No. 2 is used immediately afterwards, to cut the clods of turf from their base and turn them up. Of this a is the handle, as in No. 1, held by the ploughman's right hand; b the main beam of the plough; c the part which goes under the surface of the ground, and is terminated in the fore part by the plough-share; d, which is formed obliquely, turning towards the outside, not towards the man who guides the plough; e is placed on the top horizontally, reaching to the base of the plough-share, serving to turn over the clods. The whole is drawn by a horse, the only kind of animal used here in husbandry.
No. 3, p. 65, is a hoe, which, when furnished with a handle, serves to pare the earth from the under side of the turfs, after they are turned over by the machine last described. The first year after this operation they sow rye, but in the following season barley, when the turfs are become rotten.
The ground here is tolerably level; the soil sand, sometimes clay. In some places are large tracts of moss. The whole country, owing to the sand and the moss, is by no means fertile, though it affords a good deal of milk. Barley is the chief corn raised here, rye being very seldom sown, and when any is sown, it is commonly summer rye.
Before I reached Sörmjole, two male reindeer came up to me. I was mounted on a mare, which had nearly thrown me. No flowers were here to be seen, not even the Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis Acetosella_), my only consolation in Angermanland. _Caltha palustris_ alone appeared in the marshes, which in this country is the first blossom of the spring. The Cotton Rush with one spike and that with many spikes (_Eriophorum vaginatum_ and _polystachion_) were now coming into bloom. _Betula nana_ was abundant enough, but as yet showed no signs of catkins or leaves. Throughout the whole of this country no Ash, Maple, Lime, Elm nor Willow is to be seen, much less Hazel, Oak or Beech.
Towards evening I reached Röbäck, where I passed the night. The wind blew hard from the north-east, and the evening was cold.
Close to Röbäck is a fine spacious meadow, which would be quite level, were it not for the hundreds of ant-hills scattered over it.
Near the road, and very near the rivulet that takes its course towards the town of Umoea, are some mineral springs, abounding with ochre, and covered with a silvery pellicle. I conceive that Röbäck may have obtained its name from this red sediment, from _röd_ red, and _bäck_ a rivulet. Not far from this town is another mineral spring, by drinking of which several persons have lost their lives. It flows down an adjacent hill.