Tools & tillage: a journal on the history of the implements of cultivation and other agricultural processes (6.1988/1991)

THE MARESHA TILLAGE IN ETHIOPIA

149

before being marked out, the ploughing of
drainage furrows requires a knowledge of
surface runoff patterns for a specific area dur-
ing periods of heavy rainfall. Incorrect plac-
ing of these furrows can result in extensive
damage to plots and a reduction in crop
yields.
Drainage furrows are usually ploughed
along the contour after the seed has germi-
nated and attained a height of several centi-
metres. A stick is sometimes tied along the
upper ends of the ears perpendicular to the
base of the beam to make drainage furrows
wider when ploughing wet soil. Location of
the plot and soil type influence the spacing
and number of drainage furrows made. On

hillsides they are often ploughed at an angle
above the plot to channel runoff in another
direction along the slope. Plots located at the
base of hillsides may actually have drainage
furrows running parallel to the slope. In areas
where the clay content of the soil is extremely
high and water has a tendency to remain on
the surface, drainage furrows are sometimes
put in during seeding at spacings of 0.3 to 1
m. Narrow intervals are sometimes gauged
according to the distance of the oxen off the
yoke centreline. Huffnagel (1961) reported
that intervals between drainage furrows on
farms in the Ethiopian highlands ranged from
3 to 7 m, with furrow depths being 15 to 20
cm. Measurements recorded on plots in the

Fig. 21. Strips of sod left after first ploughing off long-term fallow land which will be used for guie. □
Grassodenstreifen nach dem ersten Pfliigen auf Langzeit-Brachland, das fur guie (Sodenbrand) herge-
richtet werden soil.