A REPLY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1065, 4 October 1883, Page 2

A REPLY.

To thk Editor.

Sir,I—ln 1 —In last night’s issue of your paper in a letter re ploughing appears one of the most ridiculous statements I ever heard tell of in ploughing. I refer to where the writer says that a certain plough had the coulters two inches to land of the share, and I have no doubt that many a ploughman will have a good laugh over it when they saw such a statement in print. How anyone could plough with their coulters in such a position at all, not speaking of the party getting a prize, will be a mystery to many. But as I can recognise in 3 “ JPloughboy ” an old acquaintance, I am not much surprised at it, as the same party once said to me in speaking of a certain mould board that it did not pack well six inches behind the share. As to thejstyle, of ploughing, that is a very debateable pointj; but having made ploughs for all the different pans of New Zealand, 1 know that every part of the colony, but the Canterbury plains—between Timaru and Amberley—will have nothing}|»lse but the so-called false cut, and in reference to the effect of that style of ploughing I refer you to the statistics of the last harvest where the C.utha county had the highest yield per acre (forty-five bushels), and their usual style of ploughing is two inches of cut, and Ashburton County with the lowest .(2a bushels), and ail our land ploughed with the flat furrow. ' ' . That any ordinary plough will make a round crested simply by altering the share, is another statement equal $6 that of the coulter ; but as I have no intention of enlightening the writer on that

point, I would merely remark that ha had setter try a pair of.auch shares on a plough that has got the board fitted for a flak furrow, and invite all the Methven farmers to see it at work. In fact, Sir, it would be like trying to fit an angle af 45deg into another angle of 20dsg 1 In regard to another statement in the letter, I may state that before the match in Ashburton, two years ago, I asked one of the champion ploughmen in this district if they would allow any false cut hare, and his. answer was—that he hoped so, as there was not much credit in ploughing any other way, as any fo >1 could turn, a flat farrow.

If the so-called “ Ploughboy” had ever before seen a coulter set for ploughing lea land he would have known better what it was for, and at the same time he would not need in match work such extras as skim coulters and grass knives to cut the corners of the furrows as they cannot otherwise hide thair grass, and no dgnbt very useful to boys, but things that, any champion ploughman that ever I know would scorn to use. As I have no intention of trying to hide myself behind so transparent a screed as “ Ploughboy,” I sign myself, Peter Walk*a.