16 On the Draught of Ploughs. 



draught that a large portion of the cost of ploughing is needlessly 

 wasted. 



My friend with the old wooden plough could not but come to 

 the conclusion that he had been ploughing at a great unnecessary 

 expenditure, and declared that I should be the cause of putting 

 him to the farther expense of a new plough, and that the lightest 

 in draught. 



Ransome's N L 7 exhibited here the same draujjht that it did 

 in similar soil and circumstances in your trirds. What surprised 

 me was the position which Hart's plough assumed ; and it was to 

 satisfy myself that I had been making a trial of the correct im- 

 plement, that I requested the loan of your plough ; and for greater 

 satisfaction 1 sent it over to Mr. Chillingworth of Cuddesden, 

 from whom I had the one I made this experiment with, to be 

 compared and tested with his. The result which he and Mr. 

 Gale returned to me perfectly verified our previous trial. Yours 

 and two other Hart's, in Mr. Chillingworth's possession, in a sandy 

 loam furrow 9x5, all agreed on the draught-gauge, i.e., were 

 each 17 stones, at the same moment that D P, which I also sent 

 over, exhibited 13 stones, being exactly the places both were 

 found in at the trial on the 3rd of March. The Scotch, which 

 was I believe in this instance of an excellent make, was held by 

 its own, a superior ploughman. To the swing principle, and in 

 some degree to its weight of iron, we must, I think, attribute that 

 inferior position with regard to draught, w hich till of late it has not 

 been suspected to hold. Barrett's D P justified the favourable 

 judgment it had received, and corresponded with my previous 

 experience of it. The ploughs 4, 5, and 6 serve to show the drain 

 on farmers' resources that extensively exists by the use of imple- 

 ments of unnecessary draught. 



Comparative Experiments during Barley-sowing. — I have 

 taken the opportunity afforded by the loan of your plough to carry 

 on a few trinls w^ith it during my tillage for barley along with three 

 others, Barrett's L 2 and D P, and Ransome's N L 7, which my 

 neighbour Mr. Davey allowed me to retain. 



The soil these four ploughs have been tried in is a fair gravelly 

 loam that generally works well, but is rather sticky when wet, 

 and sets hard when dry. The first trial (April 2nd) occurred 

 while the seed-furrow was given to a well -pulverised surface on 

 w hich the barley had been cast. 



The next trial (April 3rd) was during the breaking up of some 

 turnip ground after sheep, which had been more or less trodden 

 in a wet state ; and the surface had become dry and scrubbed, but 

 w^as moist enough beneath. The spots trodden in the rain, and 

 those sVighiiy poached, have been noted separately. 



The third trial (April 20th) made in the same field and under 



