The Farm.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 20, 12 August 1893, Page 11

The Farm.

OLD-TIME PLOUGHING. We are requested to publish the subjoined account of a ploughing' match held 140 years ago, in . which great interest seems to have been taken, although the prizes bear poor comparison with those awarded at the recent champion match. We are also requested to try and find: out from some reliable source how the single-furrow ploughmen of those days could plough and whistle and finish their lots in time and the single furrow ploughmen of July 26th could not finish their small lots even without being asked to whistle. The following is the paragraph referred to : A contemporary reproduces the following, illustrative of the prizes for ploughing matches in the olden time : Premiums to be paid the Ist June, 1767 to the tenants of the lands of and their servants, viz.—lst, to the man who ploughs deepest, narrowest, straightest, and cleans in black, muldie ground, and who ploughs but moderately deep, and otherwise as above, in clay ground, ss. 2nd, To the man who ploughs next as above, 2s fid. 3rd, To the best harrower, 2s 6d. 4th, To the next best harrower, 2s —sum, 12s. 6th, To the plough driver who whistles best and most constant; and who drives so that the cattle shall alwise go in a straight line, and that the cattle on the furr-side shall constantly drive in the furr—prize, a blew bonnet, with a black or red feather in it, and a pair of brogs or single shoes, or IQ pence to buy the shoes. 6th, To the next best whistler and driver as above a pair of brogs or single shoes, or ten pence to buy them. 7th, The above premiums to be determined by a majority of the farmers on the bounds of— : —, who are all to meet there for that purpose upon the Ist of June. 1757, and then instantly paid; and at the determination the farmers are to get 20 pints of ale to drink.