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Implements of Ilufbandry. — Hoes .

ftrument fliould, however, be made folid, as the open wheel is liable to clog andfill up when the ground is foft and wet.

But in mellow foils, and where hand-hoeing is pra&ifed, the implements of thiskind which have been invented by Mr. Ducket are probably more ufeful; as fromtheir being heavier in the iron work, and having Ihorter handles than thofe incommon ufe, they would feem to be more effective. Hoes in fome refpeCts fimilar tothefe have long been in ufe for hoeing the flrong land of the vineyards in Portugal *.

But notwithftanding thefe inftrurnents, the bufinefs of hoeing may frequently bewell performed on ftiff foils, and where the diftances of the crops are pretty wide,with any common fmall plough that has a broad fharp {hare. With thofe inftru-ments the workman can go to what depth and as near the rows as he pleafes. Ithas been obferved, and probably with truth, by a late writer, that he can find no-thing equal to a “ plough for the purpofe of cleaning land and earthing the crops.He has tried,” he fays, “ double-moulded or double-breafted ploughs to earth upthe rows, but that they will not at all do in drill hufbandry, as you cannot humourthem to the width of the rows, which are fometimes a little wider or narrower; andif they vary but an inch or two, it deftroys the effeCt intended, as the mouldcannot be regularly raifed, and the corn will be in fome places high, in fome low.A common plough will perform this work to perfection; the expence amounts tonot more that one {hilling per acre, and the fervice rendered the crop is worth apound at leaft, exclufive of the advantage of cleaning the land better than by anyother means; for when you fee a weed you may,” he fays, “ with a commonplough go fufficiently deep, or give it what direction you pleafe.”

And in fpeaking of this kind of tools he further remarks, that as fuch weeds asftrike with a tap-root are not eafily cut by the fcarifier when it happens to be blunt,but are often dragged down and left growing, he has invented an inftrument fuperiorto the plough or fcarifier for the purpofe. “ It is made,” he fays, “ of a triangularform, with a beam, and two fmall wheels under the beam to run before it, in the.fame manner as in the Norfolk plough. There are three coulters, with a {harerivetted under each of them, made {harp at the point like a fleam, and about fourteeninches wide. The coulters penetrate under the mould as deep as the plough, and,,without moving the earth much, cut up thiftle, brackens, See. better than any in-ftrument he has yet met with. Where fuch weeds are very numerous, he ufes abeam with one wheel, into which he puts one of the coulters, to cut between

Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. II, and Somerville’s Syftem of the Board ofAgriculture.