Grass with Fingers from amongst it, in the hard dry Ground in the Summer, after mowing the Crop, as Columella directs in his foremention’d Chapter, which the Horse-hoe would have done with Ease, at a Twentieth Part of that Expence. However, since they saw the Medica was as impatient of Grass as the Vineyards were, ’tis a Wonder they did not give it the same Culture with the Bidens, which would have been much better and cheaper, than to cleanse the Medica with Fingers. Indeed Fingers were made before the Bidens; but sure the Effect of its Use in raising Juices to the Vine, had inspired the Romans with more judicious Speculations, than to give that for a Reason why they ho’d the Medica with their Fingers, rather than with the Bidens.

Oh! But this was made with Iron, and Medica had, in those Times, an Antipathy to Iron; and after it was sown, the Place must not be touch’d by that Metal; therefore the Seed must not be cover’d with a Plough, nor with Iron Harrows. But if they had made Trials enough, to know that half an Inch was a proper Depth to cover this Seed at, these Virtuosi would have been convinc’d, that it had no less Antipathy to these Instruments, of what Matter soever they were made, if they bury’d it Five or Six Inches deep, which the Plough must do, and the Weight of Iron Harrows in such fine Ground not much less. Had the Plough been all of Wood, the Furrow would have lain never the lighter upon the Seed; and if the wooden Harrows had been loaded with a Weight capable of pressing it down as deep, it would have been no more able to rise, than if it had been buried with Iron Harrows: This Columella seems to be sensible of, when he says, Rastellis ligneis; viz. That it was not sufficient for them to be made of Wood, unless they were diminutive; for then they were light ones. ’Tis probable the Plough suffer’d none to come up, and the heavy Harrows very few, tho’ perhaps Plants enough, had they calculated what Number were sufficient: But unless the Ground were cover’d with them at first, it seems they had not Patience to wait till the Plants grew large enough, to fill it with a bare competent Number, and thought it not worth while to weed and water, what they fansied to be an insufficient Number. ’Twas expected that the Thickness of the Plants should help to kill the Grass: Yet upon due Observation ’tis found, that when their excessive Numbers have brought a Famine amongst them, they are forc’d to prey upon one another; and tho’ the stronger survive, yet even those are so weaken’d by Hunger, that they become the less able to contend with Grass, whose good Fortune it was, that Superstition would not permit the Romans to interpose, by attacking it with Iron Weapons.

I hope these Hints may be improv’d for the Abolition of old Errors, and for the Discovery of new Truths; to the end that Luserne may be planted in a more reasonable Method than has been commonly practis’d: And when the Theory is true, ’tis impossible the Practice should be false, if rightly apply’d; but if it fail of Success, the Event will be a Proof either of a Misapplication, or that the Theory is false.

Luserne should be order’d for Hay in the same Manner as is directed for St. Foin in the foregoing Chapter: But it must be observ’d, that Luserne is more worsted by being suffer’d to survive its Virginity before cutting; and therefore the richest and most nourishing Hay is cut whilst the Stalks are single, without any collateral Branches shooting out of them; and when they are so, neither Blossoms nor even their Buds appear. But of that sown in the old Fashion, the last Crops, for want of a new Supply of Nourishment, grow so slowly, that ere it is high enough to be cut, the Blossoms are blown out, and the Stalks, tho’ very small, are become woody, hard, and dry, and make the Hay nothing near so nourishing as that of the first Crops.

But in that which is ho’d, the last Crops of it will, by virtue of the greater Quantity of Nourishment it receives, grow faster, and be of an Height fit to cut before blossoming, and thence being as young and vigorous, make as good Hay as the first Crops; so that Hoeing does not only procure more and larger Crops, but also better Hay.

This is most certain, that unless we can keep our Luserne pretty clean from natural Grass, we cannot expect it to succeed, let the Soil be never so proper.

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Seeds, in their natural Climate, do not degenerate, unless Culture has improved them; and then, upon Omission of that Culture, they return to their first natural State.

As the Benefit of changing of Species of Seeds is from Difference of Tillage, so the Benefit of changing Individuals of the same Species appears to be from those Causes which are, generally, themselves, the Effects of different Climates, such as Heat and Moisture, which may also vary very much in the same Latitude and Neighbourhood; as the same Mountain in the Country of the Mogul (related by Mr. Evelyn, from Monsieur Bernier), on the South Side produces Indian Plants, and on the North Side European Plants, from different Exposures; and some Land, retaining Water longer, is colder; some, suffering it to pass down quicker, and by the Nature and Figure of its Parts, causes such a Refraction and Reflexion of the Sun’s Rays, which give a great Warmth, as in Sand, and gravelly Grounds, that are well situate, and have an under Stratum of some Sort of hollow Matter, next under the Staple[215], or upper Stratum, wherein the Plough is exercised.

This beneficial Change of Individuals seems rather to be from the forementioned Causes, than from Change of Food; and these Causes shew their Efficacy, chiefly in the Generation or Fœtation of those Seeds; as Flax-seed brought from Holland, and sown here, will bring as fine Flax as there; but the very next Generation of it coarser, and so degenerating gradually, after Two or Three Descents, becomes no better than the common ordinary Sort; yet its Food is the same, when the Flax is fine, as when ’tis coarse.

And so it is, when Individuals of Wheat are changed: So Silk-worms, hatched and bred in France, of Eggs or Seed brought from Italy, will make as fine Silk as the Italian; but the Eggs of these laid in France and their Issue, will make no better Silk than the French; though their Food be from Leaves of the same Mulberry-trees, when they make fine Silk and coarse: Therefore ’tis from the Climate, where the Eggs are impregnated, not where they have their Incubation or Food, when hatched, and fed to their Lives End, that this Difference happens.

Common Barley, sown once in the burning Sand at Patney in Wiltshire, will, for many Years after, if sown on indifferent warm Ground, be ripe Two or Three Weeks sooner than any other[216], which has never been impregnate at Patney: But if sown a Degree farther North, on cold clayey Land, will, in Two or Three Years, lose this Quality, and become as late ripe as any other.

Indeed Patney is far from improving the Species of Barley, except we think it improved by becoming more weak and tender, and shorter-lived; which last-mentioned Quality fits it for such Countries, where the Summers are too short for other Barley to ripen.

The Grains or Seeds of Vegetables are their Eggs; and the individual Plants, immediately proceeding from them, have not only the Virtues they received in Embryo (or rather in plantulis), but the Diseases also; for when smutty Wheat is sown, unless the Year prove very favourable, the Crop will be smutty; which is an evident Token of mala stamina.

The smutty Grains will not grow; for they turn to a black Powder: But when some of these are in a Crop, then, to be sure, many of the rest are infected; and the Disease will shew itself in the next Generation, or Descent of it, if the Year wherein ’tis planted prove a wet one.

Weeds, and their Seed, in the Fields where they grow naturally, for Time immemorial, come to as great Perfection as ever, without Change of Soil.

These Weeds, with Acorns, and other Masts, Crabs, Sloes, Hips, and Haws, are thought to have been, originally, the only natural Product of our Climate: Therefore other Plants being Exotics, many of them, as to their Individuals, require Culture and Change of Soil, without which they are liable more or less to degenerate.

But to say, that the Soil can cause Wheat to degenerate into Rye, or convert, Rye into Wheat, is what reflects upon the Credit of Laurembergius: ’Tis as easy to believe, that an Horse, by feeding in a certain Pasture, will degenerate into a Bull, and in other Pasture revert to an Horse again; these are scarce of more different Species than Wheat and Rye are: If the different Soil of Wittemberg and Thuringia change one Species, they may the other.

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The Method of plowing Land up into Ridges is a particular Sort of Tillage; the chief Use of which is, the Alteration it makes in the Degrees of Heat and Moisture, being two of the grand Requisites of Vegetation; for very different Degrees of these are necessary to different Species of Vegetables.

Those Vegetables commonly sown in our Fields, require a middle Degree of both, not being able to live on the Sides of perpendicular Walls in hot Countries, nor under Water in cold ones, neither are they amphibious, but must have a Surface of Earth not cover’d, nor much soak’d with Water, which deprives them of their necessary Degree of Heat, and causes them to languish. The Symptoms of their Disease are a pale or yellow Colour in their Leaves, and a Cessation of Growth, and Death ensues as sure as from a Dropsy.

The only Remedy to prevent this Disease in Plants is, to lay such wet Land up into Ridges, that the Water may run off into the Furrows, and be convey’d by Ditches or Drains into some River.

The more a Soil is fill’d with Water, the less Heat it will have.

The Two Sorts of Land most liable to be overglutted with Water, are Hills, whereof the Upper Stratum (or Staple) is Mould lying upon a Second Stratum of Clay;

And generally all strong deep Land.

Hills are made wet and spewy by the Rain-water which falls thereon, and soaks into them as into other Land; but being stopp’d by the Clay lying next the Surface or Staple, cannot enter the Clay; and for want of Entrance, spreads itself upon it; and as Water naturally tends downwards, it is by the incumbent Mould partly stopp’d in its Descent from the upper towards the lower Side of an Hill; and being follow’d and press’d on by more Water from above, is forced to rise up into the Mould lying upon it, which it fills as a Cistern does a Fountain (or Jet d’Eau). The Land of such an Hill is not the less wet or spewy for being laid up in Ridges, if they be made from the higher to the lower Part of the Field; for the Force of the Water’s Weight continued will raise it so, as to cause it to issue out at the very Tops of those Ridges; the Earth becomes a sort of Pap or Batter, and being like a Quagmire, in going over it, the Feet of Men and Cattle sink in till they come to the Clay.

There are two Methods of draining such a wet Hill: The one is to dig many Trenches, cross the Hill horizontally[217], and either fill them up with Stones loose or archwise, through which the Water, when it soaks into the Trenches, may run off at one or both Ends of them into some Ditch, which is lower, and carries it away; then they cover the Trenches with Mould, and plow over them as in dry level Ground.

This Method has been found effectual for a time, but not of long Continuance; for the Trenches are apt to be stopp’d up, and then the Springs break out again as before: Besides, this is a very chargeable Work, and in many Places the Expence of it may almost equal the Purchase of the Land.

Therefore ’tis a better Method to plow the Ridges cross the Hill almost horizontally, that their parting Furrows, lying open, may each serve as a Drain to the Ridge next below it; for when the Plough has made the Bottom of these horizontal Furrows a few Inches deeper than the Surface of the Clay, the Water will run to their Ends very securely, without rising into the Mould, provided no Part of the Furrows be lower than their Ends.

These parting Furrows, and their Ridges, must be made more or less oblique, according to the Form and Declivity of the Hill; but the more horizontal they are, the sooner the Rain-water will run off the Lands; for in that Case it will run to the Furrows, and reach them at right Angles, which it will not do when the Ridges (or Lands) are oblique; and therefore the Water’s Course cross the Lands will be longer[218]. Every one of these horizontal Trenches receives all the Water from the Rills, or little Gutters, wherein the Water runs betwixt the Mould and the Clay; these are all cut off by the Trenches, which receive the Water at their upper Sides, and carry it away, as the Trunks of Lead plac’d under the Eaves of a House do carry away the Rain-water.

If there were no other Manner of plowing Ridges on the Sides of Hills than what is commonly practised on the Plains, this Method of leaving open Furrows (or Drains on Declivities) would be impracticable; because the Plough could not turn up the Furrows against the Hill, and against the Ridge also, from the lower Side of it: But the easy Remedy against that Inconvenience is, to plow such Ridges in Pairs, without throwing any Earth into the Trenches, and then the Ridges will be plain a-top, and the Rain-water will run speedily downward to the next Trench, and thence to the Head-land, and so out of the Field. These Trenches will be made, as well as kept always open, by this plowing in Pairs; and is abundantly more easy than the Way of plowing Ridges singly. This plowing in Pairs prevents also another Inconveniency, which would otherwise happen to these horizontal Ridges; and that is, they being highest in the Middle, the Rain-water could not run freely from the upper Half of a Ridge towards the next Furrow below it, but would be apt to sink in there, and soak thro’ the Ridge; but when Ridges lie in Pairs, the Water will run off from a whole Ridge, as well as off the lower Half of a Ridge that is plow’d singly, and highest in the Middle.

Note, That every time of plowing, the Pairs must be changed, so that the Furrow, which had Two Ridges turned towards it one time, must have Two turned from it the next time: This Method keeps the Surfaces of all the Ridges (or Lands) pretty near even[219].

Farmers are at more Trouble and Pains to drown such Land (it being common to break their Horses Wind in plowing up Hill) than they would be at, if they laid their Ridges in the abovesaid Manner, which would effectually make them dry. Many hundred Acres of good Ground are spoiled; and many a good Horse, in plowing against the Hill, and against all Reason, Demonstration, and Experience too; which might be learned even from the Irish, who drain their Bogs, and make them fruitful, whilst some English bestow much Labour to drown and make barren many of their Hills, which would more easily be made dry and fertile.

I have observed, that those Places of such an Hill, that, when plowed with the Descent, were the wettest, and never produced any thing that was sown on them, became the very richest, when made dry by plowing cross the Descent. This shews that Water does not impoverish Land, but the contrary; tho’, whilst it stands thereon, it prevents the Heat which is necessary to the Production of most Sorts of Vegetables: And where it runs swiftly, it carries much Earth away with it; where it runs slowly, it deposits and leaves much behind it.

Though in all Places, where this Way of making the Ridges cross the Descent of Hills is practised, the Land becomes dry; yet very few Farmers will alter their old Method[220]; no, not even to try the Experiment; but still complain their Ground is so wet and spewy, that it brings them little or no Profit; and if the Year prove moist, they are great Losers by sowing it[221].

The Benefit of laying up strong deep Land into Ridges is very great; tho’ there be no Springs in it, as are in the Hills aforementioned.

This Land, when it lies flat, and is plowed sometimes one Way, sometimes the other, by cross-plowing, retains the Rain-water a long time soaking into it; by that Misfortune, the Plough is kept out Two or Three Weeks longer than if the same were in round Ridges; nay, sometimes its Flatness keeps it from drying till the Season of plowing, and even of sowing too, be lost.

The Reasons commonly given against such Ridges are these following.

The first of these I have already answered elsewhere, by shewing, that Cross-plowing is oftener injurious than beneficial.

The Second I shall sufficiently confute, if I can make appear, that no Ground is lost, but much may be gained, by Ridges.

What I mean by gaining of Ground, is the increasing of the Earth’s Surface: For if a flat Piece be plow’d up into Ridges, and if in each Sixteen Feet Breadth there be an empty Furrow of Two Feet; and yet, by the Height and Roundness of the Ridges, they have Eighteen Feet of Surface capable of producing Corn, equally to Eighteen Feet whilst the Piece was flat; there will be one Eighth Part of profitable Ground or Surface gain’d, more than it had when level; and this, I believe, Experience will prove, if the thing were well examined into.

But against this Increase of profitable Ground, there is an Objection, which I must not call a frivolous one, in respect to the Authors who bring it; yet, I hope, the Desire of finding the Truth will justify me to examine it; and the Arguments brought to sustain it.

This Opinion of theirs is founded upon their Notion (which I think very erroneous) of the perpendicular Growth of Vegetables; and is, by Mr. Bradley, set in its best Light, in his Vol. I. Pag. 8. usque ad Pag. 13. and in his Cuts, representing Three Hills; but his Arguments seem to be such as all Arguments are, which pretend to prove a thing to be what it is not; viz. Sophistical ones.

The Hypothesis he endeavours to prove, is in Pag. 8. thus: ‘An Hill may contain Four equal Sides, which meet in a Point at the Top; but the Contents of these Four Sides can produce no more, either of Grain or Trees, than the plain Ground, upon which the Hill stands, or has at its Base: and yet, by the Measure of the Sides, we find twice the Number of Acres, Roods, and Poles, which measure in the Base, or Ground-plat; and therefore Page 9. Hills are worth no more than half their Superficial Measure; i. e. Two Acres upon the Side of the Hill to pay as much as one upon the Plain, provided the Soil of both is equally rich.’

To prove it, he gives an Example in Fig. III. of Buildings upon an Hill; shewing, that the Two Sides of the Hill will only bear the same Number of Houses, that may stand in the Line at the Base.

This is foreign to the Question, of how much Grain, or how many Trees, the Hill will produce. For Vegetables, being fed by the Earth, require much more of its Surface to nourish them, than is necessary for them to stand on; but Buildings require no more of the Surface but Room to stand on: Therefore no such Argument, taken from Buildings, can be applied to Vegetables.

This Argument of Mr. Bradley’s gives no more Satisfaction to the Question about producing of Vegetables, than a Grazier would do, being asked, how many Oxen a certain Pasture-ground would maintain, if he should answer, by satisfying you with the Number of Churches which might stand thereon.

The like Answer, in effect, may be given to the Argument in Fig. IV. of the Pales; only he has forgot to shew, that to mound over the Hill would require double the Rails, or double the Hedge-wood (except Stakes) as to mound the Base; if it did not, the Hill would be yet of the more Value, because thereon more Surface might be fenced in at less Expence.

In his Fig. II. he gives no good Reason why the Hill should not bear twice the Number of Trees as the Base can do; for there is as much Room for Two hundred Trees on the Hill, as for One hundred on the Base, because he allows the Surface to be double to that of the Base. He ought to measure the Distances of the Trees on the Hill, by a Line parallel to the Surface they grow on, as well as he does the Distances of those below.

And suppose the Row at the Base, together with the Surface they grow on, were rais’d up, so that it should become parallel to half the Row on the Hill, would not the Trees in the Base Row be twice as near to one another as the Trees in the Hill Row are? And suppose a Line had been ty’d from the Tops of all the lower Trees, before the Row was so rais’d up at one End, and then, after the Situation of the Row was so alter’d, if by this Line the Trees should be pull’d from being perpendicular to the Surface they grow on, and made to stand oblique to that, and perpendicular to the Horizon, as the upper Trees are; would the Distances of the Trees from one another be alter’d by this Change of Posture? No, for their Bottoms would be at the same Distances, because not removed; and their Tops, because the same Line holds them, at the same Distances in both Postures.

Mr. Bradley’s Lines, drawn from the Trees below, which are one Perch asunder, make the Two Rows of Trees falsly seem to be at equal Distances, because these Lines are parallel to each other: But this is a Deceit; for, in Truth, the Distances of the Trees are not measured by the Distances of those Lines, but by the extreme Points at the Ends of the Lines[222]; and those Two Points above, where the Lines cut the Row obliquely, and at unequal Angles are twice as far asunder as the endmost or extreme Points below are, where the Lines cut the Row at right Angles. Hence may be inferr’d, that there is Room for twice as many Trees to grow on the Hill as on the Base, and twice as much Grain for the same Reason; because there is twice the Surface for the Roots to spread in. And since Mr. Bradley allows the Hill to contain Two Perches to One of the Base, and the Soil of both to be of equal Goodness; and yet affirms, that the Two can produce no more of Grain or Trees than the one Perch can; I cannot see, why it should not be as reasonable to say, that Two Quarters of Oats will maintain an Horse no longer, nor better, than One Quarter of Oats, of equal Goodness, will do.

In Page 13. he concludes thus: ‘That Hills, in their Measure, contain only as much profitable Land as the Plain or Plat of Ground they stand upon; and as a Proof of that, all Vegetables or Plants have an erect Method of Growth.’

This Proof of Mr. Bradley’s is founded upon an Argument which has no Consequence, unless it were first proved, that the Surface of Earth could produce and maintain as many Vegetables or Plants as could stand thereon in an erect Posture; which Supposition is as impossible, as that half an Acre should produce and maintain an Hecatomb, without Mr. Bradley’s teaching Oxen to live upon Air for their Food, as he thinks Van Helmont’s Tree did.

All expert Husbandmen must needs be convinced, that the greatest Crop of Vegetables that ever grew, might stand in an erect Posture, upon a twentieth (and I may say the Hundredth) Part of the Surface that produced it; therefore there must be Nineteen Parts for the Roots to spread, unoccupied by the Trunks, Stems, or Stalks.

And tho’ it be true, that an Hill will support no more of these, than its Base, when placed in an erect Posture, close together, as in a Sheaf; yet this close Position is only proper for them when they are dead, and require no more Nourishment than Houses and Pales do; and consequently require no Room but to stand on. Therefore this Argument of Mr. Bradley’s must not be admitted in vegetative Growth, where there is always required Nineteen times more Room in the Surface, for the Use of the Roots, than what the Stems, Trunks, or Stalks, do possess upon it: And the more Room there is for the Roots, the greater Number of Plants may be produced.

Neither can I admit, that all Vegetables or Plants have an erect Method of Growth; because the contrary is seen in Chamomile, and divers other Vegetables, which have an horizontal Method of Growth.

But what is more material to this Purpose, to be observed, is, that all Vegetables have horizontal Roots, and Roots parallel to the Earth’s Surface or Superficies; and unless those Roots have a sufficient Superficies of Earth to range in, for Nourishment of a Plant, the Stem and Branches cannot prosper, whatever be their Method of Growth above the Earth; and if there be not a due Quantity of Food for the Roots within the Earth, a very little Space may contain the external Parts of Vegetables upon it.

From what has been said, I think we may conclude, that Mr. Bradley’s Hill may produce more Vegetables than the Base whereon it stands; and therefore it is of more Value than half its superficial Measure; i. e. Two Acres on the Hill are worth more than one Acre on the Plain, the Soil being equally rich, as he allows it to be, in his Case.

Now, indeed, whether Mr. Bradley might not possibly be deceived in his Opinion of the equal Richness of his Hill, and his Plain, I will not dispute: I will only say this, that ’tis generally otherwise. But where a Plain is plow’d up into moderate Ridges, their Height being in proportion to the Depth of the Staple, below which the Plough must take nothing into the Ridges, the Soil is equally rich, whether it be plowed plain, or ridged up. And as the Surface is in the Ridges increased, there is nothing in all Mr. Bradley’s Arguments, that shews, why that increased Surface should not produce more Vegetables than the same Earth could do whilst it was level.

There are other Reasons why it should produce more when ridged[223], besides the Increase of Surface; as,

The following general Rules ought to be observed about Ridges; viz.

That, as to their Height, regard must be had to the Nature of the Soil, in its difficult Admission of Water; for the greater that is, the greater Declivities the Ridges should have; and then, if the Soil be not deep, they should generally be made the narrower.

There is one thing which Mr. Bradley takes no notice of; viz. That no more of the Rain, or other Benefits of the Atmosphere, which descend perpendicularly, can fall on an Hill, or on a Ridge, than what would fall on the Base, or Ground-plot. But ’tis probable, that more of the fine Vapour, which swims in the Current of the Air horizontally, does strike and break against those Eminences, and so make an Equivalent[224], except that it runs off more quickly.

Notwithstanding all I have here said, in behalf of Ridges, I must confess, that, for my Hoeing-Husbandry, I should prefer Land that is naturally dry enough, without a Necessity of being laid up in any larger or higher Ridges than what may contain Six Feet in Breadth[225], that Size being the largest that is proper for the regular Operation of the Horse-hoe.

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By what means Ploughs and Tillage itself came at first to be invented is uncertain; therefore we are at Liberty to guess: And it seems most probable, that it was, like most other Inventions, found out by Accident, and that the first Tillers or Plowers of the Ground were Hogs: Men in those Days, having sufficient Leisure for Speculation, observ’d, that when any sort of Seed happen’d to fall on a Spot of Ground well routed up by the Swine (which Instinct had instructed to dig in Search of their Food), it grew and prospered much better than in the whole unbroken Turf. This Observation must naturally induce rational Creatures to the Contrivance of some Instrument, which might imitate, if not excel Brutes in this Operation of breaking and dividing the Surface of the Earth, in order to increase and better its Product.

That some such Accident gave Men the First Hints of original Agriculture, may be inferr’d from the very little (or no) Probability of its being invented originally upon Arguments which might convince the Understanding (by just Conclusions from Ideas of the Earth and Vegetation) of any reasonable Grounds to hope, that the Effect of increasing the Earth’s Produce should follow the Cause of Tillage; or, in other Words, why it should produce more when tilled than when untilled. Therefore it is very unlikely, that Men should begin to take Pains to till the Land without any Sort of Reason why they did it. And no such Reason could they have before the Invention, as they had afterwards: For when they accidentally saw that Effect follow that Cause, then they were well convinced it did so. But tho’ this Argument, viz. Tillage increases the Product of the Earth, because it does, has been sufficient to continue the Practice of Tillage ever since; yet it is impossible for the Inventors to have had this Argument before the Invention, in case it had been invented by Men, and not fortuitously discover’d.

Had there ever been extant any other or better Arguments, whereon this Practice, so useful to Mankind, was founded; sure, some of all the great and learned Authors, who have written on this Subject, would have mention’d them. Philosophers, Orators, and Poets, have treated of it in the same Theory by which it was first discover’d, and by no other; viz. Land produces more when tilled; and some seem to say, the more it is tilled, the more it produces. It does, because it does; not a Word of the Pasture of Plants, or any thing like it. So that all the antient Scriptores de re rusticâ have done, was only to keep that Theory in the same Degree of Perfection in which the first Discoverers received it.

The bristled Animals broke up the Ground, because they used to find their Food there by digging; Men till it, because they find Tillage procures them better Food than Acorns.

The Reasons are the same for one and the other.

These Writers, asham’d to acknowlege so noble a Discovery to be owing to so mean a Foundation, make no mention of the true Teachers, but attribute the Invention to Ceres, a Goddess of their own makeing; she, as they pretend, first taught the Art of Tillage. With this Fable they were so well pleased, that they never attempted to improve that Art, lest they should derogate from the Divinity of Ceres, in supposing her Invention imperfect.

With what Instrument Men first tilled the Ground we don’t know exactly; but there may be Reasons to believe it was with the Spade, and probably a wooden one, and very rough.

For whilst People liv’d on Acorns, there was no need of the Smith; such Food required no Knives for eating it, nor was it worth while to make Swords to fight for it; and without Iron the Spade could not be well hewn, or shap’d; but if it had been such as it is at present, there never was any thing comparable to it, for the true Use of Tillage. Yet the Spade could not make that Expedition, which was necessary when Tillage became general in the Fields; and therefore in time the Spade came wholly to be appropriate to the most perfect Sort of Tillage in the Garden. Then the Plough supply’d the Place of the Spade in the Field; and tho’ it could not (such as it was) till the Land near so well, yet it could till ten times more of it, and with less human Labour.

Why they did not improve the Plough, so that it might also till as well as the Spade, seems owing to their Primitive Theory, which gave no Mathematical Reason to shew wherein the true Method of Tillage did consist; viz. in dividing the Earth into many Parts, to increase its internal Superficies, which is the Pasture of Plants.

The Difference betwixt the Operation of the Spade, and that of the common Plough, is only this; that the former commonly divides the Soil into smaller Pieces, and goes deeper.

How easy and natural it is to contrive a Plough that may equal the Spade, if not exceed it, in going deeper, and cutting the Soil into smaller Pieces, than the Spade commonly does, I leave to the Judgment of those who have seen the Four-coulter’d Plough.

The Plough describ’d by Virgil had no Coulter; neither do I remember to have seen any Coulter in Italy, or the South of France; and, as I have been informed, the Ploughs in Greece, and all the East, are of much the same Fashion: Neither is it practicable to use a Coulter in such a Plough; because the Share does not cut the Bottom of the Furrow horizontally, but obliquely; in going one way, it turns off the Furrow to the right Hand; but in coming back, it turns it to the Left[256]. Therefore, if it had a Coulter, it must have been on the wrong Side every other Furrow: And besides, as the Handle (for it has but one) always holds the Plough towards one Side, with the Bottom of the Share towards the unplow’d Land, it would cause the Coulter to go much too low when it went on the Furrow-side, and it would not touch the Ground, when it went on the Land-side.

’Tis a great Mistake in those who say Virgil’s Plough had Two Earth-boards; for it had none at all; but the Share itself always going obliquely, served instead of an Earth-board; and the Two Ears, which were the Corners of a Piece of Wood lying under the Share, did the Office of Ground-wrests: This Fashion continues to this Day in those Countries, and in Languedoc.

This sort of Plough performs tolerably when Ground is fine, and makes a shift to break up light Land; and I could never find any other Land there; I am sure none comparable to ours for Strength: And it would be next to impossible, to break up such as we in England call strong Land with it.

I do not find, that the Arable Lands about Rome are ever suffered to lie still long enough to come to a Turf; but I have observed in the low rich Lands in the Calabria’s, subject to the Invasions of the Turks, that there is Turf, and that these Ploughs go over the Land Two or Three times before the Turf of it is all broken, tho’ the Soil be a very mellow Sort of Garden-mould. Having no Coulters to cut it, they break and tear Turf into little Pieces. This was done in the Month of November; and had I not seen Men and Oxen at the Work, or had there been Oaks in the Place, I should rather have thought that Tillage performed by a Race of the first Teachers of it, in muzzling Acorns, than by Ploughs. However, the Mould being naturally very mellow, when the Turf is broken with shallow Plowing, they can plow deeper afterwards.

The English Ploughs are very different from the Eastern, as in general the Soil is.

These, when well made, cut off the Furrow at the Bottom horizontally; and therefore, it being as thick on the Land-side as on the Furrow-side, the Plough cannot break it off from the whole Land, at such a Thickness (being Six times greater than the Eastern Ploughs have to break off), and must of Necessity have a Coulter to cut it off: By this means the Furrow is turned perfectly whole, and no Part of the Turf of it broken; and if it lie long without new turning, the Grass from the Edges will spread, and form a new Turf (or Swerd) on the other Side, which was the Bottom of the Furrow before turning, but is now become the Surface of the Earth, and may soon become greener with Grass than before Plowing; and often the very Roots send up new Heads to help to stock the reversed Furrow, the former Heads being converted into Roots, so that it is doubly cloathed and braced on both Sides, or, as it were, kay’d together, firm and solid, almost as a Plank; it may be drawn from one Side of a Field to the other without breaking, and might possibly be made use of, instead of Virgil’s Crates Viminea, for harrowing or smoothing of fine-tilled Ground; but not without much Time, Labour, and Difficulty, can it be made such itself.

If you plow whole strong turfy Furrows cross-ways, as Virgil directs, and as it is too commonly practised, the Coulter cannot easily cut them, because, being loose underneath, they do not make a sufficient Resistance or Pressure against its Edge, but move before it, and so are apt to be drawn and driven up into Heaps, with their Surfaces lying all manner of Ways, and situate in all manner of Postures: So the Turf, which is not turned, continuing in the open Air, grows on, and with its vigorous Roots holds the Earth fast together, and will not suffer the necessary Division to be made, which would be, if the Turf were rotten, and which is the End of all Tillage, viz. to increase the Pasture of Plants.

Next, some have vast heavy Drags, with great long Iron Tines in them; and tho’ these huge broken Pieces of Furrows, being looser than before, require keener Edges to cut them; yet these Drag-tines have no Edge at all, but are as blunt as the Furrows they should cut. These Drags draw them sometimes into larger Heaps, leaving the under Stratum bare betwixt them, only shaking off some of their Mould in tumbling them about, and scratching their Surfaces, without reducing them to a moderate Fineness, until this ill-broken Land has, for above a Year, and sometimes longer, entertained Ploughs, Cattle, and Men, with a frequent laborious Exercise, for which they are obliged to the one Coulter.

If the Soil be shallow, it may be broken up with a narrow Furrow, which will the sooner be brought in Tilth; but if it be a deep Soil, the Furrows must be proportionably large, or else a Part of the good Mould must be left under unmoved, and so lost; for a narrow Furrow cannot be plowed deep, because the Plough will continually slip out from the hard Land toward the Right-hand, unless the rising Furrow be of sufficient Weight to press the Plough towards the Left, and keep it in its Work: The deeper you plow, the greater Weight is required to press it; so that the deeper your Land is, the worse (or into the larger Furrows) must it be broken up with one Coulter, insomuch that, if the Land be strong (as most deep Ground in England is), it is a Work of some Years to conquer it, after it has been rested. And often it happens, that the excessive Charge of this Tillage reduces the Profit of rich Land below that of poor.

This gives an Opportunity to deceitful Servants, of imposing upon their ignorant Masters. They plow such deep Land with a small shallow Furrow, to the end the Turf and Furrows may be broken, and made fine the sooner; pretending they will plow it deeper the next time (which is called Stirring), which these Rogues know very well cannot be done, and intend no more than that the Plough coming the easier after the Horses, their Coats may shine the better; and tho’ there be no Crop at Harvest, they must have Four Meals a Day all the Year, and extravagant Wages at Michaelmas, or at any time of the Year, when they think fit to misbehave themselves.

This sort of Land must not be stirred, i. e. plowed the Second time in wet Weather; for that will cause the Grass and Weeds to multiply, besides the treading the Ground into hard Dabs, &c. And, in dry Weather, the Plough will never enter any deeper than it went the first time; the Resistance below being so much more than the Pressure above, the Plough will rise up continually; or, if it goes deep enough for the Weight of Earth to keep it down, another Inconvenience will follow, which is that mentioned by Columella, Page 47. Quod omnis humus, quamvis lætissima, tamen inferiorem partem jejuniorem habet, eamque attrahunt excitatæ majores glebæ; quo evenit, ut infœcundior materia mista pinguiori segetem minus uberem reddat. The vulgar English Phrase is, It spaults up from below the Staple. Hence the treacherous Plowman is secure of an easy Summer’s Work, if he can persuade his Master to suffer him to fallow the Ground with a shallow Furrow.

Another way to conquer a strong Turf is, to plow it first with a Breast-plough, very thin; and, when the Swerd is rotten, then plow it at the proper Depth: But this Method is (besides the extraordinary Charge of it) liable to other great Misfortunes. If the Turf be pared up in Winter, or early in the Spring, it is a Chance but the Rains cause it to grow stronger than before, instead of its Rotting.

And if it be pared later, tho’ dry Weather do follow, and continue long enough to kill the Turf, yet this loses time; the Season of plowing is retarded; for all the Staple still remains untilled; and, before that can be well done, the Year is too far spent for sowing it with Wheat, which is the most proper Grain for such strong Land[257]; and few will have Patience to wait, and plow on till another Wheat-seed time. The dry Weather also, which in Summer kills the Swerd, renders the Plowing obnoxious to most or all the Evils afore-mentioned.

A Farmer inquires concerning the Four-coulter Plough, as in the following Dialogue.

Farm. What must we do then? Must we have recourse to the Spade for breaking up our rich, strong, swerdy Land?

Resp. If you can procure Men to dig it faithfully in Pieces, not above Two Inches and an half thick, at the Price of about Eight Shillings per Acre, it would do very well, and answer all the Ends of Tillage; but, tho’ you bargain with them to dig it at that Size for Three Pounds per Acre, you will find, upon Examination, most of the Pieces or Spits, which are dug out of your Sight, to be of twice that Thickness. And no great Quantities can be this way managed, altho’ the Price of Corn should answer such an extravagant Expence.

Farm. Since it is so difficult to bring our strong Land into Tilth, after it has rested, that it cannot be speedily done by a Plough without a Coulter, or by one with a Coulter, in wet Weather or dry, nor with a Breast-plough, without a certain Expence, and an uncertain Success, the Spade is too chargeable a Tillage for the Field: It seems to me, upon the Whole, that we are Losers by this inaratæ gratia terræ, unless we could contrive some other Method of reducing it sooner, and with less Charge, into Tilth; for I observe, that, when we sow it upon the Back, the Corn and Grass (or Couch), coming both together, exhaust the Ground so much, that by that time we can (which is about Three Years) reduce the great Lumps to a tolerable Fineness, it grows full of Grass and Weeds (which we call Foul), and loses that Fertility we expected it should acquire by Rest, becoming, in our Terms, both out of Tilth, and out of Heart.

Resp. If you know all this to be true, and that without a Coulter you cannot break it up at all; and that with one Coulter you cannot any way cut the Furrow small enough, or less than Ten Inches broad; why do not you cut it with Four Coulters, which will reduce the same Furrow into Four equal Parts, of Two Inches and an half each in Breadth, and of the Depth of the Staple, tho’ that should be Two Spit, or Sixteen Inches deep?

Farm. How can that be done?

Resp. Every jot as easily as with one Coulter: For, before the Furrow is raised by the Share, it lies fast, and makes a sufficient Resistance equally against the Edges of all the Coulters; tho’, after it be raised and loose, it yields and recedes every way, except downwards; so that it cannot be cut by any Edge, but such as attacks it perpendicularly from above, as that of the Spade does.

Farm. This seems to me reasonable; and, having very lately heard talk of this Plough, I would gladly know more of it.

Resp. The Furrow, being cut into Four Parts, has not only Four times the Superficies on the Eight Sides which it would have had on Two Sides; but it is also more divided cross-ways; viz. The Ground-wrest presses and breaks the lower (or Right-hand) Quarter; the other Three Quarters, in rising and coming over the Earth-board, must make a crooked Line about a Fourth longer than the strait one they made before moved; therefore their Thinness not being able to hold them together, they are broken into many more Pieces, for want of Tenacity to extend to a longer Line, contrary to a whole Furrow, whose great Breadth enables it to stretch and extend from a shorter to a longer Line, without breaking; and, as it is turned off, the Parts are drawn together again by the Spring of the Turf or Swerd[258], and so remain whole after Plowing. Thus the Four-coultered Plow can divide the Soil into above Twenty times more Parts than the common Plough; and sometimes, when the Earth is of a right Temper betwixt wet and dry, the Earth-board, in turning the Furrows off, will break them into Dust, having more Superficies than is made by Four common Plowings; and it is impossible there should be any large Pieces amongst it.

Now, what a prodigious Advantage must the Influences of the Atmosphere have upon these small Parts, for making a further Division of them! Frost, Water, Drought, and nitrous Air, easily penetrate to their very Centers, which cannot in the largest of them be more than one Inch and a Quarter distant from their Superficies. This Advantage, with a few subsequent common Plowings, performed in proper Seasons, resolves the Earth almost all to a Powder. The Swerd, some being immersed or buried and mixed among so great a Proportion of Mould, is soon rotten and lost; some of the Swerd lying loose a-top, the Earth presently drops out of it; and then the Roots are dried up, and die. Thus is the whole Staple of the Ground brought into perfect Tilth in a very short time beyond what the Spade ever does in such swerdy Land.

Farm. What sort of Weather is best for using this Plough?

Resp. Any Weather, except the Ground be so dry and hard that the Plough cannot enter it; but it is very proper to be done, when the Earth is so wet, that by no means it ought to be plowed with any other Plough; for it never can be too moist for this, unless the Cattle which draw it be mired; because, tho’ all the Cattle should not go in the Furrow, yet their Treadings are cut so small by the Coulters, that the Earth is not kept from dissolving, as when turned off whole in common Tillage. ’Tis observed, that the Incisions made by the Coulters on swerdy Land, will not heal, or so close up, but that they will open again by the next Plowing, though it be a great while after. A Farmer who uses this Plough, may till in all Weathers and all Seasons of the Year, either in fallowing with this, which is best in wet, or in stirring with the common ones, which must be done in dry Weather; and when the Ground is broken up with this, it may be stirred in the driest Weather that can be, without the Danger of tearing (or spaulting) up of the under Stratum along with the Staple, because this is all broken before, and then no more can rise with it; as it does to the Ruin of the Soil, when in common Tillage they go deeper the Second time than the First: Also, if there be a Necessity of stirring some sort of Land when it is wet, it ought either to be done with this Plough, or else with a common one drawn by a single Row of Cattle treading all in the Furrow; for tho’ some Land be very fine, yet, when plowed by a double Row of Cattle in wet Weather, it will be made into large Pieces by the Treading, and perhaps not dissolve again in a long time: Therefore it is better to be prevented.

Farm. I perceive this Plough lays the Foundation for all good Husbandry; and there can be no other way to bring Land into perfect Tilth in so short a Time, or with so little Expence. And I am convinc’d, that no Farmer ought to be without it, who desires to be free from the Danger of his Land being ever out of Tilth: But I have heard it objected, that it is harder to draw than the common Ploughs; and that its Beam being longer, upon account of the Four Coulters, it lies farther behind, and comes harder after the Horses.

Resp. I must confess, there is something in that Objection; for this Plough, being something longer, may be a little the harder Draught; and also its Weight and Strength must bear a Proportion to the Length of it. But this small Increase of the Draught would have been a much stronger (if not a fatal) Objection, had that Custom been general, of Horses drawing by their Tails, as ’tis said to have been formerly in some Places; for then, perhaps, a sufficient Strength of Horses could not be applied to the Plough. But in Countries where Traces are in Use, every Horse of the Team may draw the Plough equally, and then there will be no other Inconvenience, besides the adding one Horse, or keeping a stronger Team: And he cannot be wise, who would lose the Profit of his Land, for the Odds of sometimes adding a Horse to his Plough. And I am very certain, that this Plough requires a much less Strength of Cattle to draw it in moist Weather, which is the most proper to use it in, than to draw a common Plough in the same Ground, and at the same Depth, in dry Weather; and can seldom be used safely in any other. And the Vulgar, who have always a wrong Cause ready at hand to apply to every thing, impute that Draught to the Fashion of the Plough, which ought to be imputed to its going deeper; and this great Depth at which ’tis capable of plowing, viz. Two Spit deep, is one extraordinary Benefit of it, tho’ it may, on Occasion, go as shallow as any.

The Draught is not so much increased by adding Three Coulters, as may be imagined; for when the Ground is moist, the Incisions are easily made by the Edges; and when they are cut small, the Furrows rise much more easily upon the Share and Earth-Board, than if whole.

Farm. If this Plough be so beneficial, having so many Advantages, and only the Two Inconveniencies, one of requiring a little more Strength to draw it, and the other its being unfit for dry hard Ground, I wonder why it is not become more common?

Resp. It has been used with very great Success for these several Years last past, but never like to be common, unless it be described in a more geometrical Manner, than any Plough has hitherto been; for the Plough-wrights find it difficult enough to make a common Plough with one Coulter to perform as it ought, for want of the necessary Rules of their Art. It is upon this Account that the Two-coulter’d Ploughs are used in few Places, though they have been found of excellent Use, and have been formerly common: But, alas! when the Makers, who by their diligent Study and much Practice had attained the Perfection of their Art, died for want of learning to write their Rules mathematically, and shew how the mechanical Powers were applicable to them, the Art was in a Manner lost, at the Death of those Artists; and then the unskilful Plough-wrights, destitute of the true Rules, were not able to make a Two-coulter’d Plough to perform well, and then it was left off. Very lately ’tis revived, since the Three and Four-coulter’d ones have been used; from whence some have made a Shift to take the Rules of placing Two Coulters into a Plough, and they begin to be common again; and, no doubt, will cease again as soon as the Rules are forgot.

’Tis strange that no Author should have written fully of the Fabric of Ploughs! Men of the greatest Learning have spent their Time in contriving Instruments to measure the immense Distance of the Stars, and in finding out the Dimensions, and even Weight, of the Planets: They think it more eligible to study the Art of plowing the Sea with Ships, than of tilling the Land with Ploughs; they bestow the utmost of their Skill, learnedly, to pervert the natural Use of all the Elements for Destruction of their own Species, by the bloody Art of War. Some waste their whole Lives in studying how to arm Death with new Engines of Horror, and inventing an infinite Variety of Slaughter; but think it beneath Men of Learning (who only are capable of doing it) to employ their learned Labours in the Invention of new (or even improving the old) Instruments for increasing of Bread.

The easiest Method of perpetuating the Use of the many coulter’d Ploughs, and other newly-invented Instruments of Husbandry, is by Models, i. e. the Things themselves in little; and these may be all portable even in a Man’s Pocket: Every Part must be fully described, with the true Dimensions, and the mathematical Reasons, on which their Contrivance is founded. Directions also for using them must be given at the same time that their Manner of making is described. In some, the very Horses which draw must be represented, to shew the manner of fixing the Horses, and the Traces: Cautions against all the Errors that may happen by the want of Experience in the Makers or Users, must be given.

When this is done, and the Rules put into a Method, the new Hoeing-Husbandry, in all its Branches, will be much more easy and certain than the old; because there are no mathematical Rules extant in any Method; and a Man may practise the old random Husbandry all his Life, without attaining so much Certainty in Agriculture as may be learned in a few Hours from such a Treatise.

The Rules, indeed, require much Labour, Study, and Experience, to compose them; but when finish’d, will be most easy to practise: Like the Rules for measuring Timber; their Use is, at first Sight, easy to every Carpenter, and to most Artificers who work in Wood; but no illiterate Person is able to compose those Rules, or to measure Timber without them.

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To describe all Parts of a Plough geometrically, would require more Time and Learning than I am Master of: Therefore leaving that to be done by somebody else, who is better qualified for it, I shall at present attempt little more than what relates to the Three added Coulters.

In Plate I. Fig. I. is the Portrait of a common Two-wheel’d Plough used in Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire, and in most other Countries of South-Britain; and is generally esteemed the best Plough for all Sorts of Land, except such miry Clays that stick to the Wheels, and clog them up, so as they cannot turn round.

But they have, in some Places, a Contrivance to prevent this Inconvenience; which is done by winding Thumb-ropes of Straw about the Iron Circles of the Wheels, and about the Spokes. The Wheels pressing against the Ground, the Thumb-ropes are distended on each Side: which Motion throws off the Dirt, and prevents its sticking to the Wheels, which it would otherwise do.

’Tis commonly divided into Two Parts; viz. the Plough-head, and the Plough-tail.

The Plough-head contains the Two Wheels A, B, and their Axis or Spindle of Iron passing thro’ the Box C, turning round both therein, and in the Wheels; the Two Crow-staves D, D, fastened into the Box perpendicularly, and having in each Two Rows of Holes, whereby to raise or sink the Beam, by pinning up or down, the Pillow E, to increase or diminish the Depth of the Furrow; the Gallows F, thro’ which the Crow-staves pass at top, by Mortises, into which they are pinned; G the Wilds with its Links and Crooks of Iron, whereby the whole Plough is drawn; H the Two-chain, which fastens the Plough-tail to the Plough-head, by the Collar I at one End, and by the other End passing thro’ a Hole in the Middle of the Box, is pinned in by the Stake K; L the Bridle-chain, one End whereof is fastened to the Beam by a Pin, and the other End to the Top of the Stake, which Stake is held up to the left Crow-staff, by the With M, patting round it above, and under the End of the Gallows below; or instead of this With, by a Piece of Cord, and sometimes by the End of the Bridle-chain, when that is long enough.

The Plough-tail consists of the Beam N: the Coulter O; the Share P; and the Sheat Q; the Hinder-sheat R, passing thro’ the Beam near its End; S the short Handle, fastened to the Top of the Hinder-sheat by a Pin, and to the Top of the Sheat by another Pin; T the Drock which belongs to the right Side of the Plough-tail, and whereto the Ground-wrist V is fasten’d; as is the Earth-board, whose Fore-part W is seen before the Sheat; and also the long Handle X, whose Fore-part Y appears before the Sheat, and is fasten’d to the Drock by a Pin at a, the other End of which Pin goes into the Beam. Z is the double Retch, which holds up the Sheat, and passes through the Beam to be fasten’d by its Screws and Nuts at b and c.

But without intrenching much farther upon the common Plough-wright’s Art, whose Trade is his Living, I’ll hasten to shew the necessary Difference there is betwixt the common Plough, and the Four-coulter Plough, beginning with Fig. 2. where it is represented as standing upon a level Surface.

Fig. 2. And, First, The Beam differs in Length, being Ten Feet Four Inches long, as the other Plough-beam is but Eight Feet; it differs in Shape, as the other is strait from one End to the other, but this is strait only from a to b, and thence turns up of a sudden, in the manner that is shewn in the Cut; so that a Line let down perpendicular, from the Corner at a, to the even Surface whereon the Plough stands, would be Eleven Inches and an half, which is its Height in that Place; and, if another Line were let down, from the turning of the Beam at b, to the same Surface, it would be One Foot Eight Inches and an half, which is the Height that the Beam stands from the Ground, at that Part; and a Third Line let down to the Surface, from the Bottom of the Beam, at that Part which bears upon the Pillow, will shew the Beam to be Two Feet Ten Inches high above the Surface in that Part.

From the End a, to the Back-part of the first Coulter, is Three Feet Two Inches; from thence, to the Back of the next Coulter, is Thirteen Inches; thence to the Third, Thirteen Inches; and from thence to the Fourth, the same. From a to b is Seven Feet.

This Crookedness of the Beam is to avoid the too great Length of the foremost Coulters, which would be necessary if the Beam was strait; and then, unless they were vastly thick and heavy, they would be apt to bend, and the Point of the Fourth would be at so great a Distance from its Coulter-hole, that it would have the greater Power to loosen the Wedges, whereby the Coulter would rise up out of its Work, as it never doth when the Beam is made in this bending Manner. This Beam is made either of Ash, which is the lightest, or of Oak, which is the most durable. Its Depth and Breadth may vary, according to the heavier or lighter Soil it is to till; but this before us is in Depth Five Inches at the first Coulter-hole, and in Breadth Four Inches.

Fig. 4. Is the Sheat Q in Fig. 1. (broad Seven Inches) with the Iron Retch on it, the left Leg of which Retch must stand foremost, to the end that the Edge of its Fore-part, that is flat, may fit close to the Wood of the Sheat: This Retch holds the Sheat fast up to the Beam by its Nuts and Screws; as also doth a Pin driven into the Hole a, which Hole being a small Part of it within the Beam, the Pin being driven into the Hole, draws up the Sheat very tight to the Beam. The principal thing to be taken notice of here, is the Angle b c d, which shews the Elevation of the Sheat; the Line c d is supposed to be equal with the Bottom of the Share (or rather with the plain Surface whereon it stands); when this Angle at c is larger than of Forty-five Degrees, a common Plough never goes well: In my Four-coulter Plough I choose to have it of Forty-two or Forty-three at the most.

Fig. 5. Is the Share; a is the End of the Point; b is the Tail of the Share, long from a to b Three Feet Nine Inches; c the Fin; d the Socket, into which the Bottom of the Sheat enters; e a thin Plate of Iron riveted to the Tail of the Share: By this Plate, the Tail of the Share is held to the hinder Sheat, as at d in Fig. 1. by a small Iron Pin with a Screw at its End, and a Nut screw’d on it on the inner or right Side of that Sheat. From a to f is the Point, long about Three Inches and an half, flat underneath, and round at Top: It should be of hard Steel underneath. From f to c is the Edge of the Fin, which should be well steeled; the Length of it is uncertain, but it should never make a less Angle at f than it appears to make in this Fig. The Socket is a Mortise of about a Foot long, at the upper Part, Two Inches deep: The Fore-end of this Mortise must not be perpendicular, but oblique, conformable to the Fore-part of the Sheat which enters it; the upper Edge of which Fore-part must always bear against the Sheat at e in Fig. 4. but if this End of the Socket should not be quite so oblique as the Sheat, it may be help’d, by taking off a little of the Wood at the Point c.

Fig. 6. Shews the Share, with its right Side upwards, in the same Posture as when it plows; whose Side a b should be perfectly strait, but its under Side at c, which is its Neck, should be a little hollow from the Ground, but never more than half an Inch in any Plough, and a Quarter of an Inch in a Four-coulter Plough; so that the Share, when it is first made, standing upon its Bottom, bears upon the level Surface only in Three Places; viz. at the very Point a, at the Tail b, and at the Corner of the Fin d.

Fig. 7. Is the Share, turn’d Bottom upwards; and shews the Concavity of the Fin at a; which must be greatest in a stony rubbly Soil.

Fig. 8. Shews the Share, the right Side upwards, but leaning towards the Left.

In placing of the Share rightly upon the Sheat, consists the well going of a Plough, and is the most difficult Part of a Plough-wright’s Trade, and is very difficult to be shewn. Supposing the Axis of the strait Beam, and the left Side of the Share, to be both horizontal, they must never be parallel to each other; for if they were, the Tail of the Share, bearing against the Side of the Trench, as much as the Point, would cause the Point to incline to the right Hand, and go out of the Ground into the Furrow. If the Point of the Share should be set, so that its Side should make an Angle on the right Side of the Axis of the Beam, this Inconvenience would be much greater; and if its Point should incline much to the Left, and make too large an Angle on that Side with the Axis of the Beam, the Plough would run quite to the left Hand; and if the Holder, to prevent its running out of the Ground, turns the upper Part of his Plough towards the left Hand, the Fin of the Share will rise up, and cut the Furrow diagonally[259], leaving it half unplow’d; beside, the Plough will rise up at the Tail, and go all upon the Point of the Share: To avoid these Inconveniences, the strait Side of the Share must make an Angle on the left Side of the Beam, but so very acute, that the Tail of the Share may only press less against the Side of the Trench than the Point does. This Angle is shewn by the prick’d Lines at the Bottom of Fig. 1. where the prick’d Line e f is supposed to be the Axis of the Beam let down to the Surface, and the prick’d Line g f parallel to the left Side of the Share; but this Angle will vary as those Two prick’d Lines are produc’d forwards to the Fore-end of a long and a short Beam, keeping the same Subtense: For Plough-wrights always take this Subtense at the Fore-end of a Beam, whether it be a long Beam or short one; and it is the Subtense e g, that determines the Inclination the Point of the Share must have toward the left Hand. Plough-wrights differ much in this Matter; but, by what I can learn by those that make the Ploughs I see perform the best, this Subtense at the Fore-end of an Eight-feet Beam should never be more than one Inch and an half; and by full Experience I find, that whether the Beam be long or short, the Subtense must be the same; for when my Plough-wrights take this Subtense at Eight Feet from the Tail, when they make my Four-coulter Plough, whose Beam is Ten Feet Four Inches long, the Point of the Share will incline too much to the Left, and it will not go well until this Fault be mended, by taking the same Subtense quite at the End of the Beam; which makes the mentioned Angle more acute.

Fig. 3. Shews the right-hand Side, and upper Side of the Four-coulter Plough, of which V the Iron Ground-wrist is shewn in Fig. 9. long Two Feet Five Inches, deep at the End b Four Inches, and Three-eighths of an Inch thick, except at the End a, where it is thin enough to bend, so as to fit close to the Share, as at e, in Fig. 6. The Ground-wrist has Four small Holes near its End a, into one of which goes a Nail, to fasten it to the Shear, thro’ the long Hole in the Side of the Socket of the Share, as at a, in Fig. 10. and then it will stand in the Posture shewn by e f, in Fig. 6. From the Outside of the Ground-wrist at f, to the Outside of the Share at b, is Eleven Inches and an half, which is the Width of the lower Part of the Plough-tail at the Ground; the Ground-wrist has several Holes at the upper Side of its broadest End, as at b, in Fig. 9. by which it is nailed to the lower Part of the Drock T, as in Fig. 3. which Drock with its Perforations is shewn in Fig. 11.

Fig. 12. Is the Earth-board, with its Inside upwards; the Notch a b shews the Rising of the Wood, which takes hold of the Edge of the Sheat, to hold it the firmer, to which it is fastened by the Holes c and d; and at the other End it is fastened to the Drock, at the Hole e. All which is seen as it stands mark’d with W, in Fig. 3. But this Pin, with which it is fastened to the Drock, is bigger in the Middle than at each End; which prevents the Earth-board from coming near the Drock: By this Pin, the Earth-board is set at a greater or less Distance from the Drock, as there is Occasion to throw off the Furrow farther from the Plough at some times than at others: It always stands considerably farther out on the right Hand than the Ground-wrist does, which is one Reason that the Drock is made crooked, bending outwards in that Part.

The long Handle X is Fig. 13. long Five Feet Four Inches, broad in the widest Part Four Inches, pinned to the Sheat thro’ the Holes a b, and pinned to the Drock through the Hole c.

The short Handle S is Fig. 14. and is long Three Feet Nine Inches, pinned to the hinder Sheat (being Fig. 15.) by the Hole a, and to the Top of the Fore-sheat above the Beam by the Hole b.

The Handles are made so long, for the more easy guiding of the Plough; but the lazy Ploughman is apt to cut them off shorter, close up to the Plough, to the end that, bearing his whole Weight thereon, he may in a manner ride instead of walking; but if he should thus ride on long Handles, he would tilt up the Fore-end of the Beam, and raise the Share out of the Ground.

The chief, and most indispensably necessary thing to be observed, is, to place the Four Coulters in such a manner, that the Four imaginary Planes described by the Edges of the Four Coulters, as the Plough moves forwards, be all of them parallel to each other, or very nearly so; for if any one of them should be much inclined to, or recede from, either of the other three, they could not enter the Ground together. In order to place them thus, the Coulter-holes must be made through the Beam, in the manner as they are shewn in Fig. 3. viz. the Second Coulter-hole is Two Inches and an half more on the Right than the First, the Third, Two and an half more on the right Hand than the Second, and the Fourth, Two Inches and an half more on the right Hand than the Third, conformable to the Four Incisions or Cuts they are to make in a Ten-inch Furrow: And because no single Beam is broad enough to hold the Four Coulter-holes at this Distance, we are forced to add the Piece shewn in Fig. 16. The Second Hole is made Part in the Beam, and Part in this Piece; the Third and Fourth are made wholly in this Piece, in which a, b, c, are the Ends of the Three Screws, which fasten the Piece to the right Side of the Beam by their Nuts.

The Distance of Two Inches and an half, by which each of the Three added Coulters stand more to the right Hand than that immediately behind it, must be reckoned from the Middle of one Hole to the Middle of the other.

The Fore-part of every Hole must incline a little towards the Left; so that the Backs of the Coulters may not bear against the left Side of the Incisions made by the Edges.

Each Hole, being a Mortise, is one Inch and a quarter wide, with its Two opposite Sides parallel from Top to Bottom; each of these Mortises, or Holes, are long at Top Three Inches and an half, and at Bottom Three Inches; the Back-part, or Hinder-end, of each Coulter-hole is not perpendicular, but oblique, and determines the Obliquity of the Standing of the Coulter, which is wedged tight up to it by the Poll-wedge i, Fig. 1. as all Coulters are.

Fig. 17. Is a Coulter; a b is its Length, being Two Feet Eight Inches, before it is worn; e d is its Edge, Sixteen Inches long; d c is the Length of its Handle, Sixteen Inches; this is made thus long, at first, to stand above the Plough, that it may be driven down lower, according as the Point wears shorter; this Handle is One Inch and Seven Eighths broad, and Seven Eighths of an Inch thick, equally thro’ its whole Length: Its Breadth and Thickness might be described by a rectangled Parallelogram.

In all Ploughs this first Coulter is, or ought to be, placed in the Beam in manner following; viz. its Back to bear against the Back of the Coulter-hole, its right Side above to bear against the upper Edge of the Coulter-hole, and its left Side to bear against the lower Edge of the Coulter-hole; so that always Three Wedges at least will be necessary to hold the Coulter; the Poll-wedge before it, as at i, in Fig. 1. another Wedge on the left Side of it above, and a Third on the right Side underneath: The Coulter-hole must be so made, that the Coulter standing thus across the Hole, its Point may incline so much towards the Left, as to be about Two Inches and an half farther to the Left[260] than the Point of the Share, if it were driven down as low as it; but it never ought to be so low in any Plough: As to its bearing forwards, the Point of the Coulter should never be before the Middle of the Point of the Share: What Angle the Coulter would make with the Bottom of the Share, may be seen by the Posture it stands in, in Fig. 1. If it should be set much more obliquely, it would have a greater Force to raise up the Poll-wedge, and get loose.

The Three added Coulters should stand in the same Posture with this already described, in regard to the Inclination of their Points towards the Left: And this is a very great Advantage to them; for by this means, when the Fin is rais’d up, by turning the Handles towards the Left, their Points do not rise out of the Ground on the right Hand, as they would do without this described Inclination towards the Left; but in regard to their Pointing forwards, I find it best, that every one of the Three should be a little more perpendicular than that next behind it. So the Coulter 4 stands the nearest to Perpendicular of any of them. By this means there being more Room betwixt them above than below, they are the more easily freed from the Turf, whenever the Pieces, being covered with a great Quantity of Couch-grass, or the like, rise up betwixt them: which tho’ this seldom happens, makes a Necessity for a Man, or a Boy, to go on the Side with a forked Stick, to push out the Turf and Grass, which might otherwise fill the Spaces betwixt the Coulters, and raise up the Plough out of its Work.

’Tis to be observed, that none of these Coulters ought to descend so low as the Bottom of the Share, except when you plow very shallow: ’Tis always sufficient that they cut through the Turf, let the Plough go never so deep in the Ground.

It is necessary also, that when you plow very shallow, the Fin of the Share be broad enough to cut off the Fourth Piece or Furrow; else that, lying fast, will be apt to raise up the Ground-wrist, and throw out the Plough: But when you plow deep, the Ground-wrist will break off this Fourth Furrow, altho’ the Fin be not broad enough to reach it.

Sometimes the First or left Furrow is apt to come through betwixt the First Coulter and the Sheat, and so falls on the left-hand Side of the Plough: This is no Injury; but yet it is prevented, by letting the Second Coulter stand a little higher than the Third; and then the Second Furrow, holding the First at its Bottom, will carry it over, together with itself, on the right Side by the Earth-board; but yet never set this, or any of the Three added Coulters, so high that they may not cut through the Turf. But as for the first Coulter, tho’ it should cut but an Inch or Two within the Ground, the Share will break off the first Furrow in raising it up.

Remember, as often as the Point of any Coulter is worn too short, that you drive down the Coulter with a large Hammer, carried for that Purpose; and when it is driven low enough, fasten the Wedges again, so as to keep the Coulters in their right Postures, that their Incisions may be all of them equidistant.

Fig. 18. Is a Nut, with Two of its opposite Corners turn’d up, by which it is driven round by a Hammer, and has so great a Force, that Three of them, with their Screws properly placed, hold the Piece, Fig. 16. as fast to the Plough-beam, as if they both were made of one Piece of Wood; but as often as the Wood shrinks in dry Weather, the Nuts must be screw’d farther on, both here and in all other Places where they are used: particularly, those which hold up the Retch; for if the Sheat should once get loose, there is no Cure but by a new one.

Betwixt this Nut and the Wood, there should be a thin Iron Bolster, about the Thickness of a Shilling, broader than the Nut, to prevent the Nut from eating into the Wood, especially when it is to be often screw’d, as on the Retch of these Ploughs, and most of all on the Hoe-plough; but sometimes we use a Piece of Shoe-leather instead of an Iron Bolster.

Note, There must be Iron Plates upon all the Coulter-holes both above and below, Three of which are seen on the Piece in Fig. 16. There is no need to say how they must be nailed on with many Nails made for the Purpose.

Fig. 19. Is the Iron Collar, fastened to the Beam by Two short Crooks A, B, which take hold of Two short Pins driven into the Plough just behind the Second Coulter-hole, one on one Side, and the other on the other Side of the Beam. The Crook A is seen on the left Side of the Beam near c, in Fig. 2. the Crook B doing the same on the other Side of the Beam, which is seen near a, in Fig. 3. C is the Crook (for its Shape called a C) which holds the Tow-chain to the Collar by the Link D, being Part of the said Chain taking hold of its Fore-claw; the other Claw taking hold of one of the Five Notches of the Collar: This Collar is partly seen at d, in Fig. 2. Both the Claws of the Crook (or C) turn upwards, so that they cannot take hold of any thing that may rise under the Plough: The Use of the Notches is to help the Direction of the Point of the Share, which has been described by the prick’d Lines under Fig. 1. As the Point of the Share wears, it inclines a little more towards the Right, and is remedied by moving the Crook into a Notch nearer to the Left, which will direct the Point a little more towards the Left: This is more easy to be done here than in the common Plough, whose Collar moves round the Beam: We can, by changing the Crook from one Notch to another, incline the Point of the Share towards the Right or Left at Pleasure. The Length of each Side of this Collar is a Foot long.

The Tow-chain is best seen in Fig. 3. where the Link Y is that which passes thro’ the Box, and is pinned in by the Stake, as has been shewn in Fig. 1. which Stake is commonly nailed to the Box, to prevent its rising up. When we would draw up the Plough a little nearer to the Crow-staves, we take hold of the Crook by a Second or Third Link. Note, That the shortening of the Chain does also a little incline the Point of the Share towards the Left.

Fig. 20. is the Iron-wilds. The Leg A is of one Piece with that which has the Notch, and that passes thro’ the Leg B by the Loop at a; both which Legs pass thro’ the Box, and are pinned in behind it, by the crooked Pins C, D. This Figure is seen with its Crooks on it, both in Fig. 1. and Fig. 2. Note, That the Holes in the Box, thro’ which these Legs pass, must not be made at right Angles with the Box, but must incline upwards, so that the Fore-part of the Wilds may be higher than the Hinder-part, or else the Upper-part of the Crow-staves would lean quite back when the Plough is drawn. If the Beasts that draw immediately next to the Plough be very high, their Traces must be the longer; else they and the Wilds making too small an Angle with the Tow-chain at the Box, when they draw hard, the Wheels will rise from the Ground, and be apt to overturn: This Angle I suppose should not be less than of 160 Degrees, and the Angle made by the Tow-chain or Traces that are drawn by the Cattle that go before them, will make an Angle with the Tow-chain at the Box yet much more obtuse. The Use of these Notches in the Wilds is, to give the Plough a broader or narrower Furrow: If the Links are moved to the Notches on the right Hand, it brings the Wheels towards the left Hand, which gives a greater Furrow; and when the Links are moved towards the left Hand, it gives a less Furrow, by bringing the Wheels towards the right Hand.

The Distance betwixt the Two Legs of the Wilds is Eight Inches and an half; the Length of the Legs is Nineteen Inches. They must be of convenient Strength. The Links being placed in Notches distant from one another, prevents one Wheel from advanceing before the other; which would happen, if the Links were both in One Notch, or in Two adjoining Notches, except they were middle Notches: These Links are each Six Inches and an half long.

E is the Ring, by which the Two Links, and the Two Crooks F and G, are held together, and on which they all move.

The Height of the Wheels in Fig. 2. The left-hand Wheel is Twenty Inches Diameter; the Diameter of the right Wheel is Two Feet Three Inches; the Distance the Wheels are set from each other at the Ground, is Two Feet Five Inches and an half; the Crow-staves are One Foot Eleven Inches high, from the Box to the Gallows; they both stand perpendicular to the Box, and the Distance between the Crow-staves is Ten Inches and an half. The Pillow is pinned up at its Ends by Two small Iron Pins, which are chained to it, that if they drop, they may not be lost. These appear in Fig. 1. and Fig. 2. The Height from the level Surface, up to the Hole in the Box, where the Tow-chain passes through it, is Thirteen Inches (being Two Inches below the Holes of the Wilds, on the Hinder-side of the Box); the Height at the other End, where the Crook of the Collar takes hold of the Pin in the Beam at c, in Fig. 2. is Twenty Inches high above the same level Surface, and shews how much the Chain descends forward, for drawing down the Plough, and by which Descent may be known what Angle the Chain would make with the Surface, if it were produced forwards in a strait Line; which is a thing material for the good going of a Plough; and so is the Angle the Tow-chain makes with the Beam: About the Middle of this Tow-chain, there should be a Swivel, whereby one End of the Chain may turn without the other.

When this Four coulter Plough is made, I would advise, that it be tried with only the first Coulter, before the other Three are put in; for if the Plough does not go well with One Coulter, it is not likely it should go well with Four; and I never yet have seen or heard of any that went well with One Coulter, that did not also go well with Four, being placed as is here directed.

The Proofs of a Plough’s performing well are these; viz. If it makes a Furrow of an equal Depth on the right Hand and on the left, and turns it off fairly: If, in its going, the Tail of the Share, and the Bottom of the Drock, bear against the Bottom of the Furrow; and if it goes easy in the Hands of the Holder, without pressing one Arm more than the other; then the Plough is certainly a good one.

The Ploughman who is accustom’d to a Two-wheel’d Plough, never suffers the Wheels to overturn, in turning out at the Land’s End, from one Furrow to another; for which Purpose, after he has lifted the Plough a little round, he has a Knack of holding up the Crow-staves with the End of the Beam, by pressing his Hand hard against the Handle, whilst the Plough lies down on one Side, until the Horses, the Wheels, and the Plough, come near to a Line in the Beginning of the Furrow; and then he lifts up his Plough, and goes on.

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The Drill is the Engine that plants our Corn and other Seeds in Rows: It makes the Chanels, sows the Seed into them, and covers them at the same time, with great Exactness and Expedition.

The principal Parts of the Drill are, the Seed-box, the Hopper, and the Plough, with its Harrow.

Of these the Seed-box is the Chief: It measures (or rather numbers) out the Seed which it receives from the Hopper: It is for this Purpose as an artificial Hand, which performs the Task of delivering out the Seed, more equally than can be done by a natural Hand.

It is described, together with some of its Appurtenances, in Plates 2 and 3.

As the Seed-box is the principal Part of a Drill, so is the Mortise the principal Part of the Seed-box.

The following Descriptions shew how this Mortise differs from a common Mortise.

Fig. 1. Plate 2. shews both the upper and lower Edges of a Turnep-Seed-box, and the Manner how they are posited one over another, a b c d is a rectangled Parallelogram, and shews the upper Edges (or Top) of the Mortise. e f g h, being a Figure of the same Denomination with the former, is the lower Edges (or Bottom) of the Mortise. The Line e h is the Length of the lower Edge of the Hinder-end of the Mortise. a d is the upper Edge of the Hinder-end of the Mortise, and posited just over the lower Edge of the same End. The Space between the Line a b, and the Line e f, shews half the Excess whereby the Bottom of the Mortise exceeds the Top in Breadth; as the Space on the opposite Side, betwixt the Line c d, and the Line g h, shews the other Half of that Excess, both which Halves, taken together, shew the whole Bevel (or Angle of Inclination) described in Fig. 2. That Part of the Line a b, from the Angle at b to the Line f g, which intersects it, shews the Excess whereby the Top of the Mortise exceeds the Bottom in Length.

Fig. 2. Is the Mortise cut down by its Four Corners, and laid open. a b c d is a Trapezium, with Two parallel Sides, and mark’d A, the right Side of the Mortise; its opposite Side e f g h, mark’d B, the left Side of the Mortise; the Areas of both being true Planes[261].

d i k h Shew the Fore-end of the Mortise, mark’d C. a l m e shew the Hinder-end of the Mortise, mark’d D. a d h e shew the Bottom of the Mortise already described in Fig. 1. If these opposite Sides and Ends were all raised up, until the Angle at b join the Angle at l, and that at m join f, and that at g join k, and that i join c, the Top of the Mortise would be formed, and the same with the Parallelogram a b c d, in Fig. 1. and then the intire Mortise of the Turnep Seed-box would appear in its true Form, standing upon its Bottom.

This differs from a common Mortise, in that it is impossible to fit it with a Tenon; because it is narrower above, and shorter below, as in Fig. 1.

The Areas, or imaginary Planes, of the Top and Bottom of the Mortise, are parallel to each other, but not equal.

Its Two opposite Sides are equal, but not parallel, by reason of their Inclination to each other upwards, which is the Bevel hereafter to be described.

The Two Ends are neither parallel nor equal, because the Hinder-end D is perpendicular to the Top and Bottom, and the Fore-end oblique, and therefore longer.

When Two opposite Sides, or Surfaces, are inclined to each other upwards, I call that Inclination a Bevel; but when they are inclined downwards, I call it a Bevel revers’d.

The Line a e, being the Bottom, or Base, of the Hinder-end D, by being longer than the Line l m, shews that the Mortise is bevel.

The Two prick’d Lines m n and l o, with the Line l m, and Part of the Line a e, make a rectangled Parallelogram, which shews the exact Depth of the Mortise, and forms on each Side of it a rectangled Triangle, the one m e n, and the other l o a; which Triangles being similar and equal, and their acute Angles at l and m being each of Four Degrees, make the whole Bevel, or Inclination of the Sides of the Mortise, to be of Eight Degrees, their Hypothenuses being the same with the Sides of the Mortise.

This End D, being raised up to its Place, will be at right Angles with the Plane of the Top and of the Bottom of the Mortise; which, being both rectangled Parallelograms, prove that Bevel, or Angle of Inclination, to be the same from one End to the other of the Sides, which Sides are the Hypothenuses of those Two Triangles: But this could not be proved by the Triangles in the opposite End C; because the Bases being the same with the other, and having their Legs longer, the vertical Angles at k and i are more acute. The Legs are longer; because the End C, when in its Place, is not at right Angles with the Top and Bottom of the Mortise, as the End D is.

The next thing to be described in the Mortise, is the Bore, great Hole, or Perforation; which is best shewn in the Side of a Mortise of a Wheat-drill, being larger, as in Fig. 3. wherein c e b d is the great Hole, and is a Section of an hollow Cylinder, that passes through the Mortise, with its Axis parallel to the Edges of the Ends of the Mortise: This Cylinder, being cut by the Side of the Mortise obliquely, and not parallel to its Base, is an Ellipse.

The prick’d curve Line is a Circle parallel to the Base of the Cylinder, and the curve Line b d c e is the Ellipsis; and this Curve is more or less elliptical (or oval) in proportion to the Angle of Inclination, or Bevel, of the Sides of the Mortise.

Of this Ellipse the longest Diameter (or Axis transversus) b c is at right Angles with the upper and lower Edges of the Sides of the Mortise.

Its shortest Diameter (or Axis rectus) d e, is the Diameter of the Cylinder, bisecting the Axis transversus at right Angles in the Centre a; and is in this Figure one Inch and an half.

This Ellipse being concentric with the Circle, the Letter a is the Centre of both.

The Semi-ellipsis c e b is the Part of chief Use; and therefore the Edge must of Necessity be smooth, and without Flaws, as must the Surfaces of the Sides of the Mortise betwixt the Ellipse and the Fore-end.

The Tongue of the Seed-box (Plate 3. Fig. 1.) differs from that in the Sound-board of an Organ (from which I took the Idea of it) in Shape, in Situation, and in the Manner of its being fix’d to the Mortise.

The Tongue, in the Organ, is on its Surface a long Square, or rectangled Parallelogram, a little broader and longer than the Mortise (or Grove) it shuts against; but this Tongue on its upper Surface, which is here turned downwards, being a Plane, is a Trapezium, of the same Shape with the Fore-end of the Mortise just now described, except that the Tongue has a less Bevel.

The Situation of that in the Organ is on the Outside of the Mortise, which it shuts by its Spring behind it, and opens immediately by the Finger of the Organist pressing down the Key to let in the compressed Air to its Pipes; but this Tongue is situate within the Mortise of the Seed-box, and placed almost, in a manner, diagonally; for, had it been placed like the other, the Seed getting betwixt it and the Edges of the Mortise, would not have given Way to its Shutting (as the Air does to the other), but have kept it always open; which would have render’d it useless for sowing of Seeds.

The Manner of fastening the Organ-tongue to its Mortise is by Parchment and Leather glu’d to its Surface, and also to the Sound-board, at its End which is opposite to that pressed open by the Key, and shut by the Spring; but this our Tongue is held within the Mortise, and moves on an Axis, which passes thro’ its upper and narrower End, which Axis is the Pin A (which must be exactly parallel to the Edge of the End of the Mortise), and also thro’ the Hole f in Fig. 3. in Plate 2. which is seen in its Place at A in Fig. 3. Plate 3. and likewise through both Sides of the Mortise near their upper Edges, and as near the Fore-end of the Mortise as may be, without the Tongue’s rubbing against the said Fore-end.

The Breadth of the Tongue must be conformed to the Breadth and Bevel of the Mortise, and when it is on its Axis, it being raised tight up as far as the short prick’d Line l m in Fig. 3. Plate 2. being One-eighth Part of the great Hole, and being there, you see its upper Edges touch both Sides of the Mortise by their whole Length: Then it is rightly made: and by this touching both Sides of the Mortise tightly and closely, when raised up to that Degree, it appears, that the Two upper Edges of the Sides of the Tongue are inclined to each other in an Angle that is more acute, by about One-third, than is the Angle of Inclination of the Sides of the Mortise.

Hence, when the Tongue is let down to its Place, there will be on each Side of it an empty Space, betwixt it and the Mortise, of the Form of a very acute Triangle, whose vertical Angle is more or less acute, according as the Tongue approaches nearer to, or recedes farther from the Spindle.

This Fig. 1. Plate 3. is the brass Tongue with its Back-side upwards. The Two outer Lines a b and c d are the Edges of the upper Surface (tho’ turned downwards in this Figure), which are inclined to each other, as afore-mentioned; but the Two inner Lines e f and g h are nearer to each other, whereby this under Surface is narrower than the upper: Both must be plain Surfaces, but the upper and its Two Edges very free from Flaws, and smooth, or polished.

The Reason why the under Surface is narrower than the upper, is to preserve the Bevel of the empty Triangle: For though the Bevel of the Sides of the Mortise would be sufficient for this, if both Sides of the Tongue were sure to keep equally distant from the Spindle; yet as the Tongue never is so tight on its Axis, but that sometimes one Corner of it may be nearer to the Spindle than the other, in this Case, that Side which is nearest to the Spindle would reverse that Bevel, so as to make the small empty Space that is betwixt the Mortise and the Tongue, wider above than underneath.

C C are the Two little Knobs that prevent the Spring from slipping to either Side, and are at the Distance from one another of the Breadth of the Spring.

Fig. 2. shews one Side, and the Thickness of the Tongue the other Side, being the same. a b shews the polished Surface (being a true Plane), whereon the Seed runs down to the Spindle. c d the Back-side, which lies turned uppermost in Fig. 1. b e d shews one End of the hollow Cylinder of the Tongue, thro’ which its Axis passes.

The Length of the Tongue must be such, as will reach lower than just to touch the Bottom of the great Hole as a Tangent: for, if it be not longer than that, it might happen, that when the Mortise is empty of Seed, and the Tongue set up close, a Wheel might, in Turning, or otherwise, go a little backwards, and cause a Notch of the Spindle to take hold of the End of the Tongue, and tear it out of the Mortise: Therefore let the Tongue reach a little below the Spindle, as the pricked Line g h, in Fig. 3. of Plate 2. doth.

As for the Posture in which the Tongue ought to stand in the Mortise, it is shewn by the Three pricked Lines in Fig. 3. Plate 2. where the pricked Line g h makes an Angle of Forty-five Degrees, being the nearest that it can stand to the Spindle; the pricked Line i h makes a somewhat greater Angle, and it is a mean (or middle) Distance from the Spindle; and the pricked Line k h is supposed to be its greatest Distance, where the Tongue makes its greatest Angle with the Top and Bottom of the Mortise. If the Tongue stood so obliquely as to make an Angle much less than Forty-Five, the Tongue would rise too much against the Bevel of the Mortise, and the Spring would have the greater Difficulty in returning it to its Place, when driven back by the Force of the Notches.

And beside, when the Tongue stood wide from the Spindle, there might be so much Room betwixt it and the Sides of the Mortise, that some Seeds might fall thro’ there.

The Steel Spring is D, properly placed upon the Back of the Tongue, in Fig. 1. Plate 3.

At first, I made the Spring double, i. e. with Two Legs, in Imitation of that in the Organ, and fastened into its Tongue, much after the same manner as the Spring of the Organ is into its Tongue or Flap, which prevents the compressed Air from passing out of the Sound-board, except whilst the Key is thrust down by the Finger of the Player; but the Drill-spring requiring to be of a vastly greater Strength than that, I made it of Steel, of the Breadth of half an Inch, instead of Brass Wire: This performed very well, and several Drills are yet extant, that have only this Sort of Springs: Yet I found there was great Difficulty to set the Legs at their due Distance from each other; for their Seasoning would alter them from what they were, whilst the Steel was soft: They also took up too much Room in the upper Part of the Mortise. Then, to remedy these Inconveniencies, I made it single, with only one Leg, which by full Experience is found to be much better than the double one; it does not contain a Fourth Part of the Metal, and is most easily made, requiring none of that Trouble and Nicety that the double Spring doth. I shall therefore give a Description of the single Spring only.

B, the End of the Screw, which holds the Spring to the Tongue, thro’ a Hole near the upper End of the Spring; D, the Middle, against which the End of the Setting-screw bears.

Its Length is almost the whole Length of the Tongue; the End E reaching very near to the lower End of the Tongue, and the End B is as near the upper End of the Tongue; as it can be placed without touching the Cylinder of the Tongue.

The Breadth is usually about half an Inch; the Thickness must be in proportion to its other Dimensions, and according to the Degree of Stiffness required.

The longer it is, the thicker it must be, to have the same Stiffness; but the broader it is, the thinner it must be of the same Length; so that it is hard to determine its Thickness. It is made stiffer or stronger by being cut shorter; it is made weaker, or less stiff, by filing or grinding it either thinner or narrower.

The common Thickness is about that of a Shilling[262].

The Degrees of Stiffness are measured in this manner; viz. Fix Two Boards together, leaving a Chink betwixt them, in one Place of an Inch long; lay the Spring (when seasoned across this Chink) with its Middle exactly over it; then put a String over the Spring, which may pass with both Ends thro’ the Chink, and tie so much Weight to the Ends of the String under the Boards, that will pull down the Middle of the Spring, till it touch the Chink, and is strait with both its Ends; This will shew the Degree of Stiffness. But note, That the Spring must be crooked, and bear only upon its Ends, with the hollow Side upwards.

If ten or a dozen Pounds Weight pull it down to the Board, it is a good Degree of Stiffness, for a large Box: We are not confined to be very nice or exact in the Degree of Stiffness; for by our Fingers pressing it, we that are practised in it, know well enough, whether a Spring be of a sufficient Degree of Stiffness, without weighing it; but for such who are unacquainted with them, it is best not to trust to Guess, but Weights; and to adjust the Stiffness to that of a Spring, that has been known to perform well.

The Spring must bear against the Back of the Tongue at each End, and lie hollow in the Middle: But the Degree of Hollowness of the Spring is very material; for thereon depends the Distance of the Tongue’s Motion towards the Spindle by Force of the Spring, and back again quite to the Setting-screw, by the Seed that is pressed against it by Force of the Notches, when they are moved by the Wheels; because the more the Spring is curved, the farther will it thrust the Tongue from its Middle, if its Strength be superior to the Force that resists it, as it ought to be when a Notch is passed and before the next: This Motion of the Tongue is called its Play.

In order to measure the Distance (or Quantity) of this Motion, we must consider, that the Tongue, moving on its Axis above, describes with its lower End the Arch of a Circle, the Chord of which Arch is the Measure required.

To measure this by the Angle the Tongue makes at its Centre, would be no Rule for making Boxes; because some Tongues are longer, some shorter, in proportion to the different Diameters of the Spindles they move against; and yet the Play of the shortest must be as much as that of the longest, that is, it must describe as great an Arch at the Place of Pressure (described in Fig. 3. Plate 2.); and therefore the shortest Tongue would make the greatest Angle.

A short and easy Way, then, for a Mechanic to measure, is thus: Screw in the Setting-screw until the Tongue come within a quarter of an Inch of touching the Spindle; then take out the Spindle, and from the Centre of the Hole draw a Line on the Side of the Mortise, perpendicular to the Tongue, and at the Tongue’s Edge make a Mark with the Compasses, or a Pen; then force back the Tongue against the Setting-screw as far as it will go (that is, until the Spring touch the whole Back of the Tongue); produce the said Line to the same Edge of the Tongue, or set the End of the Rule thereon, and draw another Line, by the Rule, from the Mark to the Edge of the Tongue, when farthest back, and there make the second Mark. The Ruler used this Way will shew both the Perpendicular, and the Measure.

But yet a quicker Way is, to set the Tongue, by the Setting-screw up to the Edge of the Hole; and, when it is forced back, measure from the Tongue to the nearest Part of the Hole, which will ever be a perpendicular Line drawn from the Centre of the Hole to the Place of Pressure above-mentioned, and make another Mark there: Now the Distance between these Two Marks is the Measure (near enough) of the Tongue’s Play at the Place of Pressure. Tho’ this Line drawn on the Side of the Mortise be not exactly perpendicular to the Surface of the Tongue, but only to its Edge; yet the Difference is next to nothing, and not to be regarded.

If its Measure be a quarter of an Inch, it is what Experience shews to be of a good Size for all Corn and Peas; a little less is no Harm, but greater is the most fatal Error, into which most of the Pretenders to the making of this Machine have fallen; they give the Tongue half an Inch, sometimes Three quarters of an Inch Play. The Mischief of this Error is yet farther increased, if the Spring be weak, if the Mortise have too great a Bevel, or if the Angle made by the Tongue at the upper Edge of the Mortise be too acute.

When the Tongue has too great Play, the Seed is apt to be turned out too fast, or else too slow, in spite of the Driller. For when the Tongue is set at its due Distance from the Spindle, and is thrust quite back by the Seed pressed against it by the Turning of the Notches; but the Spring being unable to return the Tongue to its former Place at such a Distance, at the time of passing the Intervals which are betwixt the Notches; then the Space between the Spindle and the Tongue being too open, the Seed is sent down too fast.

To prevent that, they set up the Tongue to the Spindle; and then, as often as the Spring happens to overcome the Force of the Seed’s Pressure (as sometimes it will), it is sent out too slowly.

The Inequality of the Running of the Seed makes such Boxes useless, which the Expence of Two-pence (for another Spring, or new Seasoning of that) at most would rectify, if the Maker understood how to mend his own Work. If time did permit, more should be said on this Point, because I find it is the Pons Asini of a Workman. Sometimes it may be prevented, when the Spring is too hollow, and gives too much Play. Screw the Screw, that holds it on the Tongue, down closer, so that the lower Part of the Screw’s Head press against the Spring, and thereby force its Middle nearer to the Tongue, until you find its Play lessened to its just Distance.

The Spring, remaining in this compressed State, has lost the weakest, and retains only the strongest, Part of its elastic Force. Therefore, if you find it then too stiff, make it weaker by Filing or Grinding, or else put another into its Place, which is honestly worth no more than Two-pence.

This Holding-screw has a pretty broad Head, and is screwed in by a Notch, like the Screw-pin of a Gun-lock.

The Hole in the Spring must be somewhat bigger than the Holding-screw, because the Spring must have room to move and play thereon.

If the Middle of the Spring were against the Middle of that Part of the Tongue, that is betwixt its Axis and the Place of Pressure, the Distance of the Spring’s Hollowness would be just half the Distance of the Spring’s Play, to wit, the One-eighth Part of an Inch; but as the Spring does not quite reach up to the Axis, and reaches much below the Place of Pressure, the Hollowness at the Place where the Setting-screw bears against the Middle of the Spring at D, is considerably nearer to the Place of Pressure than to the Axis of the Tongue; this Hollowness of the Spring at the Setting-screw may be something more than the One-eighth Part of an Inch, to give the Spring a Quarter of an Inch Play: but it seldom has so much.

Fig. 4. in Plate 2. shews the Length and Thickness of the Steel Spring of a Turnep Seed-box: This serves both for a Tongue and Spring: It is made first strait, and then the narrowest End of it is turned round, till it reach to a, and forms the Cylinder A, thro’ which its Axis passes; but is not welded or joined to the other Part of the Spring at a: It is placed in the Box with the Cylinder Part underneath. The Face of this Spring is seen upon its Axis, mark’d K. in Fig. 5. Its Axis is to pass thro’ the Hole E, and screw into the Hole F, in Fig. 2. as is seen more plainly at a in Fig. 9.

As the Top of every Tongue ought to be even with the upper Edges of the Mortise, the Thickness of the Cylinder of the Brass Tongue causes the Hole in the Sides of the Mortise, into which it is held by its Axis, to be far enough from the Edges of the Mortise, to be bored and screwed without Danger of breaking the said Edges; but the Spring of the Turnep-drill being so very thin, there is some Difficulty in making the Hole so high, and near the Edges: To prevent which Danger, Fig. 7. shews the End of a small hollow Cylinder of Iron or Brass, of the Thickness of the Mortise; which, being put into the Cylinder A, in Fig. 4. raises the Spring higher above the Hole; so that it may be made as low in a Turnep Mortise, as that is which holds the Brass Tongue in the Wheat-drill. But we do not always use this inner Cylinder[263]; but must then take the more Care in boring the Hole, or else it will burst out at the Edges of the Mortise.

Its Shape must conform to that of the Brass Tongue already described.

The Degree of its Stiffness is known by weighing, as has been directed for the other Spring; and being laid with its Face downwards over a Chink, with a small Piece of Wood of the Thickness of a Barley-corn at Each end, and a String taking hold of its Middle, and descending thro’ the Chink, the Weight of Five Pounds, tied to the End of the String, will just bend the Spring, till it touch the Edges of the Chink; and this is the Stiffness of a Spring that has performed well, for many Years, in drilling of Turnep-seed.

Fig. 6. is the Iron Setting-screw, which passes thro’ the Hole in the Fore-end of the Mortise, Fig. 2. and passes up to the Middle of the Spring by the prick’d Line p q in the same Figure. The Use of this Setting-screw is, to increase or diminish the Proportion of Seed to be turned out by the Notches; and this it does by forcing up the Spring and Tongue (where there is one) nearer to, or farther from the Spindle, whereby the Seed-passage is made wider or narrower, as is shewn by the Three prick’d Lines in Fig. 2. and Fig. 3.

Observe, that the prick’d Line p q, Fig. 2. (being the Mortise of the Turnep-box) stands higher than the same Line doth in Fig. 3. which is the Mortise of the Wheat-box. The Reason of this Difference is, because the Spring in the Wheat-box bears at its lower End against the Tongue below the Seed-passage, and at its upper End below the Axis of the Tongue, whereby the Middle of that Spring is lower than the Spring of the Turnep-box, which, being both Spring and Tongue, bears against its Axis above, and against the Seed-passage below; therefore its Middle is higher. This Setting-screw should be placed perpendicular to the Tongue when at its mean or middle Distance from the Spindle, which may be supposed to be the middlemost of the Three mention’d prick’d Lines. This Setting-screw ought to be smooth and round at its End, which bears against the Spring; for, if it should have sharp Corners or Edges, the Spring might be wounded by them, and in time might break there, being press’d by every Notch that turns against it; and, as I have computed it, a Spring undergoes One hundred thousand of these Pressures in one Day’s Work; and yet, in my whole Practice, I have had only one Spring broken, and that was in drilling a large Sort of Peas with a Wheat-drill, and was occasioned by a jagged End of the Setting-screw, which was not placed perpendicular to the Spring, by which means the rough End of the Screw made Scratches against it a Quarter of an Inch long, and so deep, that the Spring broke off there: Let not this Setting-screw be any longer than just to force the Tongue up to the Spindle; for, if it should be longer, an ignorant Driller might happen, by the Force of the Screw, to break the Tongue, or its Axis; but in the Turnep-drill, which has only a Spring instead of a Tongue, the Setting-screw may be a Thread or Two longer; because the Spring will yield a little to it, after it touches the Spindle, and is sometimes of Use in that respect, when the Notches are too large. This Screw must be of such a Bigness, that it may not be in Danger of bending; for if it should be bent, it could not be screw’d up with any Certainty, because its End, being crooked, would be below its Place at one Half-turn, and above it at the other Half-turn, and so the Spring might be set farther from the Spindle instead of nearer, and nearer instead of farther, by the Crookedness of the Setting-screw. Its Head may be made with a Notch in it, to be screw’d in with a Knife, or else with a Head like a T, to be turn’d with the Fingers, which I think is best, especially for a Wheat-drill; because as the Brine and Lime, which stick on the Wheat, grow drier, it will run faster; and therefore the Setting-screw must be frequently screw’d in to lessen the Seed-passage.

The Seed-passage, or Place of Pressure, is where the Seed passes down betwixt the Spindle and the Tongue; and is in that Part where they are nearest together; for there the Seed is press’d hardest by the Force of the Notches, which carry it down: And this Passage is higher or lower, as the Tongue stands nearer or farther from the Spindle; for as it stands wider, it becomes nearer to perpendicular to the Top of the Mortise, and then the Seed-passage is higher; and when it stands nearest to the Spindle, then the Seed-passage is lowest. This appears in Fig. 3. by the Three prick’d Lines a n, a o, and a p.

The Spindle, with its Notches, is best shewn where it is large, and made of Wood, as that of the Wheat Seed-box; it is a solid Cylinder that passes thro’, and fills the great Hole, or hollow Cylinder, of the Seed-box; it is of various Lengths, according to the Distance its Wheels go asunder; it is always in large Boxes the Axis of Two Wheels, and turns round with them, as the Axis of the One Wheel of a Wheelbarrow does with that: These Wheels, by their Circumferences, measure out the Ground over which they carry the Seed-box, and, by the Notches in their Axis, deliver down the Seed equally, whether they move swift or slow; because an equal Number of Notchfuls of Seed will be deliver’d thro’ the Seed-passage at each Revolution of the Wheels.

The Notches resemble those in the Hinder-Cylinder of a Cyder-mill, which break the Apples by turning against the Notches of the Fore-cylinder, as our Notches turn against the Tongue; and bruise the Apples which come betwixt them, as our Notches might sometimes bruise soft Seeds, if the Tongue stood close to the Notches, without any Spring behind it to give Way to their Pressure, and return the Tongue again to its Place, at every Interval betwixt Notch and Notch.

The best Way, that I can think of, to shew the making of these Notches, is by a Section of the Spindle at right Angles, in the Middle of the Notches, as in Fig. 4. of Plate 3. which is a Circle whose Circumference is cut off by Six Notches; which shew the different Sort of Notches, that increase or diminish the Proportion of Seed to be carried thro’ the Seed-passage by them: The Length of the Notches we never alter; but make them always parallel to the Axis of the Spindle, and of the Length of the Distance there is between the lower Ends of the opposite Axes transversi of the Ellipses, or great Holes, of the Mortise; for if any Part of the Surface of the Spindle should be betwixt the End of a Notch and the Hole, one or more Seeds coming betwixt that Surface and the Tongue, might hold it open, and prevent its pressing against the Notch, to hold the Seed therein from falling without the Turning of the Wheels.

This Proportion of Seed is alter’d by the Number of Notches, and by their Depth or Breadth, or by both. b c is the Depth of a Notch, which we call its Side; and is that which takes hold of the Seed, and carries it down thro’ the Seed-passage. The Manner of cutting this is seen by its being a Portion of the Radius A c. The Bottom of a Notch is made in different Forms[264]: As, first, it may be convex, as is shewn by the curve Line b d. We may enlarge the Capacity of this Notch, by taking off the Convexity of its Bottom, as in the Bottom of the Notch shewn by the Line e f; and if we would increase it more, we make it concave, as g h.

But of whatever Sort or Dimensions one Notch is made, all the rest should be the same exactly; and consequently, the Interstices (or Intervals) between Notch and Notch, of which the Line f c, being an Arch of the Circle, is the Breadth, must be equal[265], and cannot be otherwise, if the Notches are all equal and equidistant, as they appear in the adjoining Fig. 5. which is a Section like the former, and shews Six Intervals, with their Six Notches, of the Size wherewith we drill St. Foin with high Wheels; but when we would drill very thin, it is better to have but Four or Five Notches instead of Six.

Fig. 6. shews a Notch of the Spindle. a b is the upper Edge of the Side of the Notch, being always an acute solid Angle. c d is the Edge of its Bottom, being always an obtuse Angle. e f is the Angle made by the Side and Bottom, and is always shorter than the aforesaid Two Edges, by reason of the Obliquity of the Two Ends; this Angle is never obtuse, except when the Bottom of the Notch is concave. These Three Lines must be parallel to the Axis of the Spindle.

Fig. 7. is one End of the afore-described Notch; the Line a b being joined to the Line f d of Fig. 6. and the Line a c, being joined to the Line b f in Fig. 6. would be the End of that Notch in its proper Posture; and then the Line b c, being an Arch of the cylindrical Spindle, would be the Edge of the upper End of the Notch. a b c, being the Area of this End, is a Plane, and, when in its Place, makes an Angle of Forty-five Degrees with the Axis of the Spindle. The other End is the same with this in all respects, except that, being opposite to it, it is inclined to it in an Angle of Ninety Degrees, at the bottom Angle of the Notch, at the Line e f in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8. is a Notch lying with its Ends near it, and is of the same Dimensions with those appearing in the Seed-box, Fig. 3.

The Cover B appears with its upper Surface rightly placed in the Mortise, in Fig. 3. of Plate 3. where its Breadth is shewn to be the same with that of the Mortise; but its Shape, and other Dimensions, are best seen in Fig. 3. of Plate 2. where s t is its Length, and reaches from the Hinder-end of the Mortise, to within the Tenth of an Inch of the upper End of the Axis transversus of the Ellipsis; its greatest Depth is from v to w, and is made so deep, that its Bottom, at w, bearing against the End of the Mortise, may prevent its Point, which is at t, from sinking down to touch the Spindle, which it neither must do, nor be so high above it as to suffer a Seed to pass between the Spindle and it, tho’ the Seed is not apt to pass that Way, because the Notches throw it forwards from the Cover. z is the Hole, thro’ which an Iron Screw-pin passes, and screws into the opposite Sides of the Mortise, to hold it firm in its Place: ’Tis made so thin betwixt x and y both for Lightness, and that the Seed may come the more freely to the Notches, without Danger of Arching at that End. The Use of the Cover is to prevent any Seed from falling down behind the Spindle.

Fig. 10. Plate 2. is the Fore-end of a Wheat Mortise, with its Hole A, thro’ which the Setting-screw is screw’d, and passes up to the Back of the Tongue by the Line q r in Fig. 3.

Fig. 9. in Plate 3. is the hinder End of a Wheat Mortise, which by its prick’d Lines, and the Two right-angled Triangles they make, shews the Bevel of the Mortise, and also its Depth; it also shews the Difference of the Bevel of the Mortise, and that of the Tongue, Fig. 1. which is placed against it: These Figures having been already demonstrated in the Description of the Turnep Mortise, and in these, I need say no more of it, but that I think these last-mention’d Figures sufficient Directions for understanding and making the Mortise of a Wheat-drill.

Fig. 3. of Plate 3. exhibits to View a Wheat Seed-box, with its Appurtenances, standing upon its Bottom; B the Brass Cover; C the Tongue hanging upon its Axis; c the End of the Iron Screw that holds on the Spring, coming thro’ the Tongue, and filed smooth with it; a, a, a, are Three Notches of the Spindle, with their bevel Ends; b, b, are Two Interstices betwixt the Notches.

Hitherto we have been speaking of the Parts contained in the Wheat Seed-box; let us now come to the Parts containing: As, first, d e f g is the upper Surface of the Brass Seed-box, shewing the Top of the Mortise, and what it contains; h h h, and h h h, shew the Ends of the hollow Cylinder, and its Bases coming out on each Side, farther than the Box; for if it did not project farther out than the Sides of the Box, the Surface of it would be so narrow, that it would cut the wooden Spindle by the Friction made between it and the Spindle; but the Surface, being of this Breadth, never wears into the Spindle, but makes it smooth and shining; i i i, and i i i, shew a Portion of the wooden Spindle (of an Inch and an half Diameter) coming out of the hollow Cylinder, on each Side of the Brass Box.

The Spindle is kept from moving end-ways, by Wreaths, in the same manner as the Axis of a Wheelbarrow is; which Wreaths shall be described together with the Hopper. k is the Hole by which the Fore-end of the Seed-box is held up to the Bottom of the Hopper, by a Screw and Nut. l is the Hole where the Hinder-end of the Box is held up, in the same manner as the Fore-end is. m n o p shew where the Two Halves of the Seed-box are joined together.

Fig. 10. shews the Outside of One Half of the Brass Seed-box. A A A shew the Thickness of the projecting Base of the hollow Cylinder, which is made the thicker, to the end that the Hole may be bored large, and made an Inch and Three Quarters Diameter, when a Spindle that is to go therein is required to be of that Bigness, by reason of its extraordinary Length, as it is in the Fore-hopper of the Wheat-drill. B C shews the Thickness of the Ends of the Seed-box, whereby it is held up to the Bottom of the Hopper; if they are not quite a quarter of an Inch thick, they will be strong enough; especially C, which is the hindermost, and which is never pull’d down by the Turning of the Spindle, but is rather raised up by it.

D is the Head of the Counter-screw, to be turn’d by the Fingers, to press against the Side of the Setting-screw, to keep it from turning of itself, when it is worn loose.

E is the Hole for the Axis of the Tongue. F is the Hole of an Iron Screw-pin, which both holds the Cover to its Place, and also the Two Halves of the Box together. G is the Hole for another Screw-pin, which holds the Two Sides of the Box together. H and I are Holes for Two other Screw-pins, which likewise hold the Two Halves of the Box together, and are placed one above, and the other below, the Setting-screw; for otherwise that Screw, and its Counter-screw, might force open the Joining of the Box, and then the Setting-screw might be loose, and the Bevel of the Box might be altered; but these Screws, being one on each Side of it, prevent this Inconvenience.

Fig. 8. in Plate 2. is one Half of a Brass Turnep Seed-box, lying with its Inside uppermost, which shews the left Side of the Mortise, and half the Fore-end, and half the Hinder-end, of the Mortise, and half of each Screw-pin Hole, by which it is held up to the Bottom of the Hopper. A is half the Hole of the Setting-screw, shewing in the Middle of it the End of the Counter-screw. B is half the Hole, by which the Steel Spring-cover is held in with a Screw. All the other Holes are for the same Purposes, as have been shewn in the Wheat Seed-box.

Fig. 9. is the whole Turnep Seed-box, standing upon its Bottom; Part of its Steel Spring-tongue appears in its Place, as also some of the Notches of the Spindle; but more especially the Cover A, which differs from the Cover of the Wheat Mortise, this being a very thin Spring, whose lower End just reaches to touch (but not to bear upon) the Spindle at the upper End of the transverse Axes of the Ellipses; the Mortise being filed away at the End, in order that the upper End of this Spring, and the Screw which holds it, may not lie above the upper Surface of the Box. This Spring is made very weak, to the end that, if by any Chance a soft Seed should stick in a Notch, and be turned round, this Spring might suffer it to pass by without breaking it. B, C, are the Two Flanks or Sides, made necessarily of this Breadth, for bearing against the Wood of the Bottom of the Hopper, to prevent the Seed from falling out betwixt the Wood and the Brass, and that the Hole in the Hopper may be broader than this narrow Mortise of the Seed-box. The left Flank B, being next the wide Side of the Hopper, lies all open, except on the outside of the pricked Lines, where it is covered by the Wood of the End of the Hopper, when it is screwed on to its Place; but the Flanch C, on the right Side, will be all covered by the End of the Box, that will stand upon it, and will reach to the pricked Line that touches the Edge of the Mortise. D is the End of the Setting-screw, appearing in its Place with a Notch, whereby it is to be turned by a Knife; but I think it better to have an End like a T, to be turned with the Fingers. E is one End of the hollow Cylinder, which projects beyond the Flanch, that there may be more Room for the Crank to turn (without striking against the End of the Hopper, or against the Flanch) on the Outside of the Box or Hopper; and for that, the longer this Cylinder is, the better the Brass Spindle will turn in it.

Fig. 11. is the Spring-cover, with its Hole, whereby it is screwed into its Place, as it is seen marked A, in Fig. 9.

Fig. 12. is the Setting-screw pointing against its Hole, its Head being flat, that it may be turned by the Finger and Thumb.

Fig. 13. is the Counter-screw, to be turned in the same manner.

Fig. 5. shews the Brass Spindle of the Turnep Seed-box, and the Manner of turning it against its Steel Tongue, or Spring; which Manner is different from that of turning the larger Spindles for Boxes of a larger Size, such as the Wheat Seed-box.

This Spindle[266], being but half an Inch Diameter, is too small to be turned by the Two Wheels, as the larger Spindles are; not only because it would be in Danger of breaking by the Weight of the Hopper, and by the Twisting (or Wrenching) of the Wheels; but also because it would soon become loose, by wearing the hollow Cylinder thro’ which it passes; and it would be apt to open the Brass Flanches from the Bottom of the Hopper, whereby the Seed might run out, beside several other Inconveniencies; all which are prevented by turning the Spindle in the manner shewn in this Figure; for here the Spindle never presses against the hollow Cylinder, with any greater Force than that of its own Weight, which is so very little, that the Friction made by it is next to nothing.

A the Spindle, exactly fitting the Bore of the hollow Cylinder; which, when it enters the said Cylinder at its left End, in Fig. 9. will be stopped by the Wreath B B B; which Wreath, being circular, is cast on the Spindle, and is Part of it; the other End of the Spindle will then appear without the right-hand End of the said hollow Cylinder, at E in Fig. 9. and is kept there by the Wreath Fig. 14. which is to be put on upon the End of the Spindle, until it come to the Shoulder at a, which Shoulder is exactly even with the End of the hollow Cylinder; so that this Wreath will touch the End of the said Cylinder by its whole Surface. Then, to fix in this Wreath from coming off, we make use of the Slider, Fig. 15. whose Two Claws A, B, being thrust down by the Two Notches of the Spindle, at b and c, until its other Part C, which is perpendicular to its Claws, comes down to the Flat of the Spindle, and environs one half of the Hole, covering the Part of the Flat which appears of a darker Colour; and then the upper Part of C, in Fig. 15. makes one level Surface with the Flat D of the Spindle; and then the Iron Fork E, being screwed into the Hole F, holds down the Slider fast, so that it cannot rise up; and then the Spindle, being in its Place, will run round without moving endways, being confined by these Wreaths.

The Spindle being thus placed, so that it may turn easily, we place the Seed-box upon its Flanches with its Bottom upwards; and then setting one sharp Point of a Pair of Compasses, or some such Instrument, upon the Spindle, within the Mortise, close to the Edge of the Hole or Ellipse at the End of the transverse Ax, turn round the Spindle, until the said Point makes a Mark round the Spindle, which will be a Circle; by the same means make such another Mark at the opposite Ax; then unscrew the Fork, and take out the Slider, pull off the Wreath, and take out the Spindle, and cut the Notches between the Two said Circles and Marks; the Edges of the Ends of the Notches must be Arches of these Circles. These Notches should differ from those already described in the Wheat-drill, in nothing but the Smalness of their Dimensions; their Depth should be about the Thickness of a Turnep-seed, or something deeper. The Breadth of their Bottoms is uncertain, and must be greater or less according to their greater or less Number; but we commonly have Seven or Eight Notches, and make them about the Breadth in which they appear in this Figure; but whatever their Number be, they must be all equal, and so must all their Interstices.

G is the End of a wooden Spindle, thro’ which passes the Iron Crank H, and is fastened to it by its Screw and Nut, at d; Part of which Crank enters the Wood at e, which prevents its Turning in the Spindle.

This Crank, by its other End, passing thro’ the Two Legs of the Fork E, and equally distant from the Top and Bottom of it, turns the Spindle by the Motion of the Wheel which is fixed on the other End of the wooden Spindle. If this Crank were to turn the Spindle by a single Pin, instead of this Fork, the Seed could never be delivered out equally to the Ground; for as soon as the Pin began to descend, and decline from being perpendicular to the Horizon, it would, by its own Weight falling down, turn the Spindle half round in a Moment, and there remain with its other End downwards perpendicular to the Horizon under the Spindle, until the Crank reached it there, and so no Seed would be turned out by one Semicircle of the Wheel, and a double Proportion would be turned out to the Land that was measured by the other Semicircle; but the hinder Leg of the Fork, bearing against the hinder Part of the Crank, prevents this Inconvenience.

The Line f g is Part of the Surface of a Board, thro’ which the wooden Spindle passes, and by which it is held in its Place; as shall be shewn hereafter.

The Axis of this wooden Spindle ought to fall into a Line with the Axis of this Brass Spindle; but, unless Care be taken to prevent it, the wooden Spindle will so much wear the Hole thro’ which it passes, and be worn by it, as to have Room in the Hole to deviate from this Exactness, and may descend so low, that the Crank may come out of the Ends of the Fork; and for this Reason it is, that the Fork is made so long as it is; but when this wooden Spindle does, by the Contrivances hereafter shewn, keep its Axis in a Line with the Axis of the Brass Spindle, or very nearly so, then the Legs of the Fork need be no longer than half an Inch; and in that Case, the Joint of the Crank, which is perpendicular to the Spindle, must be shorter, or else descend deeper into the Wood, so that its End, which turns the Fork, may be in the Middle betwixt its Bottom and the End of its Legs.

The Use of the other End of the Spindle is this: When we have a mind that it should be turned by the left Wheel instead of the right, we screw in the Fork into the Hole I, and place a short Screw in the room of the Fork, to hold down the Slider.

Note, It is not absolutely necessary, that the hollow Cylinder, which appears on the Sides of the Seed-box, should both, or either of them, project farther than the Flanches; but I think it better that it should do so, at least, on that Side which is next to the Fork.

This Cylinder should be bored as true, and as even, as the Barrel of a Fusil is bored: and the Edges and Surfaces of its Ends must be smooth, and without Jaggs, to the end that the Wreaths may turn glibly against them.

The Figure or Shape of all Sorts of Seeds disposes them, more or less, to form an Arch, when they are pressed from above, and confined on all Sides.

The most effectual Way to prevent this is, to take care, whenever many Seeds are to descend together by their own Gravity thro’ a narrow Passage, that such Passage be never narrower downwards than upwards; but, on the contrary, that it be wider downwards, on some or one of its Sides; in which Case, if the Surfaces of all the Sides of this Passage be smooth, it is impossible, that Seeds should of themselves form an Arch therein.

On this Maxim depends the infallible Performance of a Drill, and from hence are derived the Uses of the Bevel of the Mortise: What I mean by the Word Bevel, in general, has been already defined.

The Bevel of the Mortise of the Seed-box is that Inclination of its Sides, whereby it is wider downwards, and narrower upwards; by which means the Seed is prevented from arching in the Mortise before it descends to the Notches of the Spindle. And this is the First Use of our Bevel; for this Arching might happen in the Mortise, if the Planes of its Sides were parallel to each other; and would be unavoidable, if their Inclination were downwards, as it is upwards; but these Planes opening downwards, the lower the Seed descends, the more Room it has to expand; so that the very Weight, which would otherwise cause it to arch and stop, does by means of this Bevel force it to descend to the Notches, and then it is safe from all manner of Danger of stopping. The Ends of the Mortise are at such a great Distance from each other, and the Cover so very thin, as to lie almost even with the upper Part of the Spindle, that the Seed can never form an Arch that way; or, if it did, the continual Motion of the Tongue would immediately break it down at the Fore-end of the Mortise.

The Second Use of this Bevel is, that it gives room for the Tongue to be in the same manner bevel, tho’ in a less Degree: By this means, the Seed cannot by any Impediment be stopped in its oblique Descent to the Notches, from the Fore-end, and all that other Length of the Mortise, along and upon the Surface of the Tongue.

But if the Mortise had not this Bevel, the Tongue could not have it; for then either the upper Surface of the Tongue must have no Bevel at all, which would destroy the Two empty Triangles which ought to be on its Sides; or else it must have a Bevel the contrary Way (i. e. a Bevel reversed), and be narrower downwards than upwards, which would cause the Seed to arch thereon, and hinder its free Descent to the Notches.

A Third great Use of this Bevel is, that, besides the Bevel of the Tongue aforementioned, it gives place for Two empty Triangles, one on each Side the Tongue, which have each its vertical Angle extremely acute at the Axis of the Tongue, and have their Bases at the Bottom of the Mortise, and of the Tongue: These Triangles are also Bevels, which consist of the Difference, or Complement, of the Bevel of the Tongue, and that of the Mortise, the latter being about One-third greater than the former; i. e. One-third of the whole Bevel of the Mortise is divided between these Two Triangles, to each a Sixth Part; so that if the Angle of Inclination of the Sides of the Mortise were Nine Degrees, then the vertical Angle of each of these empty Triangles would be of One Degree and Thirty Minutes, and Six Degrees, would be left for the Bevel of the Tongue. And these triangular Spaces help to secure the free Motion of the Tongue, and free Descent of the Seed down its Surface; because they permit no Impediment to lodge in them, they being, by means of the Bevel of the Mortise, wider downwards, both obliquely and perpendicularly, so that no Dust, nor whatever else happens to get in betwixt the Tongue and the Side of the Mortise, can rest there; for it will be immediately removed thence by the Motion of the Tongue, and its own Gravity, and either thrown perpendicularly down, or else obliquely to the Notches, and the first Notch that takes it will carry it out at the Seed-passage.

The Fourth Use of the Bevel is, that thereby the Sections of the hollow Cylinder (before described) do form Ellipses instead of Circles; which they must have been, if cut parallel to the Bases of that Cylinder; and the Sections must have been thus parallel, had the Mortise been without any Bevel.

Now the Two Semi-ellipses, which are on the Fore-sides of their longest Axes or Diameters, and next to the Tongue, are opposite to, and do still uniformly depart from each other, even from the upper End of their said longest Axis, until they arrive at the lower End of the same Axis, which is below the Seed-passage, as its upper End is very near the Cover.

This Opening of these opposite Semi-ellipses makes it impossible for any thing, of itself, to get into the remaining Parts of this hollow Cylinder, betwixt them and the solid Cylinder, call’d the Spindle, which turns continually therein, when the Wheels are going: For you will see, that if you make a Mark on the Spindle, close to the Side of the Mortise, at the upper End of the longest Ax of the Ellipse; and then turn the Spindle until this Mark come against the lower End of the same Ax; and there make another Mark on the Spindle, close to the Side of the Mortise; and draw a Line from one Mark to the other, parallel to the Ax of the Spindle, which will be the Measure of that Part of the Bevel of the Diameter of the Hole; every Point in this Line will, by an intire Revolution of the Spindle, generate a Circle, which will cut the Ellipse in Two Places, once on the Foreside of its longest Axis, and once on the Back-side or hinder Half of it; and that all these Points, in this Surface of the Spindle, described by these Circles, will enter the Hole, by the said hinder Semi-ellipse, as the Spindle there turns upwards (as it always does); and they will all again come out on the fore Semi-ellipse, as they descend towards the lower End of the said Ax of the Ellipse.

As these Points thus come out of the Hole, or (if I may use the Expression) as they emerge, they oppose every thing that would enter the Hole, they still moving from the Hole, and push away from it whatever they meet; nay, if any thing were in the Hole, these Points (whereof this Surface consists) would bring it out by this Semi-ellipse, which is always press’d by the Seed when the Drill is at Work; but as these Points immerge by the other Semi-ellipsis which is behind the Spindle, they can carry with them into the Hole nothing but Air, because the Cover never suffers any thing else to come there from above; and the Seed falls out of the Notches by its own Gravity, just before it reaches the lower End of the transverse Ax, being the Place where the opposite Ellipses are farthest asunder; and none of it is ever carried so far back as the hinder Semi-ellipses; and therefore nothing can be carried into the Hole from below.

Thus that Part of the Surface of the Spindle will keep the Hole empty and clear, before ever any Notches are cut; but when the Notches are made on the Spindle, they have yet a much greater Force to drive and expel whatever would enter the Hole, their Shape being such as nothing can enter against their bevel Ends; but what is at their Ends will be thrown presently into the Mortise; insomuch that when a Spindle has been too little for the Hole by a Quarter of an Inch, that is, a sixth Part of the Diameter of the Hole, it will perform very well in drilling large Species of Seeds; and when the Mortise is run empty, nothing at all is found in the Hole, it being thus kept void and clean by the Notches.

Note, That what is here, and elsewhere, said of the Ellipse of the one Side of the Mortise, must be understood the same of its opposite Ellipse, on the opposite Side of the Mortise.

All these Advantages accruing from this Bevel of the Mortise, I believe that, without it, all Attempts of making a Machine to perform the Work, which this does, would have been vain.

There is also within the Mortise unavoidably another Bevel, which is as the Reverse of the former, and notwithstanding is as useful; and this Bevel is, the Inclination which Part of the curvilineal Surface of the Spindle, beginning a little above the fore End of the shortest Diameter of the Ellipses, and descending down to the Seed-passage, has to the lower Part of the Surface of the Tongue opposite against it. These Two Surfaces meeting one another below, when the Tongue is set up close to the Spindle, form a mix’d Angle, which stops up the Seed-passage, except when a Notch comes against it.

When the Tongue is set from the Spindle, to the Distance of several Diameters of one of the Seeds that are to be drill’d, this revers’d Bevel causes the Seed to arch at the Seed-passage, and stop there, till the Notches force it thro’, which would, without this Arching, fall out by its own Gravity, without the Turning of the Wheels.

The Seed arches here the more firmly, the more it is press’d upon by the incumbent Seed from above it; and the former Bevel (which I call the Bevel of the Mortise) permits the incumbent Weight to press the harder on the Seed that is near the Seed-passage; and this might be reckon’d a fifth Use of the former Bevel: For as it prevents the Seed from arching in any other Part of the Mortise, so it does, by the same means, cause it to arch the more strongly at the Seed-passage, which is sometimes (viz. when the Tongue must be set wide) as necessary, as it is for it to escape arching before it comes thither. And the more strongly this Arch presses against the Tongue, the more the Tongue by its Spring presses against it; and this Pressure being reciprocal and equal, the Seed cannot fall out spontaneously; for when the Passage is thus wide, if you throw into the Mortise a few Seeds, suppose Five or Six at a time only, they will all pass through immediately, without any Motion of the Wheels; but if you throw in a large Quantity together, there will only a few of the lowermost fall through, unless the Wheels do turn and throw them down by the force of the Notches.

Indeed we do not care to set the Tongue so very wide from the Spindle, unless it be when we are obliged to plant a very much larger Proportion of Seed than the Notches are design’d for, and when we have no Opportunity of changing the Wheels for such as are lower, nor of changing the Spindle for another that has greater or more Notches in it.

Four-and-twenty Gallons of large Peas are as proper a Proportion to drill on an Acre, as Six Gallons of Wheat are.

There are divers Ways to vary (i. e. increase or diminish) the Proportion of Seed; as, First, by the Setting-screw, with which we can, without any Inconveniency, set the Tongue so far from the Spindle, as to permit one Round of the Notches to turn out Four times the Quantity, as it will do when the Tongue is set close up to the Spindle; and thus we can vary the Proportion by innumerable intermediate Degrees.

Next, if we would increase the Proportion yet farther, we can inlarge the Notches; but we cannot add to their Number, unless there be room to double it, by making a new Notch between every Two; but we cannot diminish the Proportion of Seed by the same Notches, because they cannot be made lesser or fewer.

If we would make any other Alteration in the Proportion of Seed by the Notches, it must be done by making another Set of them; which we may do, because the wooden Spindle may have Three Rows of Notches in it, of which we may use either, by moving the Wreaths and Wheels towards one End or the other of the wooden Spindle; as shall be shewn in the Descriptions of the Hoppers.

But as for the Brass Spindle of the Turnep-drill, we can have but one Set of Notches in it[267]: And therefore, tho’ we can increase the Proportion of Seed by enlarging the Notches, or perhaps by doubling their Number; yet we cannot lessen the Proportion of Seed by the Notches, unless we have a new Set of them, and that will occasion a Necessity of having another Spindle; but, as to the Setting-screw of the Turnep-drill, it will increase the Proportion of Seed with the same Notches, much more than the Setting-screw of the Wheat-drill will do.

The other Way of varying the Proportion of Seed in the same Boxes, is by the Diameter of the Wheels, when we can alter them; for Wheels, of what Diameter soever they are, must turn round all the Notches at one Revolution; so that Wheels of Twenty Inches Diameter will deliver out a third Part more Seed than Wheels of Thirty Inches Diameter, into the same Length of the Chanels; but we seldom have any Occasion to alter the Wheels, unless it be on account of planting a Species of Seed of a different Magnitude, as the largest Sort of Peas, and small-grain’d Wheat, or St. Foin Seed are.

These are all the Ways we have to alter the Proportion of Seed, we drill with the same Seed-boxes; these Two Sizes, already described, being sufficient for all Sorts of Corn and Seeds which we commonly sow, from Marrow-peas to Turnep-seed; but, for drilling of Beans, the Boxes must be larger, and are commonly made of Wood, the Spindle Two Inches Diameter, or more, and the Boxes Two Inches wide: Where note, That this Increasing of the Width of the Mortise, from an Inch and an half, to Two Inches, increases the Quantity of Seed to almost double; because this Half Inch is all added to the Middle of the Notches, where they are deeper than their Ends; the Bevel of which takes up a considerable Part of the Length of the Notches. For Beans, they also contrive to have their Wheels as low as conveniently they can. These Wooden Drills are now become common in many Places.

The Wooden and Brass Seed-boxes differ not in any of the most essential Parts of them; only the Wooden Box must be thicker, as the Wood is not so strong as Brass; the Spring is made strait instead of crooked; and, being let into the Back of the Wooden Tongue, bears against it at each End; and the Chanel, into which it is placed, being made hollow in the Middle, the Spring has its Play there, and must be stiffer and have a little more Play in the Bean-drill, than in any lesser Seed-box.

I, at first, made all my Seed-boxes of dry Box-tree Wood, which performed very well, and are still used: But, a few Years ago, a Gentleman advised me to make them in Brass; the doing of which has put me to a great deal of Trouble and Expence, for want of understanding the Founder’s Art: Yet this I do not repent, because they are, in some respect, better than those made in Wood; especially to those who do not well understand their Fabric; for, to such, the Swelling and Shrinking of the Wood was inconvenient in small Boxes: And I now am told, that they are cast in London of the best Brass, at the Price of One Shilling per Pound, and so smooth as to require very little filing. And these Brass Boxes being also more lasting than Wood, and not much more expensive, when Workmen know how to make them, I think it not worth while to give any particular Directions for making them in Wood.

As to the Spindles of the Turnep-boxes, I have often made them with a mix’d Metal, of half Pewter, and half Spelter, which perform very well, and are easily made; because this Metal will melt, almost as soon as Lead, in a Fire-shovel, to be cast in a Mould; but Brass will not melt without a Crucible.

The first Idea that I form’d of this Machine, was thus: I imagin’d the Mortise, or Groove, brought from the Sound-board of an Organ, together with the Tongue and Spring, all of them much alter’d; the Mortise having an Hole therein, and put on upon one of the Iron Gudgeons of the Wheelbarrow; which Gudgeon being enlarg’d to an Inch and an half Diameter, having on it the Notches of the Cylinder of a Cyder-mill, on that Part of it which should be within the Mortise, and this Mortise made in the Ear of the Wheelbarrow (thro’ which the Gudgeon usually passes), made broad enough for the Purpose; this I hoped, for any thing I saw to the contrary, might perform this Work of Drilling; and herein I was not deceived.

As for placing a Box over this Mortise to carry a sufficient Quantity of Seed, it was a thing so obvious, that it occasion’d very little Thought; and an Instrument for making the Chanels, not much more; neither for applying Two Wheels, one at each End of the Axis, instead of the single Wheel in the Middle of the Axis of the Wheelbarrow.

At first my Plough made open Chanels, and was very rude, being composed of Four rough Pieces of Planks, of little Value, held together by Three Shoots, or Pieces of Wood, which held them at a Foot Distance one from the other; These Pieces, being cut sharp at Bottom, made the Chanels tolerably well in fine Ground. But I soon contrived a Plough with Four Iron Shares, to make Chanels in any Ground: This drew a Hopper after it, having Four Seed-boxes at its Bottom, carried on a Spindle by Two low Wheels, which had Liberty to rise and sink by the Clods that they pass’d over: The Seed-boxes delivered their Seed immediately into the open Chanels.

This Plough and Hopper were drawn by an Horse, and the Seed, lying open in the Chanels, was covered sometimes by a very light Harrow, and sometimes by an Hurdle stuck with Bushes underneath it.

I soon improv’d this Plough to perform better, and to make Six Chanels at once, and sometimes a great many more.

This Plough and Hopper, with their Improvements and Alterations, are shewn in Plates 4. and 5.

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Fig. 1. in Plate 4. is the Drill-plough, which makes the Chanels for a treble Row of Wheat, at Seven-inch Partitions, and covers the Seed by the Harrow which moves on its Beams. A, is the Plank, Three Feet and an half long, Eight Inches and an half broad, one Inch and a quarter thick; its upper and under Surfaces are true Planes. B, B, the Two Beams, each Two Feet Four Inches long, Two Inches Three quarters broad, and Two Inches and a quarter deep, standing under the Plank at right Angles with it, and held up to it by the Four Screws and Nuts a₂ a₂ a₂ a₂ the one being at the same Distance from the right, as the other is from the left End of the Plank.

This Plough makes its Chanels by Three Sheats, and their Shares and Trunks; the First or Foremost of which Sheats stands under the Middle of the Plank, with Part of it appearing at b; and is fully describ’d in Fig. 2, where A is the Tenon, of a convenient Size, Two Inches broad between Shoulder and Shoulder, Three quarters of an Inch thick: It is driven into the Plank thro’ a Mortise, and pinn’d up by its Hole: It stands thus obliquely, and pointing forwards, that it may stand the more out of the Way of the Funnel. The Shoulder at a is a quarter of an Inch. The hinder Shoulder, from the Tenon to the Angle at b, is Three quarters of an Inch. The Depth of the Back of the Sheat, and Thickness of the Share, when it is on, from b to c, is Nine Inches and a quarter; and the Angle at c must be a right Angle, contrary to the Opinion of some, who fansy it ought to be acute, supposing that when this Angle is right, whilst the Seed is descending by the Back of the Sheat, the Plough, as it moves forwards, would get before the Seed, and so it might fall to the Ground behind the Trunk; but this Mistake is for want of considering the vast Disproportion between the Celerity of the Seed’s descending near the Earth, and the slow Progress of the Plough; the Seed descending at the Rate of Sixteen Feet in a Second of Time, and the Plough proceeding but about Three Miles an Hour, does not advance the Thickness of a Seed, whilst it is falling to the Ground by the whole Depth of the Sheat.

The Thickness of the Sheat is an Inch, at its upper Part. The rest of it is to be no thicker than the Breadth of the Share.

Fig. 3. is the Share, lying Bottom upwards. a is its Point. b the Socket, Three Inches long, Seven Sixteenths of an Inch broad. c is the Hole, by which it is fastened up to the Sheat. d is another Hole, which is never made use of, except when the Share, being fasten’d up by the other Hole, inclines to either Side; then we draw it right by a Nail driven into this Hole. e, e, are Two very small Notches, into which the Sides of the Trunk are jointed, to protect them from being torn out by the Earth or Stones that might rub against them, f is the Tail of the Share, which, when it is in its Place, will make the right Angle before described in Fig. 2. and from which Tail, to the Fore-part of the Socket, is the Length of the Bottom of the Sheat, viz. Six Inches and an half. The Breadth of the Share Three quarters of an Inch.

Fig. 4. shews one Side of the Share. The prick’d Line a e shews the Bevel of the Fore-end of the Socket, the upper Edge of which must bear upon the Fore-part of the Sheat below f in Fig. 2. and the other Part of the Share will bear against the Bottom of the Sheat, from d to c, and will be fastened up by a flat Nail, passing thro’ the foremost Hole of the Share, and entering the Hole g in the Sheat; which Nail being bended in the said Hole (which Hole should be at least an Inch Diameter) will hold the Share fast to the Sheat; and, by unbending this Nail, the Share may be easily taken off, upon Occasion, without damaging the Sheat. Note, This Hole in the Share ought to be wider below than above, and the Head of the Nail of the same Shape; or else, as the Share wears thinner, it might come off. The prick’d Line, near the Fore-part of the Sheat, shews where a Shoulder must be cut on each Side of it, because otherwise the Sheat, being thicker than the Breadth of the Socket of the Share, could not enter it: But take care, that the Share do not bear against these Shoulders.

Fig. 5. is one Side of the Trunk, being a thin Plate of Iron, and is often made of the Blade of an old Scythe: It is to be riveted on to one Side of the Sheat, to another of the same on the opposite Side, by Three Rivets passing thro’ them both, with the Sheat in the Middle of them; which Holes appear both in the Plate and in the Sheat. These thus riveted on do form the Trunk at the Back of the Sheat. The whole Breadth of this Plate is an Inch and Three quarters; but Three-eighths of an Inch being riveted on to the Sheat, there remains but an Inch and Three-eighths for the Trunk. The Length of the Plate is the same with the Depth of the Sheat and Share, except that it should not reach to the Bottom of the Share, by about the Thickness of a Barley-corn, to the end that it may not bear against the Ground, as the Share doth. The Notch at the Bottom of the Plate is that which answers the Notch in the Tail of the Share: The Corner of the Plate at a we make a little roundish, that it may not wear against the Ground.

This Plate thus riveted on the Sheat, and another of the same Form on the other Side opposite to it, compose the Trunk, which is Fig. 6. a d is the Edge a b of the Plate Fig. 5. b c is the like Edge of the opposite Side of the Trunk. A is the Back of the Sheat, which, together with the Tail of the Share when in its Place, makes the Fore-part or Length of the Trunk. The Thickness of this Back of the Sheat is the Width of the Trunk; and from this Back of the Sheat to the said Edges of the Plates, may be call’d the Depth of the Trunk. The upper Ends of these Two Plates a and b we spread open a quarter of an Inch wider, for half an Inch down, than the rest of the Trunk, for the more free Reception of the Seed from the Hole of the Funnel: We likewise take care, that the Two lower hinder Concerns of the Trunk do not incline to one another, to make the Trunk narrower than the Back of the Sheat, lest the Earth should be held in by them, and fill the Bottom of the Trunk.

Fig. 7. is one of the hinder Sheats, and appears, in part, at c in Fig. 1. It is fastened into one of the Beams by its Tenon, which, being driven into a Mortise, is pinn’d in by a Pin passing thro’ the Beam, and the Tenon cut off even with the upper Surface of the Beam: This Tenon stands more oblique than that of the fore Sheat, that there may be the more Wood between its Mortise and the Funnel, its hinder Shoulder being short: Its fore Shoulder at a must be very short, not above the Eighth of an Inch; but its Shoulder b Three quarters of an Inch. The Tenon is also shoulder’d on each Side, as well as before and behind. The Thickness of this Sheat should be greater than that of the Fore-sheat, because it is much narrower. The Depth of this Sheat, is less than the Fore-sheat, by the Depth of the Beam: It is, in all other respects, the same with the Fore-sheat, except that it and its Share are shorter. The Socket of this Share is but an Inch and One-eighth long, its Breadth half an Inch, and from the Fore-part of the Bottom of the Socket to the End of its Tail, but three Inches. Its Point from the Socket at Bottom is but Three quarters of an Inch, whereas the Point of the Fore-share is an Inch and Three quarters: There is but one Hole whereby the Share is fastened up to the Sheat. Its Trunk is no wider than the other; for we cut a Rabbet on each Side of the Sheat, that the Plates, which are the Sides of the Trunk, may come within Three quarters of an Inch of one another. Its Tenon, being narrower than the Tenon of the Fore-sheat, must be thicker than it.

The other Hinder-sheat, and all its Accoutrements, must be the same as this of Fig. 7.

The Workman must take care, that the Tenons of the Sheats be not made cross the Grain of the Wood; and therefore must make them of crooked Timber.

Fig. 8. shews how the Share is made of Four Pieces; of which a is a Piece of Steel for the Point, its larger End being cut bevel for the Shape of the Fore-end of the Socket. b is a Piece of Iron for the other End of the Share, from the Socket to the Tail: The other Two Pieces c and d are the Iron Sides, which, being welded on to the other Two Pieces, and cut off to the Length, form the Share, with its Socket, more exact than it can be made out of one Piece of Iron.

Now we return to the first Figure; where the Fore-sheat being fix’d up at equal Distance from each End of the Plank, and as near to the hinder Edges of it as can be, allowing room for the Funnel C to stand with the Fore-side of its Hole, to make one Surface with the Back of the Sheat, and for the hinder Part of the Trunk not to reach the Edge of the Plank, there must be also room for the Fore-standard D to stand perpendicular to the Plank, across the Tenon of the Sheat.

This Standard being close to the Fore-side of the fore Hopper, there must be so much room between it and the Hole of the Funnel, that the Seed may drop from the Seed-box into the Middle of this Hole. Thus much for placing the Fore-sheat.

Next, for the Two hinder Sheats; they must be placed at equal Distance from the Sides of the Beams, and so near to the hinder Ends of the Beams, that there may be room to make the Funnels in them, and their Tenons to come up between their respective Funnels E and F, and their respective Standards G and H, which Standards must be set perpendicular to the Beams.

The Distance of these Sheats from the Plank must be such, that the Wheels of the hinder Hopper may not strike against the Plank, nor against the Spindle of the fore Hopper; and the Semidiameters of these Wheels being Eleven Inches, there ought to be a Foot between the Centre of each Wheel and the Plank; but we sometimes cut Notches in the Plank, to prevent the Circle of the Wheels from coming too near the Plank.

For the nearer the hinder Sheats stand to the Plank, the better; but these Beams may be placed nearer to, or farther from the Plank, by their Screws and Nuts, at Pleasure.

These Beams must be set at such a Distance from one another, that the Shares may be Fifteen Inches asunder from the Inside of one to the Outside of the other.

To try whether all these Sheats and Shares are truly placed, set the Plough upon a level Surface; and then, if they be right, the Fore-share will touch the Surface by its Point and Tail, and likewise the hinder Sheats will do the same; except that some Workmen will have it, that the Plough goes better, when the Tails of the hinder Sheats are a Barley-corn’s Thickness higher than their Points; and then their Tails will want so much of touching the Surface.

The Shares must be all of them parallel to the Beams, and consequently to one another.

The Chanel made by the fore Share and Sheat for the middle Row, being at equal Distance between the Two hinder Sheats, is cover’d by them, they raising the Mould over the Seed from each Side of this Chanel.

The Harrow I is drawn by the Beams, to which it is fastened to their Insides at d and e, having each a small Iron Pin, passing thro’ each End of the Legs of the Harrow, and thro’ the Beams; each having a Nut on the Outsides of the Beams, and being square in the Beams, that they may not turn therein to loosen their Nuts; but are round near their Heads, that the Harrow may easily move thereon.

The round Ends of the Legs of the Harrow are put thro’ its Head I, at the round Holes f and g; and pinned in behind it, to the end that either Tine of the Harrow may descend at the same time that the other rises, where the Ground is uneven.

The Two wooden Tines K and L are pinned in above the Head, and have each of them a Shoulder underneath. They stand sloping; so that if they take hold of any Clods, they do not drive them before them, but rise over them. They are of a convenient Length, to give room for the Harrow to sink and rise, without raising up the Shares; and to give them the more room to move: The Legs of the Harrow are crook’d downwards in the Middle.

The Distance of these Tines from each other is Twenty-two Inches; so that each Tine going Three Inches and an half on the Outside of each Chanel that is next it, fills it up with Earth upon the Seed, from the Outsides of it; which causes the Rows to come up something nearer the inner Sides of the Chanels, than to the outer Sides, from whence the Earth is brought into them by the Tines; and the Two outer Rows by this means come up at Fourteen Inches asunder, tho’ the Chanels were Fifteen Inches asunder.

This way of covering adds more Mould to the Top of a Ridge; whereas, if the Chanels were covered by Tines going within or between them, the Mould would be thrown down from the Top of the Ridge: And these Tines stand with their Edges and Points inclining outwards, by which means they bring in the more Earth to the Chanels.

If we find, that the Harrow is too light, we tie a Stone upon it, to make it heavier; and sometimes we fix a small Box of Board on the Middle of it, to hold Clods of Earth for that Purpose.

The fore Funnel C has its upper Edges Two Inches high above the Surface of the Plank. It is Five Inches Square at Top; its Four opposite Sides being Planes equally inclin’d to each other downwards, until they end at the Hole in the Bottom of the Funnel, which Hole is continued quite thro’ the Plank into the Trunk. The Shape of this Hole is shewn in Fig. 9. where the Four Lines a b, b c, c d, and d a, each Line being Three quarters of an Inch, make a true Square, and are the upper Edges of the Hole. The Three prick’d Lines e f, f g, and g h, being each of them longer than the former, tho’ as little as possible, make the Three lower Edges of the Hole; which being thus wider below than above, and having all its Sides true Planes and smooth, it is impossible for the Seed to arch therein. The fore Side of this Hole is perpendicular to the upper and lower Surfaces of the Plank, and, together with the Back of the Sheat, makes one Plane Surface.

When we drill a large Species of Seed, as Peas or Oats, we can make this Hole a full Inch square at Top, and of the same Shape wider at Bottom; which tho’ it be wider than the Trunk, except at its Top, the Seed will not arch there, because there is room behind, the Plates being broader than the Sides of the Hole; for there can be no Arching in the Trunk, unless the Seed were confin’d behind as well as on each Side.

The Holes of our Funnels ought to be of the same Shape with this described; tho’, as I am inform’d, the Pretenders to the making of this Plough make the Holes of their Funnels the Reverse of this; which being wrong-way upwards, the Seed is apt to arch in them, except the Holes are very large.

Of this Plough, Fig. 1. the Two hinder Funnels E and F differ from the fore Funnel (which has been described), first, in Dimensions; these not being so deep, because they being made in the very Beams, their upper Edges are in the upper Surface of the Beams, and their Holes at the Bottom, being about the Eighth of an Inch deep. The Depth of the Funnels must want the Eighth of an Inch of the Thickness of the Beams; but we make each Funnel an Inch and a quarter broader at Top than its Beam, by adding a Piece of Wood to each Side of its Beam, which reaches down about half-way its Thickness; and these Pieces being firmly fix’d on by Nails, to the Sides of each Beam, the Legs of the Harrow take hold of these Pieces, which are in the Inside of these Beams. When the Plough is taken up to be turn’d, the Man who turns it takes hold of the Head of the Harrow with one Hand, and lays the other upon the Hopper, or Spindle, to keep it level, and to prevent either of the fore Wheels from striking against the Ground, whilst the Plough is turning round.

Another Difference there is between the Shape of these hinder Funnels from that of the former, to wit, That each fore Side of the hinder Trunks must not be quite so oblique as the rest; because then the upper Edge of these fore Sides might be too near the Tenons of the Sheats, and there might not be sufficient Wood betwixt them, to prevent the Sheats from being torn out; a thing which has never happen’d, that I know of. We sometimes make these hinder Funnels of a roundish Shape, like a Cone inverted; except that the Part which is next the Sheat, is not so oblique as the rest, for the Reason already given.

The only Advantage proposed by this roundish Shape is, that there is less Wood taken out than from the square Corners, and therefore more Wood for the added Pieces to be fastened to the Beams, than, in the square Funnels.

M and N are Two Pieces of Wood, each Eleven Inches long, Two Inches broad, and Two Inches thick: These are screw’d on near each End of the Plank, by Two Screws and Nuts each: They stand parallel to the other Beams, and have each a double Standard or Fork, O and P, in them, perpendicular to the Plank; by which Standards the fore Hopper is drawn and guided, in the manner as is seen in Fig. 21.

These Standards ought to be braced (or spurr’d) before and behind, and on their Outsides; they never being press’d inwards, have no occasion of Braces there: These are to be so placed, that when the Spindle is in their Forks, it may be exactly over the Hole of the Funnel, so that the Seed may drop into the Middle of it, when the Plough stands upon an horizontal Surface, the Spindle being also exactly parallel to the fore Edge of the Plank.

Fig. 10. is D in the Plough Fig. 1. It is Two Feet long, Two Inches broad in its narrowest Part, and half an Inch thick in the thinnest Part, and Two Inches at its Shoulders above the Plank. It is pinn’d thro’ the Plank before the Funnel, having one of its Legs on each Side the Tenon of the Sheat: It stands perpendicular to the Plank: Its only Use is to hold the fore Hopper from turning upon the Spindle, being put thro’ a thing (Fig. 22.) like the Carrier of a Latch, nail’d onto the upper Part of the fore Side of the fore Hopper, in which thing this Standard has room to play, or move side-ways, to the end that either Wheel may rise up.

Fig. 11. is one of the hinder Standards, which being placed in the Beam, as G or H, perpendicular to it, is driven into a Mortise, and pinn’d into the Beam. It has a Shoulder behind, and another before, and a Third on its Outside; which Shoulders serve instead of Braces, to keep it from moving backwards, forwards, or outwards: It is Two Feet Four Inches long, Two Inches broad, and an Inch thick: It is placed with its broad or flat Sides towards the Sides of the Beams. It is made so thin, because it should have the more room for the Hopper to play on it; and therefore must have its Strength in its Breadth. The Part at a must stand foremost.

The Standards G and H are both alike, except as they are opposite: Their Use is to draw, guide, and hold up the hinder Hopper: They are to be placed perpendicular to the Beams, and at equal Distance from each Side of those Beams, and at such a Distance before the Funnels, that when the fore Side of the Hopper by its whole Length bears against the hinder Surface of the Standards, the Seed may drop into the Middle of both Funnels, the Plough standing upon an horizontal Surface.

Be sure to take care, that the Sheats, Funnels, and Standards, be so placed, that the Spindle of the Hopper may be at right Angles with the Beams.

Q and R Part of the Limbers, which are also called Shafts, Sharps, and Thills; from whence the Horse that goes in them is call’d a Thiller. These Limbers are screw’d down to the Plank, by Two Screws and Nuts each. The Limbers are kept at their due Distance by the Bar S; near each End of which Bar, there is a Staple with a Crook underneath each Limber, to which is hitch’d, or fastened, a Link of each Trace, for drawing the Plough. This Bar is parallel to the Plank, and Seven Inches and an half before its fore Edge.

The Limbers must be mounted higher or lower at their fore Ends, according to the Height of the Horse that draws in them; and this may be done by the Screws that hold them to the Plank, and by cutting away the Wood at the Two hinder Screws, or at the Two foremost Screws, or by Wedges.

Every Workman knows how to team the Limbers; that is, to place them so on the Plank, that the Path of the Horse, which goes in the Middle betwixt them, may be parallel to all the Shares, and so that a Line, drawn in the Middle of this Path, might fall into a strait Line with the fore Share, standing on the same even Surface with the Path; for otherwise the Plough will not follow directly after the Horse, but will incline to one Side.

The Use of the Trunks of this Plough is for makeing the Chanels narrow, of whatsoever Depth they are: But, without Trunks, the Chanels must be made wide by Ground-wrists, which spread the Sides of the Chanels wide asunder, to the end that they may lie open for receiving of the Seed; and the deeper they are, the wider they must be: By this Width of a Chanel, the Seed in it is with more Difficulty cover’d, and the Chanel fill’d with the largest Clods, and the Seed comes up of a great Breadth, perhaps Three or Four Inches wide, so that the Weeds coming therein are hard to be gotten out.

To avoid these Inconveniences of wide Chanels, I contrived Trunks like those described, except that they were but Five or Six Inches high; and the Tops of their Plates, bending outwards from each other, form’d Two Sides of a Funnel; and the Wood between the Two Plates, being cut bevel at the Top, was as the fore Side of a Funnel to this Trunk: It was open behind from Top to Bottom: The Wheels were low, and the Seed-boxes narrow: The Seed in these Chanels was easily cover’d, especially those Sorts which were sown in dry Weather; for then the finest Mould would run in, and cover the Seed, as soon as the Trunks were past it.

The Seed in such a narrow Chanel comes up in a Line, where the Row not being above a Quarter of an Inch broad, scarce any Weeds come in it; and when the Weather is dry, the Earth of the Chanel not lying open to be dry’d, the Seed comes up the sooner.

I had Two Reasons for making of these Trunks higher, as they are now used: The one was, to avoid the too great Length of the Shares; and my other Reason was, that with those low Trunks, and long Shares, there could not be Two Ranks of Shares, and their Hoppers in the Plough, which are necessary for making very narrow Partitions, and absolutely necessary for planting this treble Row of Wheat; for if Three Shares for making the Seven-inch Partitions were placed in one Rank, the Mould (which is always moist or wet, when we plant Wheat) would be driven before the Shares, there not being room for it to pass betwixt them.

Fig. 12. is one End of the hinder Hopper laid open. I call it one End (altho’ it be an intire Box by itself) because this Hopper is supposed to have its middle Part cut out, to have a clearer Sight of the Plough, and fore Hopper; as is seen in Fig. 15. which is the whole Hopper in Two Parts. In this Fig. 12, A is the Inside of one End of the Hopper, made with several Pieces of half-inch Elm-board nail’d on to the Post c a, on the fore Side; which Post is a little more than half an Inch square, and Seventeen Inches and Three quarters long, being the Depth of that Part of the Hopper which holds the Seed. B is the fore Side of this Hopper; which must be nail’d on to the said Pod, being of the same Length with it, and Four Inches broad, and half an Inch thick; and this is the Part which on its Outside goes against the right-hand Standard of the Plough, when it is at Work. The other Post b d, of the same Thickness with the former, is nail’d in within half an Inch of the opposite Edge of this End; to which Post also C being nail’d, makes the hinder Side of this Part of the Hopper. C is Four Inches broad, and half an Inch thick; and both it, and the Post to which it is to be nail’d, are something longer than its opposite Side, because the Side B makes right Angles with the Top and Bottom of the Hopper; but the hinder Side C makes oblique Angles with the Top and Bottom of the Hopper; and the Reason of this is, because when the Hopper is full of Seed, it may be equally pois’d on the Spindle; which it could not be without this Bevel, unless the Bottom of the Hopper did come as much behind the Spindle as before it; and that would hinder the Person that follows the Drill, from seeing the Seed fall out of the Seed-box into the Funnel; and that Part of the Bottom which is before the Spindle cannot be made shorter, because that Part of the Seed-box which is before the Spindle, is (upon account of its Tongue) much longer than the Part of it which is behind the Spindle. ’Tis true that when the Hopper is empty of Seed, it cannot be thus pois’d; but then, being so light, it does not require it. e f g h is a Piece of a Board, nail’d on to that Part of the End A, which is below the Bottom of the Cavity which holds the Seed, and is commonly plac’d a little cross the Grain of the Board to which it is nail’d, and serves to strengthen it, and keeps the Hole i from splitting. The upper Edge e f of this added Piece of Board is exactly the Length of the Bottom of the Hopper, whereto the Brass Seed-box is fastened; and this Bottom, together with its Seed-box under it, being put into its Place, bears upon this Piece from e to f, which holds Up the right Side of the Bottom, and keeps it from sinking downwards; as the lower Ends of the Two mention’d Posts, and the fore and hinder Side B and C nail’d to them, prevent its rising upwards.

The Manner of making the Hole i is as follows: Place the Seed-box with its fore End at e, and hinder End at f, with the Base of its Cylinder (or great Hole) against this added Piece of Board, and its upper Edge exactly the Height of the Edge e f; then, with a Pair of Compasses put thro’ the Cylinder of the Seed-box, mark round the inner Edge of its Base upon the added Board; then take off the Seed-box, and find the Centre of the mark’d Circle; and then with a Tool call’d a Centre-bit, of the right Size, bore the Hole quite thro’ the double Board; and this Hole will be in the right Place, and of the same Diameter with the Spindle; but in case there is to be a Brass Wreath on that Part of the Spindle which is to turn in this Hole, then the Hole must be bor’d of the same Diameter with that Part of the Wreath which is to enter it; and that may be perhaps near a quarter of an Inch longer than the Diameter of the Spindle, upon which it is fastened.

This End A, thus bor’d and shap’d, is a Pattern for its Opposite, and for the other Two Opposites of the other Cavity, which holds the Seed at the other End of the Hopper.

When the Opposite of A (with the Two Posts whereto the fore Side B, and the hinder Side C, are nail’d, and having a like Piece of Board in its lower Part with a like Hole in it) is added, and when the Bottom (Four Inches broad), with its Seed-box under it, is thrust in at f by the prick’d Lines, until it reach e, bearing on one Side upon the Piece of Board e f g h, and the other Edge of the Bottom bearing in like manner upon the opposite Piece, then this Cavity of the Hopper, which will contain about Two Gallons of Seeds, will be finish’d.

Note, The Bottom must make a right Angle with the Two fore Posts, having the Side B perpendicular to it.

D is a Part of the Board which comes out farther than the Hopper, in order to hold a Bar at k; which being fastened there, and in like manner to the Opposite of this Board, this Bar bearing against the fore Part of the Standard, the Hopper and its Wheels are in part drawn by it.

Into the Notch l is fastened one End of a long Bar, which passes the whole Length of the Hopper, and holds the upper Part of its Two Cavities in their Places, as is seen mark’d D, in Fig. 15.

E is Part of the Board which comes before the Hopper, and whereto one End of a Piece of Wood is fastened by Nails or Screws, which bearing against the fore Part of the Standard, and against its Inside, the Hopper is in part drawn and guided by it, as shall be shewn in Fig. 15.

Fig. 13. shews the Outside of the Figure last describ’d. A is the Standard by which this End of the Hopper is drawn, in the manner as it is here placed. B is one End of the Spindle passing thro’ the Hopper and Seed-box. C the Bottom, having the Seed-box fastened on to it, with one Screw before, and another behind, with their Nuts underneath, and the Heads of their Screws very thin, and the Pins square at Top, that they may not turn in the Wood; and their Heads must either be let into the Wood, even with the Surface, or else the Sides B C of the Hopper must be cut for these Heads of the Screws to pass in under them.

This bottom Board, which holds the brass Seed-box, is Four Inches broad, and full half an Inch thick, and at each End a quarter of an Inch longer than the Seed-box: This Piece is first thrust in sliding upon the Two added Pieces of Board, until its fore End comes under the fore Side of the Hopper, and its hinder End under the hinder Side; then setting the Hopper with its Bottom upwards, the Spindle being thro’ the Seed-box, and Holes of the Hopper, we hold the Seed-box hard upon the Bottom, at equal Distance from each End of it, whilst the Holes are bored thro’ the Bottom, by the Holes at each End of the Seed-box; and then the Screws, being put thro’, screw on the Box; and when that is done, we make a Mark upon the bottom Board, with the Compasses, on each Side of the Brass Box, beginning from the Ends of the Axis of the Tongue, reaching as far backwards as is the Length of the Mortise: These Two Lines or Marks are a Direction for cutting the Hole in the Bottom of the Hopper, thro’ which the Seed descends into the Seed-box; then we pull out the Spindle, then draw out the Bottom, take off the Seed-box, and cut the Hole in the Bottom in the manner I will now describe in Fig. 14. where the Two pricked Lines a b and c d are the lower Edges of the Hole, and the same with the Two Lines mentioned to be marked by the Sides of the Seed-box. The pricked Line a d, being at right Angles with the Two former, is the lower Edge of the fore End of the Hole, and exactly over the Axis of the Tongue, and parallel to it. The pricked Line b c is the lower Edge of the hinder End of the Hole, which is just over the hinder End of the Mortise, and parallel and equal to the last-mentioned pricked Line: These Four pricked Lines are the lower Edges of this Hole, contiguous to the Seed-box. The Two Lines e f and g h are the upper Edges of the Sides of the Hole, which, being farther asunder than the lower Edges, make the reverse Bevel of this Hole; which may be determined by this, that the Surface between these Two upper and lower Edges, being Planes, are inclined to one another downwards, in an Angle of about One hundred and Thirty Degrees. The Two Lines e g and f h, at right Angles with the Two last-mentioned Lines, make the upper Edges of the Ends of this Hole; and, being nearer together, than the pricked Lines under them, the plane Surfaces, betwixt these Two Lines and those Two pricked Lines, shew the Bevel of the Ends of these, which are inclined to each other upwards in an Angle of about Sixty-five Degrees.

This double Bevel effectually prevents the Seed from arching in the Hole, before it gets into the Mortise of the Seed-box; and also, the Two upper Edges of the Ends of the Hole being nearer together than the lower, there is the more Wood left between these Edges and the Screws, which hold the Box to the Bottom, whereby the Board is less apt to split.

Then the Box being screwed on to the Bottom, and thrust again into its Place, the Spindle, passing thro’ both the Hopper and the Box, keeps the Bottom in its Place: Then D, in Fig. 13. is the imaginary Plane of the Top or Mouth of the Hopper, being a rectangled Parallelogram, and parallel to the Bottom, to which the fore End is perpendicular, and a rectangled Parallelogram of the same Breadth.

Fig. 15. shews the fore Side of the whole hinder Hopper, with its Two Cavities, and all its Accoutrements, except the Wheels; the Two Ends A and B being exactly alike, having each of them its Seed-box at the Bottom, in the same manner as in the one has been described. The Bar D holds together the upper Parts of this double Hopper at a right Distance, which is, when there is Ten Inches clear room betwixt the Two single ones. The Spindle E, passing thro’ the Whole, holds the Two single Hoppers by Four Wreaths, at the same Distance below, as they are held by the Bar above.

These Four Wreaths are screwed on to the Spindle, to keep it from moving towards either End, as well as to hold the Hoppers in their Places: Two of which Wreaths are seen at a and b; and the other Two are placed on the Outsides, as these Two are on the Insides. Before we proceed any farther in this Figure, it will be proper to shew the Wreaths, which are of Two Sorts.

The one in Fig. 16. where A is its Hollow, which is circular, and must be of the same Diameter with the Spindle; and, being thrust on upon the Spindle, till it touch the Board, is fastened to the Spindle by a small Screw thro’ each of its opposite Holes, a b shews the Breadth of this Wreath, whether it be made of Brass or Wood: It is little more than half an Inch. b c d is the Part of it that goes against the Board: The Thickness of the Surface of this End which goes against the Board, is a quarter of an Inch, if made with Brass; but if with Wood, half an Inch; but the Thickness of its other End a e f is less than its End b c d, by which means the Screws are the more easily turned in.

Fig. 17. shews the other Sort of Wreath, which is always made in Brass: Its Cavity is a hollow Cylinder like the former: When it is on the Spindle, its End a b c is thrust into the Hole of the Board (made wider for the Purpose) until d e f come close to the Board, and stop it from entering any farther; then we screw it on to the Spindle by the Holes, as the other Sort of Wreath is described to be screwed.

This is the best Sort of Wreath; because it keeps the Spindle from wearing against the Edges of the Hole, and then the Spindle never has any Friction against the Wood in any Part of it; but the other Sort are more easily made (especially of Wood), and the Spindle will last a great while in them; or if it be worn out, the Expence of Three-pence or Four-pence will purchase a new Spindle.

Now I must return to Fig. 15. where the Spindle E having its Four Wreaths fixt on it, we turn it round with our Hand, to see whether the Wreaths are put on true; and when they are so, neither the Spindle, nor the Hoppers, can move end-ways: Tho’ the Spindle be pretty hard to turn round, the Wheels will soon cause it to turn easily. Whilst the Spindle is in this Posture, we turn the Hopper Bottom upwards, and mark the Spindle for cutting the Notches in the manner before directed; and then we take off the Spindle, and cut the Notches, and also cut each End of the Spindle square, up to a Shoulder at each End, so that the Wheels may come easily on without knocking or thrusting; and then we return the Spindle to its Place, and put on the Wheels, pinning them on with each a long Nail, which being crooked at the Ends, prevent it from falling out, but may be very easily pulled out with the Claws of a Hammer; but we must take care, that neither the square Ends of the Spindle, nor the square Holes in the Naves (or Hubs) of the Wheels (into which they enter), be taper; for, if they are taper, the Wheels will be apt to work themselves off.

The Piece of Wood, Fig. 18. is that which goes over the Standard, and, being placed in the Hopper, as F. in Fig. 15. draws that Part of the Hopper by its Inside a b bearing against the fore Part of the Standard; and that Part of it from b to c, being the Breadth of the Standard, bears against its inner Inside, to prevent the Hopper from going any farther towards that End. This Piece of Wood is fastened to the Boards of the Hopper, either by Screws or Nails: This Piece, from d to e, must be of such a Thickness, that the Standard, bearing against its Inside b c, may be equidistant from each Board, to which this Piece is fastened. The Part, or fore Side of this Piece f g, must be the Length of the Distance between Board and Board, to which it is fastened; and that is exactly Four Inches. Its Thickness and Depth must be such as may make it strong enough for the Purposes intended.

The Piece marked Fig. 19. is the Opposite of the former, and to be placed in the same manner, and as it is seen marked G in Fig. 15. observing always, that the Part of it, which holds the Hopper from moving end-ways, must always be on the Inside of the Standard; for, if these Pieces should bear against the Outsides of the Standards, the Hopper could have no Play upon them, nor could either of the Wheels rise up without raising the Share (that was next to it) out of the Ground; but, being thus placed, either Wheel may rise without the other, and without raising the Share.

I say more of this, because it is a Point wherein young Workmen are apt to mistake.

Thus having shewn, in Fig. 15. how the Hopper is guided and drawn at the lower Part, I come next to shew how it is held and drawn at its upper Part; for which the Piece of Wood, Fig. 20. being a competent Breadth and Thickness, Four Inches long, is fixt in between the Boards with Nails or Screws; and is H in Fig. 15. The Standard passing up betwixt this and the fore Side of the Hopper, its fore Surface bearing against this Bar, and its hinder Surface against the Hopper; so that the Hopper may rise and sink easily upon the Standard at Top, being in the Middle on the fore Side of the Hopper; there will be an equal Distance of each Side, for either Wheel to rise, without the Standard striking against the Sides of the Hopper to hinder its rising. There is another Bar equal to this, and has the same Office, at the other End of the Hopper, marked I. Likewise the Bar D is of the same Use with these mentioned short Bars, and they help to strengthen one another.

When the Wheels are put on till they reach near to the Wreaths, they will stand with their Rings, or Circles, Two Feet Three Inches asunder.

We set them as near together as conveniently we can; because when they are too wide, they are apt to draw the Plough towards one Side of the Ridge; and sometimes, when the Ridge is high, the Hopper might bear upon the Funnels; and then the Wheels, being carried above the Ground, would not turn to bring out the Seed: And that these Wheels may come the nearer together, their Spokes are set almost perpendicular; so that the Wheels are not concave, as other Wheels are. This Hopper is shewn, put on upon its Standards, in its Place, in Fig. 21. where the mentioned Bar D, which holds the Hopper together at Top, is seen, as also the Four Wreaths, and likewise the hinder End of the Seed-boxes standing over the Funnels, with their Trunks underneath them. Here also the back Part of the fore Hopper is seen, with its Seed-box standing over the fore Funnel: Its Mouth also is seen at A; as also the Top of its fore Side held up by the thing (Fig. 22.) like the Carrier of a Latch, with the Nails in it, which fasten it to the Top of the fore Side of the Hopper, and give room for either of its Wheels to rise.

This fore Hopper may easily be described by the Figure of a Box, like the other already described, at its Ends, which are of the same Shape with the Inside of the Box, Fig. 12. but much lower, being Seven Inches and an half deep, and Sixteen Inches long; and the Breadth of its Bottom is determined by the Length of the Seed-box, and a little wider at Top, on account of the Bevel which poises it: It carries no more Seed than one End of the hinder Hopper; but it is capable of holding more; but we do not fill it quite, lest some of the Seed should fly over in jolting, its Mouth being so much longer than the other.

This Hopper is kept in its Place, from moving end-ways upon the Spindle, by a Wreath fixed to the Spindle at each End of the Box, in the same manner as has been described for holding the other Hopper. The Wreaths most proper for this Purpose are the Sort described in Fig. 17. but the other Sort described in Fig. 16. and even made with Wood, will suffice; but then we must take care to make the Hole at the End of the Hopper of a considerable Thickness, that it may not wear the Spindle, which, by reason of its great Length, is the more liable to bend, and be cut by the Edges of the Holes; which Cutting cannot be prevented but by the Thickness of the Holes, or by such Wreaths as that of Fig. 17.

We sometimes make this Hopper exactly like a common Box, without any Part of its Ends descending below the Bottom; and, in that Case, we place a narrower Piece of Board at each End of the Hopper, like that of Fig. 23. in which Figure, the Hole A being put on upon the Spindle, the Piece of Board is fastened on by a Screw and Nut thro’ the Hole B, near the Top of the End of the Hopper, and by another Screw and Nut thro’ the Hole C, near the Bottom of the Hopper. Another such a Piece of Board, fixed on in the same manner to the opposite End of the Hopper, holds this long Hopper parallel to its Spindle, that passes thro’ the Holes of these Two Pieces, and thro’ the Brass Seed-box, which is fixed up to the Bottom, in the Middle betwixt them.

There are Two Methods for letting the Seed pass from a long Hopper into the Seed-box. The first is that of cutting the Hole through its Bottom, in the manner that has been shewn in Fig. 14. The other is that which cannot be used in a Hopper so short as the Boxes of our hinder Hoppers are; but in the fore Hopper, or any other long Hopper, we can place the Brass Seed-box to a Bottom made for the Purpose, like that in Fig. 24. where there is a Piece of Board on the fore Part of the Hopper from End to End, as a b, and another on the hinder Part of the Hopper, as c d. Then the fore Part of the Brass Seed-box, being placed under the Piece a b, is screwed up to it at e, and the hinder Part of the Seed-box under c d screwed up to it at f; then the Bottom of the Hopper, being open in the Middle, is shut by very thin Boards, g and h, fixed up to the mentioned Pieces: These Boards having their upper Surface even with the upper Edges of the Brass Box, the Seed can no way arch in coming into the Mortise of the Seed-box. Whichever of these Two Methods be made use of, in a long Hopper, the Bottom must be fixed to the Two Sides, by small Bars of Wood of about Three quarters of an Inch square, to which the Bottom and Sides are fastened by Nails, in the manner that the Ends and Sides of the hinder Hoppers are fastened to their Posts, which stand in their Corners.

We take the same Method for cutting the Notches in this Spindle, as has been described for cutting the Notches in the other Spindle.

But observe, That the great Length of this Spindle requires it to be the larger; and we make it of an Inch and Three quarters Diameter, the other being only an Inch and an half: We therefore bore the great Hole or Cylinder of its Brass Seed-box a quarter of an Inch in Diameter larger than of the Brass Seed-boxes of the hinder Hoppers; and we commonly make a Notch more in the Circumference of this Spindle, because the Semidiameters of its Wheels must be as much greater than of the hinder Wheels, as is the Thickness of the Plank, and the Ends of the Limbers which are betwixt this Spindle and the upper Surface of the Two Beams.

We make all our Spindles of clear-quarter’d Ash, without Knots or Crooks; and when they are well dry’d, and made perfectly round, and of equal Diameter from one End to the other, by the Prong-maker, we pay a Peny per Foot for them at the first Hand, and they will now-and-then have something more for the largest Size; but we are only curious to have the middle Part of this long Spindle exact; for we graft on a Piece at each End, which does not require any Exactness: The Graftings are seen at a a at one End, and b b at the other End of the Spindle (in this Fig. 21.) by Four flattish Iron Rings driven on upon the grafted Parts, as they appear under those Letters in the Middle. Between each Pair of these Rings, we drive a small Iron Pin thro’ the Joints at c and at d, to keep the Grafts from separating end-ways; and if they are not tight enough, we make them so, by Wedges driven in betwixt them and the Spindle.

This fore Hopper is drawn by the Spindle, and the Spindle is drawn by the Two double Standards B and C, betwixt whose Forks it is placed, as appears in this Figure; the Distance between each Fork, or double Standard, being exactly the Diameter of the Spindle, so that the Spindle may have just room to rise and sink there, and no more.

The Hopper and Spindle are guided, or kept in their Place, from moving end-ways, by Two Wreaths screw’d on to the Spindle, the one at e, and the other at f; each of which Wreaths, bearing against the Surfaces of both the Legs of each double Standard, on the Sides next to the Hopper, prevent the Spindle and Hopper from moving towards either End; and yet admit the Wheels, or either of them, to rise and sink without raising either Side of the Plough, contrary to what would happen, if the Wreaths were placed on the Outsides of the Standards next to the Wheels.

We make these Wreaths a little different from the other Sort of Wreaths, which turn against the Holes; we make them of a greater Diameter, lest they should at any time get in betwixt the Legs of the double Standards, in case the Standards should be loose, or bend: Therefore we make the Diameter of each of these Wreaths, at least, Two Inches and Three quarters: We always make them of Wood, and of a peculiar Shape, taking off their Edges next the Standards, which Edges would be an Impediment to the Rising of one End of the Spindle without the other. So that, for making these Wreaths, we may form a Piece of Wood of the Shape of a Skittle-bowl (or an oblate Spheroid) having an Inch and Three-quarter Hole bor’d thro’ its Middle, and then cut by its Diameter (which is about Three Inches) in Two Halves, each of which will be one of these Wreaths; and they must be placed on the Spindle, with their convex Sides bearing against their respective Standards.

The Diameter of the fore Wheels is about Thirty Inches, as the Diameter of the hinder Wheels is about Twenty-two.

The fore Spindle should be of such a Length, that its square Ends, E and F, may come out Three or Four Inches farther than the Hubs (or Stocks) of the Wheels; so that there may be room to shift the Wheels towards either End, for making several Sets of Notches, for the Use of the Seed-box.

Observe, Tho’ the fore Hopper is drawn by its Spindle, yet the hinder Spindle is drawn by its Hopper.

The Reason of this great Distance between the Two fore Wheels is not so much for their serving as Marking Wheels to this particular Drill; which being drawn only upon a Ridge, its Top is a sufficient Direction for leading the Horse to keep the Rows parallel to one another, if the Ridges are so; but if the Wheels were much nearer together than they are, and yet more than Six Feet asunder, the Wheels going on the Sides of the next Ridges would be apt to turn the Drill out of the Horse-path towards one Side, not permitting the Drill to follow directly after the Horse; and if the Wheels should stand at Six or Seven Feet Distance from one another, then they must go in the Furrows which are on each Side of the Six-feet Ridge: This would occasion their Hopper to bear upon the Plank, which would carry the Wheels above the Ground, and no Seed would be turned out of the Hopper, unless the Wheels were of an extraordinary Height[268]; and the Height requir’d for them would be very uncertain, some Furrows being much deeper than others; but the Tops of contiguous Ridges are generally of an equal Height, whether the Furrows betwixt them be deep or shallow; for we seldom make Ridges of an unequal Height in the same Field: Therefore there can be no need to change the Height of our Wheels, that are to go upon the Middle of the Ridges; but if they went in the Furrows they must be of a different Height when used for drilling of high Ridges, from what would be required when used for drilling low Ridges.

One Reason why the hinder Shares are shorter than the fore Share (and consequently the fore Part of their Sheats less oblique) is, that they may be set the nearer to the Plank; and I have had a Drill with Five Shares in the Plank, Fourteen Inches asunder, and Four of these hinder Sheats following in another Rank, whose Shares were less than Three Inches long; so that their Beams were set so far forwards, that one Hopper (by a Contrivance that carried the Seed forwards to the fore Rank, and backwards to the other Rank) supply’d the Seed to both Ranks of Trunks, and planted St. Foin in Rows Seven Inches asunder, when the Ground was too rough to be planted with Rows at that Distance by one Rank of Shares.

It may be objected, that the fore Part of these hinder Sheats might not be oblique enough to raise up the Strings of Roots or Stubble, which might come across them in their Way; but this Inconvenience is remedied by the greater Obliquity of the fore Sheat (or Sheats), which clears the Way for the hinder Sheats, by raising out of the Ground such Strings, &c. which might annoy them; especially, in this Wheat-drill, where the fore Share so clears the way of the hinder Shares, that they can take hold of no String in the Ground, except of the Ends of such which the fore Share has loosen’d; and they hanging faster in the Ground by their other Ends, the hinder Shares slip by them without taking hold of them; and the Harrow-tines, going after so near to the Chanels of the hinder Sheats, by the same means escape also from hanging in such Strings.

The Reasons for placing the One Share and One Hopper before, and the Two behind, in this Wheat-drill, are so many, and so obvious, that it would be but losing of Time to mention them.

The Limbers G and H, we make of Aspen, Poplar, or Willow, for Lightness; we make them as small and light as we can, allowing them convenient Strength; and the shorter they are, the more exactly the Drill will follow the Horse, without the Hand of him, that follows the Drill, whose chief Business is, with the Paddle to keep all the Shares and Tines from being clogged up by the Dirt sticking to them, and also to observe whether the Seed be delivered equally and justly to all the Chanels.

These Limbers should approach so near together at their fore Parts, near the Chain, that there may be none or very little room betwixt the Limbers and the Horse; and therefore must be nearer together for a very little Horse than for a great one: The Horse, which I have used in all my Drills for these many Years past, is a little one, about Thirteen Hands high; and the fore Part of my Drill-limbers are Twenty Inches wide asunder at the Chain.

At g on the Outside of the Limber G, is a small Staple driven in, having one Link on it, which holds a small Hook, which, taking hold of different Links of the very small Chain I, raises or sinks the fore Part of the Plough to different Heights. But take care to set it at such a Degree, that the fore and hinder Share may go equally deep in the Ground; and when they do so, the fore Part of the Limbers ought to be higher than the Traces which draw them.

At h in the Limber H, is driven another Staple, which holds the other End of the Chain; or else, instead of a Chain, we may make use of a Piece of Cord, one End of which put thro’ this Staple, and ty’d to the Limber, and a Piece of Chain of half a dozen Links, fasten’d to the other End of such a Cord, will serve as well as a whole Chain, for raising and sinking the Limbers.

He who can by these Directions make this Wheat-drill, may very easily make any other Sort of Drill, for planting any Sort of Corn, or other Seeds that are near about the Bigness of Seeds of Corn: He may make it with a single Row of Sheats, by placing as many of these fore Sheats as he pleases in the Plank, which maybe longer or shorter, as he thinks fit; and he may add a Beam betwixt every Two of them, with a Sheat in it, like these hinder Sheats; and then the Drill will be double, having Two Ranks of Shares. But I must advise him never to make a Drill with more Shares than will be contain’d in Four Feet Breadth, that is, from the outermost on the right Hand, to the outermost on the left Hand; for should the Drill be broader, some of the Shares might pass over hollow Places of the Ground without reaching them, and then the Seed falling on the Ground would be uncover’d in such low Places.

To a Drill that plants upon the Level, Marking-wheels are necessary, to the End that every Row may be at its due Distance: As in a Drill with Five Shares, for planting Rows Eight Inches asunder, Four of the Five cannot err, because Four equal Spaces are included betwixt the Five Shares; but the Fifth (which we call the parting Space) being on the Outside unconfin’d, would scarce ever be equal, were it not kept equal by the Help of the Marking-wheels. The Rule for setting of these is thus: We compute altogether the Five Spaces belonging to the Five Rows; which being in all Forty Inches, we set the Marking-wheels Eighty Inches asunder, that is, double the Distance of all the Spaces, each Wheel being equidistant to the Middle of the Drill, which Middle being exactly over the Horse-path, when the Drill is turn’d, the Horse goes back upon the Track of one of these Wheels, making his Path exactly Forty Inches distant from his last Path: By this means also the Rows of the whole Field may be kept equidistant, and parallel to one another; so that it would be difficult for an Eye to distinguish the parting Rows from the rest.

But when Two different Sorts of Seed are planted, suppose a Row of St. Foin betwixt every Row of Barley, the Rows of which being Eight Inches asunder, and the Barley drill’d by the fore Hopper into the Chanels made by the five Shares, and the St. Foin drill’d from the hinder Hopper into the Chanels made by Six Shares, the Marking-wheels must be at no greater Distance than those above-mention’d, where there are only Five Shares; because one of the Six, which are for the St. Foin, must always return in the same Chanel, going twice therein; for One Row of Barley would be missing, in case the parting Space should be made by this Sixth Share; and that parting Space would have no Barley in it. Therefore it is a Rule, that whensoever Two Sorts of Seeds are drill’d, the Rows of one Sort betwixt the Rows of the other there must be an odd Share in the Drill, which must go twice in one Chanel, and the Distance of the Marking-wheels must be accounted from that Rank of Shares which are the fewest: It must also be contriv’d in this Case, that each outermost Seed-box must deliver but half the Quantity of Seed that each of the inner Seed-boxes do; because the outer ones going twice in a Place, their Chanels would otherwise have a Quantity of Seed double to the rest.

In a Drill that has Two Spindles, we place the Marking-wheels on the foremost, which upon their Account is the longest; but if we should use the Wheels of the hinder Spindle as Marking-wheels, then that must be the longest, and so the fore Wheels (their Semidiameters being much longer than the Semidiameters of the hinder Wheels, and their Spindles shorter) would strike against the hinder Spindle, unless it were set farther back than is convenient.

When Ground is harrow’d the last time before it is to be drill’d, we contrive that the Harrows may not go directly towards the same Point that the Drill is to go, lest the Track of the Marking-wheel should be exactly parallel with the Track of the Harrow-tines, which might make it difficult to distinguish the Track of the Wheel from that of the Harrow-tine.

He that has not a great Quantity of Ground to plant with St. Foin, and does not plant it betwixt Rows of Corn, will have occasion for no other Drill than this Wheat-drill, describ’d in Fig. 21. He may plant his Rows at Fifteen Inches asunder, by the hinder Hopper, and its Shares, without removing them, the fore Hopper being taken off; or else you may plant Three Rows at Sixteen Inches asunder, by setting the Beams, and their Seed-boxes and Hoppers, at Thirty-two Inches asunder instead of Fifteen, equidistant from the fore Share: and then the Marking-wheels, which are those of the fore Spindle, must be Eight Feet asunder; to wit, double to the Spaces of the Three Shares, which are Three times Sixteen Inches (or Four Feet); or you may set the Two hinder Beams, &c. at what Distance you please, setting the Marking-wheels to correspond with them; but then the Harrow must be alter’d, and both its Legs and Tines must change their Places in the Head, the Legs for guiding it exactly, and the Tines to follow in all the Three Rows, which will require a third Tine to be added in the Middle, between the other Two. But without any other Alteration than that of taking off the fore Hopper, and that of lessening the Seed-passages of the hinder Hopper by the Setting-screws; my Man planted me several Acres of St. Foin with my Wheat-drill Two Years ago, the Rows being all Fourteen Inches asunder: It is now an extraordinary good Crop.

In case the Shares, being only Three, should in fine Ground go so deep as to endanger the Burying of the Seed, the best Remedy to prevent this fatal Misfortune is, to place a triangular Piece of Wood, like those in Figures 25. and 26. the first of which shews one Side thereof, with the Nail by which it is to be nail’d into the lower Part of the Trunk, with, its most acute Angle uppermost; the other in Fig. 26. shews the same, and its Back-side a b, that is to be nail’d to the Back of the Shear, being of the same Breadth with it; its Bottom b c being the Breadth of the Plates, on their Inside, the Angle c coming out backwards, just as far as the Plates: The Depth of this Piece from a to c is uncertain, because the Plates of some Trunks are broader than of others. The Use of this Piece is, to fill up the lower Part of the Trunk; so that the Seed, dropping upon the oblique Side of this Piece of Wood, may by it be turn’d into the Chanel, after so much Mould is fallen in it, as will sufficiently lessen its Depth, whereby the Danger of burying the Seed is avoided: And such a Piece of Wood placed into each Trunk, I think, is preferable to Ground-wrists, which are commonly used for this Purpose; because the Ground-wrists leave the Chanels too wide and open.

But when only the Two hinder Sheats are used for St. Foin, we can make their Chanels the shallower, by sinking the Limbers by their Chain, so much as that, the Plough bearing most upon the fore Share, the hinder Shares will go the shallower.

When we drill hilly Ground, both up and down, we cover the hinder Parts of all the Trunks, from their Tops, to within Two or Three Inches of the Ground, to prevent the Seed’s falling out far behind the Trunk, in going up Hill; and this we do either by a Piece of Leather nail’d to each Side of a Sheat, the Middle of the Leather bearing against the hinder Part of the Plates (or Trunk); or sometimes, instead of Leather, we use Tin.

Every Trunk being thus inclos’d behind, we can drill up and down an hill of a moderate Ascent; but when it is very steep, we never drill any thing but St. Foin on it, and that by a Drill made for the Purpose, so very light, that a Man may carry it up the Hill on his Back, and draw it down after him: This Drill has Five or Six Sheats in one Row (with the Harrow behind them). Their Shares being extremely short, the Standards which draw the Hopper must be set perpendicular to the Horizon, when the Drill is coming down, rather than to the Surface of the Side of the Hill: The Funnels must also correspond with the Standards.

Some, instead of these Sheats, make use of hollow wooden Harrow-tines, thro’ which the Seed descends: But these I do not approve of; because where the Ground is hard, and not fine, they rise up, and make no Chanels for the Seed; and then it lying uncover’d will be malted.

When a Drill has only one Rank of Shares, we screw on the Harrow by its Legs, to the Inside of the Two outside Sheats, as near as we can to their fore Shoulders, leaving sufficient room for the Harrow to rise and sink, in the same manner as when it is drawn by the Beams.

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Plate 5. shews the whole Mounting of a Turnep-drill. Fig. 1. is a Plough, but little differing from the Drill-plough last mentioned. A, A, are the Two Limbers, differing in nothing from the other, except that they are lighter, not being above Two Inches Diameter, behind the Bar: They are drawn in the same manner as the other. Their Bar B is distant from the Plank Three Inches, being shoulder’d at each End, with a very thin flat Tenon, passing thro’ each Limber, and pinn’d on their Outsides, as at a a. We do not pin in this Bar thro’ the Limbers, lest the Holes should make these very small Limbers the weaker in that Part. C, the Plank, Two Feet and an Inch long, Five Inches broad, and an Inch and a quarter thick. D, D, the Two double Standards, or Two Pair of Standards, placed into the Plank with Shoulders above, and Tenons pinn’d underneath the Plank, and are Thirteen Inches high above it: These serve for a Pair of Marking-wheels, when Turneps are drill’d on the Level, to keep the Rows all parallel, and at what Distance you please, by setting them according to the Rule already laid down.

Sometimes we place the double Standards into the Plank of the Wheat-drill, in the same manner that these are placed.

We take off the inner Edge of each Standard at the Top, as at b b and b b, for the more easy Admission of the Spindle of the Marking-wheels into the Forks: This Spindle is kept in its Place by Two of the same sort of Wreaths, and placed in the same manner as those describ’d for the fore Hopper of the Wheat-drill.

Such Marking-wheels are necessary for drilling upon the Level; but not for drilling upon Ridges.

E is the Beam, Two Feet Two Inches and an half long, Four Inches broad, and Two Inches thick: It is thus broad, that the Screws which hold on the cross Piece F, may be farther asunder: The Screws must be placed as near as may be to the Outsides of the Beam, and at equal Distance from each Side of the cross Piece; by which means the Standards are kept the firmer from Turning.

The Distance between the Plank and the cross Piece is Eleven Inches. The Breadth of the cross Piece is Two Inches and a quarter. This cross Piece is shewn apart in Fig. 2. where its Two Standards A B, are each Seventeen Inches long (or high), and each on its fore Side and hinder Side One Inch and a quarter broad, and nearly Three quarters of an Inch thick: They are shoulder’d and pinn’d into the cross Piece at a b. The cross Piece is Thirteen Inches and an half long, and one Inch and a quarter thick in the Middle from c to d; but for about an Inch on the Inside of each Standard is Two Inches and an half thick, that the Standards may have the more Wood to support them, and that the Hopper, bearing upon the thicker Parts of the cross Piece, may be held up above the Funnel, that the Fork of the brass Spindle may not strike against it, when the Plough is taken up to be turn’d, there being a little more than a quarter of an Inch of the Breadth of the cross Piece behind the Standard, for the Hopper to rest on.

The whole Distance between the Standards is Nine Inches and a quarter. The Standards must be exactly perpendicular to their cross Piece: Their Tops are drawn up each to a Point, as at e and f, by which the Hopper is the more easily put on upon them.

The Funnel, Sheat, Share, and Trunk, are the same as those in the Wheat-drill, except a few Differences: As G in Fig. 1. is the same as the fore Sheat of the Wheat-drill, with its Accoutrements; only it is lower, being but Eight Inches high from the Bottom of the Share up to the Beam; and the Plates of the Trunk are somewhat narrower: Its Tenon passes thro’ the Beam, and comes up above it, betwixt the Funnel and the cross Piece; and there is pinn’d in thro’ its Hole above the Beam. There is no want of Wood behind the Sheat, the Funnel not being cut in the Beam, but placed upon it.

The Funnel is shewn apart in Fig. 3. and is Two Inches deep, Four Inches square at Top; its Four Sides terminating at an Hole in the Bottom, half an Inch broad from a to b, and near an Inch long from c to d, which Length is divided in the Middle, by the upper Edge of a Brass Spout, which divides the Hole into Two equal Parts (or Holes), each of which is about half an Inch square; this Funnel being screw’d on upon the Beam by Two Wood Screws, entering at Two opposite Corners of the Funnel, as at c d in Fig. 1. so that the Seed may drop from the Seed-box upon the right Side of the Funnel at e, which being about half an Inch distant from the Partition, and equidistant from both Holes, the Seed rebounding is pretty equally distributed to each of the Holes.

The fore Part of the foremost Hole being equal with the Back of the Sheat, the Beam being cut thro’; so that the Back of the Sheat, and the fore Part of the Hole thro’ the Beam, and the fore Part of this Hole, make one plain Surface, whereby the Seed that falls into this foremost Hole, descends to the Ground, near the Back of the Sheat, thro’ the Trunk.

And the Seed which falls into the hinder Hole, is convey’d obliquely backwards thro’ Part of the Beam, by a short thin Brass Spout, whose Diameter in the Inside is somewhat more than half an Inch; but the fore Part of it, which divides the Two Holes, descends first perpendicularly half an Inch, and then turns off backwards, and there the Spout begins to be round: Its joining is on its hinder Part, to the end that the Seed, never running upon it, cannot be stopp’d by it. The lower End of this Spout ends at the lower Surface of the Beam, a little behind the Plates of the Trunk, which Hole is seen at a in Fig. 4. where this Hole delivers the Seed down into the Spout A, when it is drawn up into its Place by the String B drawn thro’ the Hole at b in the End of the Beam, and there tied until it stand in the Posture in which it is seen at f in Fig. 1.

The Shape of this Spout is better seen at Fig. 5. where A is the Spout, Four Inches long, a full Inch Diameter in the Inside: Its lower End is circular; but its upper End B is cut at oblique Angles, so that when it is drawn up to its Place, its Edges will touch the lower Surface of the Beam, and inclose the lower End of the other Spout within it: It is made of thin hammer’d Brass (as is the other). The Edges of the Piece of Brass, which make this Spout, are join’d on its hinder Part, for the same Reason that they are so in the other Spout. At b there is a Jag cut in one of these Edges, and rais’d upwards, by which Jag the String being tied on the Spout just below, is hindered from slipping upwards.

Joining to the highest Part, and made with Part of the same Piece of Brass, turn’d back from the End of the Spout, is its Hinge C, near Three quarters of an Inch long in its Hollow.

D is a thin Piece of Iron, half an Inch broad, and a little longer than the Top of the Sheat, by which the Spout is held up: This Piece of Iron is riveted by a Rivet passing thro’ an Hole at c, and thro’ the Sheat, just before the Trunk, and thro’ another Piece of Iron on the opposite Side; both the Pieces of Iron, with their upper Edges touching the Beam, being thus riveted to the Sheat.

The Spout is pinned in by the Screw E, passing as by the prick’d Line F thro’ the Hole G, and also thro’ the Hinge C, and screw’d into the Hole of the opposite Piece of Iron, corresponding with the Hole G; and then it will appear as in Fig. 4.

Instead of these Pieces of Iron, we sometimes use Pieces of Wood, a little broader and thicker, nail’d on the Sheat.

The Use of this Spout is for carrying half of the Seed backwards, so that it may drop upon the Chanel, after the Earth is fallen into it: By this means the Seed lying very shallow, being only cover’d by a little Earth rais’d by the Harrow, by its Shallowness comes up in moist Weather, sooner than the other half, which lies deeper in the Ground; but if the Weather be dry when planted, the deeper half, by the Moisture of the Earth from the Dews, will come up first, and the shallow half will not come up till Rain come to moisten it; so that by the shallow or deep, the Turnep-fly is generally disappointed.

Fig. 6. shews one of the Tines of a Drill-harrow made of Wood: Its Edge a b is made roundish at b, by which means it raises the Earth on its Sides; but does not drive it before: This Edge from a to b is Six Inches long; from b to c, being its Bottom, is One Inch and a quarter; from c to d is the Back, an Inch and an half thick at Top, gradually tapering downwards to c, where it is half an Inch thick, being shoulder’d all round: It has a flat Tenon A, which passes thro’ a Mortise in the Harrow-head; the Length of which Mortise is parallel with the Length of the Harrow-head, into which it is held by a Pin, passing thro’ the Hole of the Tenon, above the Harrow; as may be seen in Fig. 7. at a; and its Fellow at b.

These Two Tines are Eight Inches asunder at their Points, and Six Inches and a quarter asunder at their upper Parts, just under the Harrow-head. The fore Edge of the Tine A inclines a little to the Left, as the Edge of the Tine B doth to the Right.

Fig. 8. shews one of the Legs of the Harrow. At a is seen the round Tenon, which passes thro’ the Harrow-head up to its Shoulder, and is pinned in thro’ an Hole of the Tenon just behind the Harrow-head; upon this Tenon the Harrow-head may turn: The other End has an Hole at b, thro’ which it is pinned on to the Beam. The Length of the Leg from the Shoulder at a, to the Hole at b, is Twenty Inches: Its Thickness is an Inch and a quarter, and its Breadth an Inch. The Two Legs are seen mark’d C, D, in Fig. 7. They bend down in the Middle, to give the Harrow the more room for rising and sinking; they are parallel to each other, and distant a little more than the Breadth of the Beam, that they may have Liberty to move thereon, when one End of the Harrow-head sinks lower than the other, by the Unevenness of the Ground.

The Harrow is pinned on to the Beam by the Iron Pin, Fig. 9. passing thro’ the Hole of the Leg at g, and thro’ the Beam, and also thro’ the other Leg on the other Side of the Beam, where the Screw at the End of the Pin has a Nut screw’d on it. This Pin is round from its Head all the Way thro’ the first Harrow-leg, and thro’ the Beam; but all that Part of the Pin, which is in that Leg against which the Nut is screw’d, must be square; whereby that Part being bigger than the round Part of the Pin, and than the Hole in the last-mention’d Leg, cannot turn in the Hole of that Leg; for if it did, the Nut would be soon unscrew’d by the Motion of the Harrow; but the Pin must have room to turn in the other Leg, and in the Beam. This square Part of the Pin is seen at a, Fig. 9. The whole Length of the Pin, from its Head to the End of the square Part at a, where the Screw begins, is of the Thickness of the Two Legs, and of the Breadth of the Beam.

We sometimes set the Legs of the Harrow Two Inches wider asunder, by making them each an Inch thicker at their fore Ends in their Inside, and reaching Five or Six Inches behind their Iron Pin: These thicker Parts, bearing against the Beam, keep the hinder Part of each Harrow-leg an Inch distant from the Sides of the Beam, whereby the Harrow-legs are Six Inches asunder, instead of Four, by means of these added Thicknesses.

When a Drill is taken up to be turn’d, the Person that does it, takes hold of the Harrow-head, and lifts it up: The Legs of the Harrow, bearing against the cross Piece, support the whole Weight of the Drill.

When the Harrow does not go deep enough, we tie a Stone upon the Middle of the Harrow-head, by a String that passes thro’ the Holes at h. All the Wood of this Plough and Harrow is Ash, except the Limbers.

The Hopper of the Turnep-drill is very different from those already described. It consists of a Box placed into the Middle of a Carriage; which Box is described in all its Parts, lying open with their Insides upwards in Fig. 10. A is the fore Side of the Box, Five Inches and an half deep, and Six Inches and an half long. B, the hinder Side of the Box, opposite to the former, and of equal Dimensions.

Each End of the Box is made with Three Pieces of Board, of which C the uppermost is Three Inches and a quarter deep, and Five Inches long; which Length is the Breadth of the Inside of the Box. The End of the Piece C, when in its Place, stands against the prick’d Line a b in the fore Side A; the other End standing against the prick’d Lines in B, which is opposite to, and corresponds with, the prick’d Line a b; the fore Side, and hinder Side, being screw’d to the Ends of this Piece by Four Screws.

The Piece D is Two Inches and a quarter broad, and of the same Length with the Piece C, and screw’d up to the Bottom of it with Two Screws, and then its End will bear against the prick’d Line b c, and that which is opposite to it in the Side B.

E is the lower Piece of this End, and an Inch and a quarter broad: Its End is to stand against the prick’d Line c d, and its other End at the opposite prick’d Line in B. The Piece D must be screw’d upon the upper Edge of the Piece E, as the Bottom F must be screw’d up to its under Edge, which will stand upon the prick’d Line e f. The Three Pieces G, H, I, being opposite to C, D, E, and of the same Dimensions with them, placed in the same manner, make the other End of this Box. At g in the Bottom F, appears the Hole which is over the Mortise of the Brass Seed-box, the Shape and Size of which Hole may be seen by the prick’d Lines upon the Flanches B, C, of Fig. 9. in Plate 2. The foremost End of which Hole reaches almost as far forwards as the End of the Axis of the Tongue of the Brass Seed-box, and its hinder End almost as far as the hinder End of its Cover[269]. The Bottom F, being of the same Length, with C, D, E, and their Opposites, bears against the prick’d Line d h of the fore Side A, and against the opposite prick’d Line of B. The Length of this Bottom F is the Breadth of the Inside of the Box, and its Breadth reaches to the outer Edges of the Pieces E and I, being Three Inches and an half.

All the Jointings of these Pieces must be at right Angles, and so close, that no Seed may run out at them. All the Pieces are of Board, full half-inch thick, except the Bottom, which is thinner.

Fig. 11. shews the Bottom of the Box with its under Side uppermost, where the light Part A is the Bottom-board, covering the Two End-boards, E and I, in Fig. 10. The dark Parts B and C are the under Sides of D and H, in Fig. 10. At a is the fore End of the Brass Seed-box screw’d up to this Bottom-board. At b is the hinder End of the Brass Seed-box screw’d up in like manner, the outer Edge of the Flanch of the Seed-box being even with the Edge of the Bottom-board. The End of the Brass Spindle, with its Fork, appears at C.

Fig. 12. shews this Box standing upon its Bottom, with its hinder Side laid open. At a is the Hole in the Bottom, under which the Brass Seed-box is fasten’d, with small Iron Screws, square near the Heads, passing thro’ the Bottom, and thro’ the Holes at each End of the Brass Box, with their Nuts underneath. The Pins must touch all the Sides of the Holes in the Brass, to prevent the Seed-box from moving any Way.

A is the fore Side of the Box. B the hinder Side lying down. C is the Piece H of Fig. 10. which makes a sort of Shelf in the Box at its left End. D at the right End makes another like Shelf, underneath which, the Fork of the Brass Spindle is turn’d by the Crank in the End of the wooden (false) Spindle. By means of these Shelves, there is room for the Two wooden false Spindles to come the further into the Carriage, without lessening the upper Part of the Box. E and F are the Two Ends of the upper Part of the Box, made by the Two Pieces G and C of Fig. 10. When the hinder Side B is rais’d up, and screw’d to these Ends, the Box is complete.

We put a Lid upon this Box, which is hing’d on to its right or left End. This Box (having the Brass Seed-box at its Bottom) is to be placed into the Middle of a Frame or Carriage.

Fig. 13. shews the Inside of the Carriage lying down. A is the hinder Side, Eighteen Inches long, Dove-tails and all, and Six Inches broad. B the fore Side of the same Length with the hinder Side, and Eleven Inches broad. This Five Inches greater Breadth than the hinder Part is, because a greater Height is required on the fore Side, on account of the Hopper’s being drawn, and the Plough held up by that and the Pieces that must be fix’d to it. C, D, are its Two Ends, Six Inches long, beside their Dove-tails, and Six Inches broad. E and F are Two Pieces each Six Inches long, whose Ends are to stand against the prick’d Lines a b and c d of the hinder Side, and their other Ends against the prick’d Lines in the fore Side, which are opposite to these. The Breadth of each of these Pieces is Four Inches: When they are in their Places, their lower Edges come even with the Bottom of the Carriage. Their Use is to support the Ends of the Spindles which come just thro’ their Holes, after each of them have passed their Hole at its respective End of the Carriage.

All this Carriage is made of Board full half-inch thick; The Ends C and D are made of double Thickness by another Piece of Board added to each, that covers all their Insides, except their Dove-tails. These Boards with which they are lin’d, are nail’d to them, with their Grain going a different Way, and crossing the Grain of the Board at the End, either at right or oblique Angles. This prevents the Holes from splitting out, and makes the Holes of a double Thickness; whereby the Spindle is the less worn by them, in case there are no Brass Wreaths to enter them.

The middle Pieces E and F are lin’d by their whole Surfaces, in the same Manner as the Insides of the Ends are lin’d.

When these Ends and middle Pieces are in their Places, a wooden Cylinder, of the exact Diameter of the Holes, is thrust thro’ all Four, to hold them exactly true, whilst the Ends and middle Pieces are all screw’d fast into their Places.

The prick’d Lines are drawn all round the Carriage, thro’ the Centres of the Holes, and at equal Distance from the Bottom of the Carriage, which is an Inch and Three quarters, and the One-eighth of an Inch. This prick’d Line is a Direction how high to nail on the Ledgers G and H, whereon the Box is to stand; and the Distance the upper Surface of the Ledger must be above the prick’d Line, is the Semidiameter of the Brass Spindle; and the Thickness of the Brass Box above the Spindle, or which is the same thing, the Distance between the Centre of the great Hole of the Brass Seed-box, and the Plane of the Top of its Mortise, being half an Inch and half a quarter, strike a Line above the prick’d Line parallel to it, at this Distance above, and then nail on the Ledger, with its upper Edge at this Line. This, with its opposite Ledger plac’d in the same manner, will support the Box with the Axis of the Spindle of the Seed-box, at equal Height with the Centres of the Holes of the Carriage; so that if those Holes are parallel to, and equidistant from the fore Side and hinder Side of the Carriage, and the Axis of the Brass Spindle be placed in the like manner parallel to, and equidistant from the fore Side and hinder Side of the Box; then when the Box is thrust down in its Place, upon these Ledgers, and the wooden (false) Spindles are placed into their Holes, their Axis will fall into a strait Line with the Axis of the Brass Spindle, as they ought.

Fig. 14. shews the Carriage laid open. A is its back Side lying down. B is its fore Side standing up. C is the square End of the left (false) Spindle, whereon a Wheel is to be put up to the Shoulders of the Spindle, quite close to the Ends of the Carriage. This Spindle, being an Inch and an half Diameter, is held in its Place, and kept from moving end-ways, by Two Wreaths; the one at a, bearing against the Inside of the End of the Carriage, the other Wreath at b, bearing against the left Side of the middle Piece; which Wreath keeps the Spindle from moving towards the right Hand, as the other does from moving towards the left. D is the square End of the other wooden Spindle, whereon a Wheel must be placed in the same manner as the other Wheel. This Spindle is kept from moving end-ways by Two Wreaths, in the same manner as the other Spindle is; but this right-hand Spindle, being that which turns the Brass Spindle by its Crank, which enters the Fork, should have its Wreaths of Brass, like those describ’d in Fig. 17. Plate 4. Part of which Wreaths entering about Three quarters of an Inch into the Hole of the End and middle Part of the Carriage, being firmly screw’d on to the Spindle, prevent the Friction that would otherwise be betwixt the Wood of the Spindle, and the Wood of the Holes; which Friction wearing the Wood of both, would in time cause the Spindle to be loose in its Holes, whereby its Axis would deviate from the strait Line it should make with the Axis of the Brass Spindle, and make an Angle with it; and then the Crank would change its Place in the Fork at every Revolution of the Wheels; and if the Hole should be worn very wide, and the Spindle worn much less, the Crank might let go the Fork; but when the Wood is of this Thickness, and each Hole has Wood in it, with its Grains pointing different ways, it would be many Years before the Holes would become large enough for this to happen, tho’ only wooden Wreaths were used; and as to the Two Wreaths of the left Spindle, they may be of Wood, because tho’ that Spindle should grow loose, it is no Damage; for it only serves to bear up that End of the Carriage; but he that has this Sort of Brass Wreaths for the hinder Hopper of a Wheat-drill, may take them thence, and place them upon these Spindles, and remove them again to the Wheat-drill when that is used; for that and the Turnep-drill are very rarely, or never, used at the same time.

E is the Iron Crank, plac’d into the false Spindle, in the manner shewn at H in Fig. 5. of Plate 2. for turning the Brass Spindle by its Fork; but take care that the End of this wooden Spindle do not approach nearer to the End of the Brass Spindle than the Distance of half an Inch, left, if the inner Wreath should grow loose, the wooden Spindle might bear so hard against the Brass one, as to wrench the Seed-box down from the Wood, and then the Seed might run out betwixt the Seed-box and the Bottom to which it is screw’d.

When the hinder Side A is screw’d up against the Ends and middle Pieces, then the Box describ’d, being thrust down into the Carriage, and standing upon the describ’d Ledgers, and at that Distance from each End of the Carriage, that the Seed may drop on the Side of the Funnel, as is before describ’d; the Box is kept in its Place by one Screw passing thro’ its Back, and the back Side of the Carriage.

The Notch F is cut in the Bottom of the hinder Side of the Carriage, up to the Bottom of the Ledger, for the Convenience of seeing the Seed drop into the Funnel.

The round Notch G is made in the Bottom of the fore Side of the Carriage, to make room for one’s Hand to go in there, and turn the Setting-screw without taking off the Hopper from the Standards.

This Box and Carriage, so fix’d together, compose the Turnep-hopper, which is drawn and guided, and also holds up the Plough, by Two hollow Pieces of Wood screw’d on to the Outside of the fore Part of the Carriage; their Ends H and I appearing a little above the Carriage.

One of these hollow Pieces of Wood is shewn in Fig. 15. The Breadth of its Hollow must conform to the Breadth of the Standards, which are One Inch and a quarter broad; but we must allow about a quarter of an Inch more in the Hollow for the Swelling of the Wood. The Depth of the Hollow must be the Thickness of the Standard that is to go in it, allowing about the Eighth of an Inch for the Swelling of the Wood. The Hollow should be a little deeper in the Middle than at each End; because the Standard ought not to bear against any thing, except at or near the upper and lower Part of the Carriage. Altho’ the End of these Pieces come a little higher than the Carriage in this Hopper, yet I think it is better that these hollow Pieces come no higher than even with the Top, nor descend any lower than even with the Bottom of the Carriage; and then the Length of each of these Pieces need be no more than Eleven Inches, which is the whole Depth of the Carriage.

The Wood on each Side of the Hollow, sufficient for the Holes a, a, a, a, must be about half an inch broad. The best way for fixing them on, is whilst the Standards are in them, placing a small Piece of Wood at each Corner of the Hollow, betwixt the Standard and the Wood, to the end that there may be no more room on one Side of a Standard than on the other Side; then screw them on (parallel to and equidistant from their respective Ends of the Carriage) by Four small Screws each, the one at c, c, c, c, and the other at d, d, with Two below; the Heads of these Screws being on the Inside of the Carriage, and their Nuts on the Outsides of the hollow Pieces; then pull out those little Pieces of Wood, that were to keep the Standards in the Middle of the Hollows, whilst the Holes for the Screws were bored, and then the Turnep-Hopper is finished, and being put on upon the Standards A, B, in Fig. 16. is ready to go to Work; and in this Figure the whole Turnep-drill may be seen as in the Prospect of a Person following it at Work, except that this Figure has not the double Standard, nor Marking-wheels; because we never use them for drilling-Turneps, except it be on the Level, which we very rarely do.

The Circles of the Wheels of this Hopper go Twenty five Inches asunder; were they farther asunder, they would not go so well upon the Ridges; or were they nearer together, they might not hold up the Plough so steadily, but that one Wheel might happen to be rais’d from the Ground, by the descending of the opposite Limber; and if it should happen to be the Wheel that turns the Crank, no Seed would be deliver’d out whilst the Wheel was rais’d above the Ground; sometimes we use Wheels of Twenty-six Inches Diameter, sometimes Thirty, and at intermediate Diameters, with this Hopper.

The best Wood for making all Sorts of Hoppers is Walnut-tree or Elm; our Beams and Standards we make of Ash.

What is meant by Wood-screws, are taper Screws made with Iron, having very deep Threads, whereby they hold-fast when screwed into Wood, and their Points will enter into soft Wood without boring any Hole for them into the Wood they are to take hold of; but near their Heads they are round, and have no Thread, and that Part of them must always be in a bored Hole thro’ that Part of a Board that is to be drawn close.

If the Standards should be much swollen by being wet, it may be proper to anoint them with Soap.

In drilling, when the Wind is very strong, and the Hopper goes high above the Funnel, the Seed might be blown over it, if we did not take care to guard it from the Force of the Wind; and for doing this there are many Ways: Sometimes we nail a Piece of Linen Cloth round the Ends, and the fore Side of the Hopper; or else we nail on a Piece of old Hat, or Shoe-leather, round the Edges of the Funnel, to raise it higher; or if the Hopper go a great deal above the Trunk, we nail up a Pipe of Leather to the wooden Bottom of the Box, which Pipe, being about an Inch wide at Bottom, protects the Seed from the Wind, till it arrives so near the Funnel, that the Wind cannot blow it over.

If we would have a long Hopper, to plant many Rows at once, of Clover or other fine Seeds, it is easy to make each of these wooden (false) Spindles turn Two or Three Brass or Iron Spindles; but then, as in all other Cases; where the same Hopper is to supply more than one Chanel with Seed, each of its Wheels must have Liberty to rise without the other, as those of the hinder Hopper of the Wheat-drill do.

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