hat form a splendidly
mouldy seed bed, so that frost has been eloquently called "God's
plough."

It is a very curious fact that many of these old "lands" take the form
of a greatly elongated [Illustration: (S backwards)], though not so
pronounced as that figure, for the curves are only visible towards the
ends, and these curves always turn to the left of anyone walking
towards the end. Various explanations have been given, and one by Lord
Avebury is the nearest approach to a correct solution which I have
seen, though not, I think, quite accurate. My own idea is that, as the
plough turns each furrow-slice only to the right, the beginning of the
ridge would be accomplished by two furrows thrown together on the top
of each other, and the remainder would be gathered around them by
continuing the process, until the "land" was formed with an open
furrow on each side. The eight oxen would be harnessed in pairs, or
the four horses tandem fashion. When they reached the end of each
furrow-slice, the plough-boy, walking on the near side, would have to
turn the long team on the narrow headland, and in order to get room to
reach a position for starting the next furrow-slice, he would have to
bear to the left before commencing the actual turn. In the meantime
the horse next the plough would be completing the furrow-slice alone,
and would, naturally, try to follow the other three horses towards the
left, so that the furrow-slice at its end would slightly deviate from
the straight line. When the horses were all turned, the second
furrow-slice would follow the error in the first, and the same
deviation would occur at each end of the ploughing, gradually becoming
more and more pronounced, until the curved form of each ridge became
apparent. Lord Avebury says that when the driver, walking on the near
side, reached the end of each furrow, he found it easier to turn the
team by pulling them round than by pushing them, thus accounting for
the slight curvature.

The saying,

"He that by the plough would thrive
Himself must either hold or drive,"

is largely true, but only the small farmer can comply with it. The man
of many acres cannot restrict his presence to one field, and must
adopt for his motto the equally true proverb, "The master's eye does
more than both his hands."

The thrashing-machine is the ultimate test of the yield or cast of the
wheat crop, and it seems to have something itself to say about it. For
when the