242 



[Senate 



the shocks and the strain to which an implement requiring the force 

 of four or six horses to work it, must be subjected. The framework 

 is of iron, and about 15 feet long. A sole-plate, on which a feather 

 shaped or pointed sock slips, is attached to it by means of two up- 

 rights or curved coulter. The height of the plow, when held in a 

 working position, from the sole-plate to the beam, is about 22 inches. 

 It is thus enabled to go to a depth of 20 inches. From the furrow 

 side of the sock a spur projects, over which the mass of subsoil cut 

 by the coulter and share is raised and broken, and falls down again." 



Ruggles, Nourse & Mason's Subsoil Plow. — Fig. 2 



Now the American subsoil plow made at Worcester, Mass. by Messrs. 

 Ruggles, Nourse & Mason, differs from Smith's in several particu- 

 lars. The handles and beam are made of wood, reduced in length, 

 and in fact the whole implement is reduced in size, which makes it 

 much lighter, and can be turned in the same space as the plow 

 which precedes it. In place of the spur, as on Smith's, this has an in- 

 clined plane, which raises from the feather of the share, and extends 

 back to the heel of the plow. It is about three inches wide, lies 

 against the upright, and raises to the height of six inches behind. By 

 means of a slat in the point of attachment, it can be raised or lowered 

 at pleasure. With this inclined plane the soil is raised, pulverized 

 and partially mixed, leaving it in a loose, friable state, without bring- 

 ing it to the surface. By this simple contrivance the draft has been 

 so much reduced that two common sized horses are amply sufficient 

 to work it in a stiff loamy soil, from 8 to 10 inches below the bot- 

 tom of the furrow of the plow that precedes it, but it must be free 

 from roots and large stones. The greatest improvement, however, 

 and especially at the present time, is the price at which they are of- 

 fered, being less than one-fifth of the price of the imported article. 

 One of ^Smith's was imported in 1840, by Messrs. Ellis & Bosson 

 of Boston, at an expense of about $80. D. D. Campbell, Esq. of 

 Schenectady, imported another about the same period, or soon after. 



I have tried one of the Worcester subsoil plows, and can say I was 

 much pleased with its performance, and more particularly with the 

 ease in which the horses performed their work. Now, if the first 



