142 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



crops require ihe use of implements so diverse, especially 

 when it is known that throughout the varying climate and 

 soil of Scotland there is but one form of plough in use, or 

 rather it should be said, there is in Scotland, in the ploughs 

 in use, no variation in principle, and but little in detail. 

 In England, on the contrarj', with no greater variation of 

 climate or soil, there are in use, almost side by side, ploughs 

 varjing from each other in structure as much as any of them 

 are distinguished from those in general use in the United 

 States. Although at various times ardent advocates for 

 progress have announced that the plough was soon to be 

 superseded by some implement that shall stir the ground 

 by forking or digging, propelled either by steam or beasts 

 as may be convenient, yet it is probable that an implement 

 which for 2,000 years, and probably much longer, has re- 

 tained its position as the first and most important agent in 

 preparing the soil for the seed, will remain in U3e long and 

 extensively enough to warrant a careful study of its struc- 

 ture and mode of operation. It is proposed, therefore, to 

 examine some experiments that have been recently made 

 in England, with a view to ascertain the effect of the 

 weight and different structure of the plough upon its 

 draught. It is a fact well-knov?n to practical farmers that 

 the draught of different ploughs turning the same width 

 and depth of furrow in the same field, and performing the 

 work in substantially the same manner, varies so much 

 as to be plainly perceptible in its effect upon the team. 

 The use of the dynamometer, by which the power exerted 

 upon the plough — or, in a word, the draught — can be 

 actually measured, has confirmed and made definite this 

 point, which before rested upon conjecture or mere esti- 

 mate. It has thus been ascertained by a trial of ten differ- 

 ent ploughs, each of a different make from the others, that 

 the difierence in draught in performing precisely the same 

 work amounted to forty-five per cent. The experiment 

 was made in turning a furrow with each plough, 6 inches in 

 width by 5 in depth, in five different kinds of soil, and not- 

 ing carefully the results as shown by the dynamometer. 

 Taking the average of the five trials, it appears that while 

 the plough of lightest weight required a power of 3011bs. to 

 work it, the plough of heaviest draught required a power of 

 4411b3. to perform precisely the same work, and the other 

 eight required the greatest possible variety of power between 

 these extremes. Surely, differences so great as these, in the 

 labour expended in the use of the most common and indis- 

 pensable implement known to farmers, call for the most 

 careful examination of causes, and the fullest exposition of 

 principles and results. The writer is not aware that any 

 very reliable experiments have ever been instituted to test 

 by the dynamometer the comparative draught of English 

 and American ploughs. A statement of such an experiment 

 at the world's exhibition in London, in 1851, is found in 

 the Transactions of the New York Agricultural Society for 

 that year ; but neither the depth nor width of the furrow is 

 given, and the draught is so great — if we are correct in sup. 

 posing the words " points of resistance " to mean " pounds 

 of resistance " — as clearly to indicate that the trials were not 

 well conducted. The attention of the plough-makers has 

 generally been turned to the form of the mould-board, per- 

 haps more than any other point, in their attempts to con- 

 struct ploughs of easy draught. This is doubtless an im- 

 portant consideration, as well with respect to hght draught 

 as to good work ; but the system of experiments under con. 

 sideration seems to indicate that far less depends upon the 

 exact form of the mould-board, as to the draught, than has 

 generally been supposed, and that the weight of the imple- 



ment itself, and the resistance to the coulter in cutting the 

 furrow-slice, affect the draught far more. And the same 

 experiments furnish results which will probably be sui-pris" 

 ing to all who have not witnessed or read of similar trialsi 

 as to the efi'ect upon the draught, of the use of wheels upon 

 ploughs, either under the beam or sole- plate, as to the efi'ect 

 of the depth of the furrow, and as to the influence of velo- 

 city on the draught. For the sake of system and con- 

 venience of reference, the results of such well-conducted 

 experiments as have come to my knowledge, with such 

 suggestions as have occurred to me, or been gathered from 

 reliable sources, -will be given under the following arrange- 

 ment: 1. The influence of the weight of the plough on its 

 draught. 2. The relative'influence of the mould-board or 

 turning process, and of the share and coulter, or cutting 

 process, upon the draught. 3. The influence of the depth 

 of the furrow upon the draught. 4. The influence of velocity 

 upon the draught. 5, The influence of wheels of various 

 kinds on the draught, and their utility. 6. The effect of the 

 length of the various parts, as to the beam, the mould-board, 

 and the handles, upon the operation of the plough." 



We proceed with ]\Ir. French's opinions on 

 " Plowing" as he has it. Mr. French begins by consider- 

 ing the influence of the weight of a plough on its draught. 

 We are perhaps accustomed (he says), to regard the weight 

 of a plough rather as aftecting the convenient and easy 

 handling of it to the ploughman, than as of much import- 

 ance to the labour of the team. We readily perceive that 

 it is far easier to take from the tool-room, to place in the 

 cart, to take out again and place upon the land an imple- 

 ment of lOOlbs. weight than of twice that weight. All 

 who have held the plough know practically how much 

 more convenient a Hght plough is than a hea\'7 one in set- 

 ting in and throwing out at the end of the land ; and 

 especially does a farmer upon a rough farm appre- 

 ciate this difference, where as indeed on many New Eng- 

 land fields the plough is thrown or lifted out and set in at 

 almost every rod of its progress, to avoid stumps or stones 

 or roots of some almost imperishable tree felled perhaps 

 half a century ago. Few, however, will be prepared for 

 the results which have been developed by the experiments 

 now on record. A little reflection will satisfy us that the 

 draught of the plough is composed of two elements, one 

 of which is the mere force necessary to move the plough, 

 resting on its sole in an empty furrow or on the surface of 

 the ground, and the other force necessary to cut and turn 

 the furrow or do the work of ploughing. The heavier the 

 plough the greater the force necessary to move it along 

 the surface. In a series of experiments published by Mr. 

 Pusey, in the English "Agricultural Society's Journal," it 

 appears that the average draught of nine different ploughs 

 in an empty furrow was in propor*tion to the weight as 

 three to four ; that is to say, that a plough of SOOlbs. re- 

 quii-ed a force, as shown by the dynamometer, of 2251bs. 

 to move it when not at work. By the same experiments, 

 it appears that the average draught of the same ploughs 

 working and tm'ning a furrow 9 inches by 5 inches, was a 

 fraction less than doirble their draught in the empty f uitow. 

 Later experiments confirm this result, and it maybe taken 

 as demonstrated that in the use of the heavy English 

 plough about one half of all the force of the team is ex- 

 pended in moving the implement when at ordinary light 

 work! Weights being put upon the ploughs the trials 

 were repeated several times, the weights upon each plough 

 being increased, and also the depth of fm-row. An ex- 

 amination of the carefully-arranged tables given as the 



