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It has no wheels, like the ordinary iron plough has, to regulate the depth and width of the furrow-slice, because in wet weather, if tried on this almost stoneless land, the wheels become so clogged with mud and refuse, such as stubble from the previous crop, that they will not revolve, sliding helplessly involved along the ground.
With these long wood ploughs the ploughman himself regulates the depth and width of the furrow-slice i.e., each strip that is severed and turned over by holding the handles firmly in the correct position as the plough travels along, for it cannot be left for a moment to its own inclination.
The act of making it is inspired by hope. The emblem of hope should be the plow; not the plow of the Great Seal, but a plow buried to the top of the mold-board in the soil, with the black furrow-slice falling away from it and for heaven's sake, let it fall to the right, as it does where they do real farming, and not to the left as most artists depict it!
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.
The furrow-slice was a long, almost unbroken ribbon of turf, each one laid smoothly against the former strand, and under it lay crumpled and crushed the layer of grass and flowers. The plow-point was long and tapering, like the prow of a clipper, and ran far out under the beam, and above it was the rolling colter, a circular blade of steel, which cut the edge of the furrow as cleanly as cheese.
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.
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.
The result is very effective; the flat mould-board offers the least possible resistance to the inversion of the soil, whereas the iron plough, with a curling mould-board, presses the crest of the furrow-slice into regularity of form, and gives a more finished appearance at the expense of much extra friction and labour for the horses.
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.
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