THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



513 



or kneed, at I'igbt angles; these ends having circular 

 notches, which embrace the coulter stem. This plate 

 is upon the opposite side of the beam to that on which 

 the eye-bolts and coulter are placed ; and by tightening 

 up the bolts the whole are bound firmly together. 

 The circular stem of the coulter admits of the easy 

 adjustment of its edge to the cutting of the furrow- 

 slice. 



Preceiling the coulter is the skim-coulter. The 

 office of this is to pare off and turn into the furrow, 

 when ploughing lea or stubble, the herbage, &c., on 

 the top of the furrow-slice, so that when this is turned 

 over by the mould-board no vegetable mutter is left 

 untouched, again to take root, but is completely buried. 

 The skim-coulter is fastened to the beam by a wrought- 

 iron clip, which embraces the stem. The clip is pro- 

 vided with screwed tails, which pass through a plate on 

 the side of the beam opposite that at which the stem of 

 the skim-coulter is placed ; one of the tails is brought 

 up by a nut securely against the beam. The "drag- 

 chain," when used, is a member of the regular coulter j 

 is attached to the bridle of the coulter, which is pro- 

 vided with a small weight or roller at its extremity. It 

 is made to lie across the furrow-slice; so that while 

 this is turned over, it drags in all stubble, &c., &c., 

 which may lie on the edge, and buries it in the soil. 



The stem of the land-wheel, which precedes the 

 skim-coulter, has a vertical adjustment in the 

 square eye of a loop screw or eye-bolt, 

 which is secured to the beam by a nut. The 

 furrow-wheel, which is nearly opposite to the land- 

 wheel, has two adjustments — a vertical, to correspond 

 with the vertical adjustment of the land- wheel, and a 

 horizontal, corresponding with the adjustment of the 

 breadth of the furrow-slice. This horizontal adjust- 

 ment is obtained by giving the axle a square continua- 

 tion, which passes through and slides in a square eye- 

 hole, attached to the bottom of the wheel-stem. The 

 axles of the wheels are capped at both ends, which 

 prevents the entrance of extraneous matter and the 

 loss of oil. The friction is therefore lessened, and the 

 longer wear of the axles secured. The draught-chain 

 is attached at its inner end to the beam by a bolt, and 



its outer end passes through and is supported by an 

 eye-bolt, at the bottom of a vertical bar, which is sup- 

 ported from the head or bridle : this bar passing 

 through an eye-hole at the end of the bridle is adjusta- 

 ble at any desired height. 



To the extremity of the beam, two iron plates, with 

 circular segmental ends, are riveted : these segmental 

 ends are ])rovided with a series of apertures. The head 

 or Ijridle is a double strap, between the fork of which the 

 beam is placed; the ends of the strap are provided 

 with eyes, and are jointed, by a bolt passing through 

 them all, to a bolt-hole in the beam. The further end 

 of the strap, which slides over the segmental plates 

 above alluded to, is provided with an aperture, by 

 passing a pin through this and the corresponding aper- 

 tures in the segmental plates. The draught-chain, 

 which we have described above as passing through the 

 eye of the vertical bur attached to the bridle, is moved 

 nearer to or further from the land-side of the plough. 



The mould-board, which remains to be described, 

 is reirarkable, when contrasted with some of the older 

 forms, for its great length and the beautiful contour 

 of its curved surface, over which the furrow-slice, from 

 its being first cut till it is turned over, and finally de- 

 posited, travels at a uniform rate. It is made either of 

 cast iron or of steel plate, and is in length 41 inches, 

 and in height, at its maximum part, 13 inches. A 

 bolt attaches it to the head ; a second connects it to a 

 small bracket, attached to the bracket through the slot 

 of which the upper end of the lever- neck passes; a 

 third, near the back, attaches it to a wrought-iron 

 stem, supported by the right-hand stilt or handle. The 

 mould-board is capable of adjustment, turning on the 

 bolt in front as on a centre, the two other bolts passing 

 through slots large enough to admit of the play re- 

 quired. The lower edge of the mould-board is pro- 

 vided with a " rest," attached by two bolts. 



Having thus described the arrangement and construc- 

 tion of the parts of a " modern plough," we are pre- 

 pared to investigate the principles of its operation, with 

 a view to determining whether its results are or are 

 not such as the necessities of an improved mode of 

 cultivation require. 



PLOUGHING OLD GRASS FIELDS. 



Sir, — In the last number of your excellent Journal 

 I observe some very sensible remarks which were made 

 by the Earl of Lonsdale at a late meeting of the West 

 Cumberland Agricultural Society. His Lordship says, 

 if the Whitehaven Agricultural Society will offer a 

 prize for the best-managed farm, he will follow it up 

 by giving a premium for 10 acres of the best grass free 

 from weeds, thistles, and dockins : "for of all the 

 beautiful things in nature," his Lordship adds, " to my 

 perceptions, a clean grass field is amongst the first : 

 and what is perhaps more to the purpose in these times, 

 I believe it to be quite as profitable as any other species 

 of farming." These are verjr sensible observations ; for 



in travelling over the country, as I sometimes do, very 

 few old grass fields are to be seen but what are covered 

 with thistles, nettles, dockins, and every abomination. 

 The blame of this, however, cannot be laid at the door 

 of tenants generally; for where there are yearly holdings, 

 not one old grass field dare be touched without leave of 

 the landlord. When a lease of a farm is granted, how- 

 ever, the case is materially altered, and such an arbitrary 

 and obscure condition ought to be entirely expunged ; 

 yet how many antiquated, illiberal landlords, as well as 

 agents, still insist that old grass land (and it matters not 

 how foul with rubbish it may be) shall not be ploughed 

 without leave ! thereby constituting themselves the sole 



