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enabling the industrious husbandman to remove the vivaciousroots of weeds ; but on this important subject, a more parti-cular discussion will be called for in the second part of thischapter, which is appropriated to the subject of fallowing.In this operation, the lands or feirings are made of any con-venient breadth, and the furrow-slices are turned either way,as best suits the convenience of the ploughman.
§5. On ploughing steep land .—In certain cases, the sur-face of arable land is sometimes too steep to admit of usingthe plough in any of the modes which have been enumerated.On these occasions, some husbandmen, from a desire to havetheir lands or ridges directly up and down the hill, draw allthe furrow-slices down hill, and drag the plough up the hillempty; sometimes using a species of sledge for this latterpurpose. But it is a much better plan to form the ridges iua diagonal, oblique, or slanting direction ; by which, if con-ducted judiciously, the up-hill draught is rendered moderate-ly easy to the horses; and in this way, likewise, the surfacesoil is not nearly so apt to be injured and run off, by the ra-pid descent of rain-water in the furrows, which will oftenburrow the soil and sand up the furrows at the bottom of thehill, when the ridges are formed directly up and down thehill. Cross-ploughing , in such situations, is readily accom-plished by reversing the diagonal.
On extremely steep land, when it is considered advisableto cultivate such situations, it becomes necessary to ploughdirectly across the hill, or nearly so, turning all the furrow-slices downwards: and, in doing this with the ordinaryplough, it is necessary to carry the plough back again empty,in the open furrow. Where there is a considerable extentof such steep land to cultivate, it is better to have a ploughmade expressly for the purpose, having a mould-board thatwill shift to either side, called a tur?i-wrest plough, by whichimplement much time is saved, and a great waste of labouravoided.