PLOWS AND PLOWING. 279 



It was not till the latter part of the seventeenth century that the 

 idea presented itself that the surface of the mould-board could and 

 should be constructed upon purely mathematical principles, and 

 from these principles practical rules could be laid down by which 

 mould-boards could be constructed exactly alike and multiplied in- 

 definitely. Among the first to grasp the idea of constructing the 

 mould-board upon strictly mathematical principles was Thomas Jef- 

 ferson. It seems that the idea had been working itself out in his 

 mind for many years, and at last was put to a practical test in the 

 year 1793. Mr. Jefferson had several plows constructed after his pat- 

 terns and put to use on his estates in Virginia. Their work attracted 

 much attention, and the fame of his plows spread across the water 

 to the mother country and won him merited renown among the 

 agriculturists of England. 



Some thirty years before the appearance of Mr. J.'s plow in this 

 country, the celebrated James Small of Scotland, invented the 

 cast iron plow. He took the Rotherham plow, previously de- 

 scribed, and improved upon it in almost every particular. He 

 died after manufacturing it for thirty years, and at his death left 

 the plow so well perfected that it is used at the present time in 

 many of the best cultivated districts in the country where it was 

 manufactured. It was known as the " East Lothian Plow." 



In England as well as in Scotland the Rotherham plow was the 

 basis of improvements ; although in the former country the im- 

 provements were exceedingly slow in being developed. In 1785, 

 or more than twenty years after the cast iron plow was invented 

 in Scotland by Mr. Small, Robert Ransom of Ipswich, obtained a 

 patent for making plowshares of cast iron, the other parts being 

 made of wrought iron. This was the prelude to other important 

 improvements which were soon after carried into effect. But the 

 cast iron plow was a long time in coming into general use among 

 the common farmers of England. The prejudices of those who are 

 not highly educated and who do not read, think and act for them- 

 selves, are hard to overcome. Superstition, too, clings to them 

 with a power that is unaccountable. In view of these facts it 

 does not appear so strange that opposition to inroads upon their 

 old customs should have been strooig and hard to overcome. They 

 had their discussions upon the merits of the improved plows, and 

 doubtless opinions were expressed foi; as well as against them. 

 At a primitive farmers' club, after opinions were expressed and 

 arguments brought forward, both pro and con, it was finally 



