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§ 9. Extent ploughed in a day —The quantity of land whichcan be ploughed in one day, by the modern swing plough,with one man and a pair of horses, must differ considerably,according to a variety of circumstances, such as the heavi-ness, tenacity, and tilth of the soil,—the width and depth ofthe furrow-slice,—and the strength and pace of the horses.A regular journey or day’s work, on heavy soils, technicallycalled a darg, usually consists of nine hours’ actual work,divided into two yokings; that of the morning, when thehorses start fresh, extends to five hours, and the evening yok-ing to four j but on light soils, when the days will admit,the horses are worked ten hours, commonly from six totwelve, and from two to six. An English statute acre ofland is ten chains, or 220 yards long, by one chain, or 22yards broad. Supposing that acre to be ploughed in regularslices of nine inches each in breadth, it will require exactly88 furrow-slices of 220 yards each, and the whole series ofslices will extend to 19,360 yards in length. To each ofthese slices at least twelve yards may be added, for the groundtravelled over by the plough in turning; so that the wholework of one acre may be estimated as extending to 20,416yards, or eleven miles and nearly five furlongs.
In the strongest lands, and under the most unfavourablecircumstances where ploughing is advisable, all extraordinaryobstacles to tillage being supposed to have been previouslyremoved, a pair of good and well-fed horses ought to ploughthree quarters of an acre, in one day of nine hours’ conti-nuance. In the subsequent ploughing of a summer fallow,at the full depth, one acre may be easily ploughed in a day.When the land is reduced to fine tilth, and when the ploughis employed to give the seed furrow, by a shallow slice of fourinches or a little more, an acre and a quarter may be accom-plished. In the winter months, only a single journey or yok-ing of six hours is sometimes taken, in which time half anacre may be ploughed with tolerable ease. From these pre-