DISCUSSION ON PLOWS AND PLOWINa. 383 



our upland soil there is no trouble with the Hersey plow or the 

 Hussey plow, and I should prefer them, the Paris plow in particu- 

 lar, to any other which I have seen. It is the general opinion of 

 the farmers in our section that the Paris plow is ahead of any other 

 that has been introduced there. 



Mr. Doe of York. The reputation of my county has been assailed 

 by the gentleman from Androscoggin, in his dissertation upon plows 

 and plowing, and I should be remiss did I not rise to defend it. 

 But still in the main, I concur with his remarks. There are so 

 many different views and opinions on the subject of plowing, that 

 it is no wonder we disagree as to the implement to be used. If we 

 want simply to invert the soil, to turn it upside down, there is no 

 plow in the world that is better than the Hussey plow, manufac- 

 tured in York county. That is my opinion. But some have another 

 motive in plowing, and, I think, correctly. It is to break up the 

 soil, to pulverize it, and leave it loose and light. And some people 

 think the shingle method of plowing, letting one furrow lap over 

 the other, is an advantage. Undoubtedly it is in some cases, and 

 upon some kinds of soil. If it be heavy and tenacious, by letting . 

 one furrow lap upon the other a space is left under each furrow, so 

 that the water and air can circulate through, and the sod sooner 

 rots. . There is no doubt about that. 



The Berwick plow, when properly used, upon suitable soil, level 

 and free from obstructions, will turn every furrow squarely and 

 smoothly into its place, and the sod is completely inverted. Now 

 this, in loose and porous soils, answers every object of plowing ; 

 everything is covered up. But in heavy, clayey, tenacious soils 

 the object to be attained by plowing is not fully accomplished by 

 leaving your furrows in that manner. So I think the Holbrook 

 swivel plow, — I have never seen it tried except the last season, — 

 is better adapted for that object than our Maine plows. It does 

 not lay the furrow solid. It slides it over, in a rolling manner, 

 tucking the edges down, so that your furrows instead of being left 

 flat are left in a rolling form. The old sod is entirely covered up, 

 and yet there is an open space for the air to circulate. On such 

 soils the Holbrook plow makes better work, and fulfils my idea of 

 plowing better .than our plows in Maine ; but upon rocky soil, or 

 more porous soil, the Hussey plow answers every purpose fully as 

 well as the Holbrook plow. 



I may not be correct in my ideas of good plowing, but I believe 

 that when the sod is inverted and all the old sward completely 



