SECRETARY'S REPORT. 51 



Cato, the distinguished Roman orator, politician and general, 

 shows clearly the importance which was then attached to this 

 implement, and the experience of all subsequent times has but 

 confirmed the opinion of this old Roman. When asked " What 

 is good tillage ?" he replied, "to plough;" and to the question 

 "what is the second point ?" he replied again, " to plough, — the 

 third is to maiuire." Undoubtedly, thorougli, deep and careful 

 ploughing has a greater influence on the crop of our New Eng- 

 land farms than high manuring without good ploughing and 

 careful preparation. 



The plough has, therefore, been adopted as the emblem of 

 agriculture, and to take a general '" from the plough " and to say 

 of a man, "he follows the plough," have been familiar expres- 

 sions for the last two thousand years. When the attention of 

 scientific men was first directed to the improvement of agricul- 

 ture, Thomas Jefferson applied himself to the improvement of 

 the American plough, and wrote an essay in which he calcu- 

 lated mathematically the exact form and size of the mould- 

 board, and . especially its curvature, with a view to lessen its 

 friction. 



In this way he rendered the most important services to agri- 

 culture, and he should have the credit of having been among 

 the first in this country who attempted to give rules for the con- 

 struction of this important implement in accordance with the 

 exact principles of science. 



It matters little to us what may have been the origin of the 

 plough, and the discussion of its early history is foreign to my 

 present purpose. It is sufficient to say that the earliest imple- 

 ment used for the purpose of turning up the earth was pro'jably 

 a pick, or a rough stick of wood resembling it in form, and the 

 use of even this is said to have been suggested by the rooting 

 of swine. Forms of the plough used in very early ages are 

 preserved on ancient toml^s in Egypt, on old Greek and Roman 

 coins and sculptures, while the description of Hesiod, a thou- 

 sand years before Christ, is so minute as to indicate to us the 

 precise form then in use. Whoever has this form in his mind 

 cannot fail to see its striking resemblance to a rude form of the 

 pick, the handle being used as the beam, while a mere stick 

 was often attached to the part of the plough corresponding to 

 the top of the pick, to guide it. 



