24

Implements of Hufbandry. — IJarroti's,

reception, though they have yet undergone but little improvement; the chiefcircumftances in which they have been rendered more convenient are in the pofi-tion and mode of fixing in the teeth, the dire&ion of the bulls, and the mannerin which the horfes are attached to the implements. It mull be evident toevery one the leaft converfant with the bufinefs of harrowing, that no one harrow,whatever its conftru&ion may be, can be fuitable for every fort of foil, or cana£t with equal effedt on fuch grounds as are rough and fmooth, or firm and loofe;they mull be adapted to-the nature of the land and the particular purpofes theoperator has in view *. In the lighter forts of ground, a light harrow with fhorttines or teeth may be fufficient; but in ftrong and tenacious foils, or fuch as havebeen newly broken up from the ftate of old leys, or from a Hate of nature, fuchas moors and waftes, a harrow which poffeffes much greater weight and has longerteeth is to be preferred; and even where the land is rough and not eafily reduced,as in fallowing ftrong clays, two harrows fattened together may frequently beneceffary, in order to fully reduce and break down the cloddy foil. For thefe pur-pofes, too, it is better, efpecially where the land is tenacious and abounds with theroots of weeds, that the harrow fliould not be too thickly fet with teeth; as in fuchcircumftances, where it has a number of teeth, it is not only foon choaked up andprevented from working, but confined too much to the furface, by which the foil isvery imperfe&ly reduced and broken down.

In performing the bufinefs of harrowing, much time is often loft in turning atthe ends of the ridges, where two or more common harrows chained together areemployed, by their hitching on each other, or turning over, and requiring thedriver to ftop in order to put them right again. To remedy this inconvenience,harrows have been contrived with running bulls, a mode of conftruftion which hasbeen found to anfwer well. This inconvenience may however be corrected in amuch eafier and lefs expenfive way, as by fattening the inftruments to each otherby means of proper hooks and eyes, or what are termed coupling irons in fomeplaces, by which contrivance the different harrows rife and fall at the fame time,and are kept from ever getting upon each other. The pofition of the teeth, fo thatthey do not move in the fame line of diredlion, is likewife an object that has beenattempted to be efi'e&ed in different methods; but the mod fimple and expeditiousis probably that of having the harrow fo formed, as to be fome inches narrowerbefore than behind, and at the fame time to be capable of being fet to differentwidths, fo that the diftance between the teeth may be regulated by increafing or

* ■Gentleman Farmer, p. 19.