THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



143 



result of these experiments seems clearly to estaLlish that 

 the weight of the plough is a constant element in the 

 draught, so that if a plough requires 2001bs. more force 

 than another to move it in an empty fuiTovv, it will, other 

 things being equal, require the same additional 2001bs. of 

 force to move it when at work at any depth, in any soil. 

 Taking, then, the draught of the plough in the empty far- 

 row, which may be called the sm-face draught, to be three- 

 fourths of tlie weight of the implement, and the weight of 

 English ploughs for common work to he that given me at 

 the factoi7 of Messrs. Eansomes and Sims, SSOlbs., and 

 that of the American ploughs to be lOOlbs,, we have the 

 difference in the draught 13olbs., or three-fom'ths of the 

 diflerence in weight. When we consider that about one- 

 half of the draught of the English plough is expended in 

 merely moving it, we see that either by accident or science 

 we have in the United States made a decided improve- 

 ment upon the mother country in the reduction of the 

 weight of this implement. No means are afforded us of 

 estimating theii- comparative strength ; hut from observa- 

 tion and information obtained on English fanns, my im- 

 pression is that the compact and simple structure of our 

 ploughs renders them less liable to break or get out of 

 repair than the best modern iron ploughs of English 

 manufacture. 



The nest point for consideration is the relative in- 

 fluence of the mould-board or turning process, and of the 

 share and coulter or cutting process upon the draught, and 

 upon this head Mv. French says : The soil upon which the 

 experiments, the results of which are now to be stated, 

 were made, is desciibed as a deep, firm, steady loam, free 

 from stones, and one-year old clover bed. The trials were 

 made by first measuring the draught of the plough when 

 at work in the ordinary way, and then by removing the 

 mould-board and leaving the share and coulter to do their 

 work of cutting without the furrow. The furrow in this 

 trial was 9 in, by 6 in. The whole draught of the plough at 

 work was 34 stones. The removal of the mould-board 

 diminished the draught only to 31 stones, so that 3 stones 

 only, or 10 per cent, of the whole draft, seemed to be occa- 

 sioned by the mould-board. The surface draught of this 

 plough was 12 stones, and subtracting that from 31 we 

 have 19 stones as the labour of cutting the furrow-slice. 

 Analyzing the process thus far, if those experiments are 

 correct and reliable as the foundation for general esti- 

 mates, we find that about 35 per cent, of the labour of 

 ploughing at the depth of G in. is expended in moving the 

 implement, about 55 to the operation of cutting the fur- 

 row-slice at the bottom and side, and only about 10 per 



cent, to the action of the mould-board or process of 

 turning the fui-row. It will be observed that in these ex 

 periments the furrow is deeper by one inch than in the 

 former experiments, where the results showed the surface 

 draught to be about 50 per cent, of the whole labour. A 

 further statement will show that this variation in the 

 depth of the furrow will just about account for the differ- 

 ence between 35 and 50 per cent,, set down as the surface 

 draught in the two cases. Adverting next to the in- 

 fluence of the depth of the furrow upon the 

 draught, Mr. French observes : — " From the sort 

 of natural desire which men have to establish some 

 principle rather than because there was any evidence 

 of such a law, it has been supposed that the draught 

 of the plough increases with the depth of the fur- 

 row in mathematical proportion, that is to say, according 

 to the squares of the depth. But the investigations already 

 made, though far from satisfactory as establishing any 

 principle or law of increase, are conclusive upon the pro" 

 position that the increase of draught is far less than the 

 proportion named. Much depends upon the form of the 

 plough, and whether it is made in these trials to work 

 much deeper than its design or stinicture warrants. Much 

 depends also upon the subsoil, and especially upon the 

 question, whether in the experiments upon this point, the 

 plough is run at a depth so great as to strike into the hard 

 pan, or stratum upon which the plough sole for many years 

 of tillage run ; and more than all, perhaps, depends upon 

 the particular work in hand, whether it be in a tough 

 sward, or in an old field. The EngUsh experiments were 

 tried in a clover field of one year, where there could be 

 nothing like the matted turf of our mowing lands. Taking 

 the average of their trials, with different ploughs, it was 

 found that it required an increase of power of about 90 lbs- 

 upon increasing the furrow from 4 in. to 6 in., and an in- 

 crease of power of 300 lbs, to run the plough SJin. deep. 

 An examination of the details of these trials seems to indi" 

 cate what, x^erhaps, mightbe anticipated, that the greater the 

 draught of the plough in a shallow furrow, the less its in- 

 crease of draught in the deejier furrow. This may readily 

 be accounted for upon the idea that the heavier ploughs 

 used in the experiments were intended and properly con- 

 structed for deeper work. From all the results yet pub- 

 lished, it would be fair to infer that an increase of depth 

 not beyond the reasonable capacity of the implement in- 

 volves an increase of draught less than half that stated in 

 the books as the rule ; that is according to the squares of 

 the depth. 



THE WADEBRIDGE FARMERS' CLUB. 



At the Annual Dinner,held on Tuesday, Jan. 8, Mr. Pol- 

 lard, the Secretary, in answering for the Club, said : Our 

 Chairman has a quick eye ; he rightly said that he could 

 not augur much from my appearance. I assure you it is 

 perfectly true. Our treasui'er has plenty of money in 

 hand; but I am only sorry to say that the number of mem- 

 bers is not so many as I could wish it to be ; and it is that 

 which has had an effect upon my countenance. It is all 

 vei-y well for us to be in a floating position with regard to 

 capital. But I have long wished to see a spirit induced 

 among our young men to support this society. It is all 

 very well for you to come once a year to wish it success ; 

 but if you withhold your support, it is impossible we can 



have any great success. No one can question that this 

 society has been of great benefit throughout this district. 

 Anyone who has witnessed the progress in agriculture of 

 late years must be convinced that great benefits have re- 

 sulted from the estabUshment of this and kindred socie- 

 ties. It is true that of late years publications have been 

 introduced, from which may be learned what is doing in 

 other districts, and persons may fancy that by this means 

 they may get on quite as well while absenting themselves 

 from these societies. But I believe the first cause of im- 

 provement was due to this and kindred societies. Even if 

 there were no other reason why they are entitled to our 

 support, the vei7 fact of oui" meeting here once a year, 



