AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS AND RURAL ECONOMY. 



87 



the axis of this shaft runs lengthwise of the plow, and, as the implement is drawn along, it is 

 set in motion by the spikes, which, it would seem, must pulverize the soil in the best manner. 



Warlick's Improved Plow. — A plow improvement, patented April 4th, 1855, by Noah War- 

 lick, of Lafayette, Alabama, has for its object the augmentation of the strength of plows 

 without adding to their weight, so as to make them better adapted for operating in rough, 

 stony, and rooty lands. It has a Y-shaped brace, with its point to bear on the ground when 

 required, and to give support to the plow, and enable it to be used as a crowbar or lever with 

 safety, for prying up stones, stumps, roots, &c. 



Plow Standards. — A patent has been granted to George Easterly, of Heart Prairie, Wis- 

 consin, for a peculiarly-constructed plow standard, so arranged that mould-boards of different 

 sizes may be secured to it ; likewise, shares of different thicknesses, to adapt it for plowing 

 different soils. The improvement is, therefore, designed to make one plow more universal in 

 its application to different kinds of work. 



Plows without Plowmen. 



Upon the occasion of the recent presentation of a plow to Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, of In- 

 diana, as an acknowledgment of services rendered to American agriculture, Mr. E. stated, 

 that, in all his farming operations, he had dispensed with the plowman so far as it relates to 

 holding the stilts. He said, ' ' For years no one has held my plow or dropped the corn. My 

 plow-beam obtains its steadiness by being attached to an axle or two mole-wheels ; and a 

 wheel of eighteen inches diameter, made of one and a half-inch board, having an artificial 

 finger fastened at one side, that dips into a measure of corn at each revolution, deposits the 

 seed, which is covered by the next furrow." 



Gang Plow. 



The annexed engraving represents a gang plow, invented by G. W. Hildreth, of Lockport, 

 New York. It is made entirely of iron, except the pole to draw by. The main frame is in 



the form of a triangular ellipse A, for the purpose of shrinking on a wrought-iron^and, to 

 make it of any desired strength. The forward end of the said frame rides on an mletree, 

 connected by a king-bolt and bolster-plates D, allowing it to turn freely. The pole is attached 

 by a device, which the driver can easily change, to make the gang run more or less to land, 

 which pole guides the whole gang with precision, by the off-horse walking in the furrow, and 

 it requires no holding. The wheels E E are large, and can be easily changed so as to carry 

 the plow clear of the ground, in moving from one field to another, and also to run the poles 

 BBB any desired depth in the ground, from one to six inches, cutting and turning the whole 

 surface clean. The gang will turn round without being touched by the hand, on a circle of 

 three feet radius, and by lifting the rear end by the handle F, it will turn at right angles. 

 The plows are made strong, and ground smooth, and are made on a sharp angle ; they 



