190 Progress of Agricultural Knowledge 



the curtailed team is viewed with some incredulity, but does its 

 work. The next year more pairs come forward. At last the 

 triple team becomes singular in its turn, and ultimately disappears. 

 Even if the number of horses be not reduced, it is of course 

 right for their sakes and our own to lighten their labour ; but 

 there is another point in which lightness of ploughs may be 

 useful. I mean increase of pace ; and this is a matter deserving 

 more attention than it has received. It is remarkable that more 

 work is done in a day at plough in the north of England than 

 in many parts of the south. Here f of an acre, I believe, is the 

 daily task in winter, whereas an acre is the Scotch amount at that 

 season, and a quarter more as the days lengthen. It is stated, how- 

 ever, by Loudon,* that in Suffolk farmers plough, with two horses, 

 1 acre a-day on stiff soils, and 1^ to IJ acre on sands. In 

 Northumberland even 2 acres are sometimes accomplished, I am 

 informed, during the hurry of turnip-sowing. I think our farmers' 

 clubs in the slow-ploughing districts ought to inquire whether this 

 practice of the Northern and Suffolk farmers does not deserve 

 imitation ; and I may repeat one circumstance which struck me 

 much in my former experiments, as it appears to bear out quick- 

 ness of pace. It might be supposed that the more rapidly the 

 plough works the greater would be the exertion of the horses, so 

 that, although more work might be done in a day, the ultimate wear 

 of the cattle would be the same. But I found by the draught- gauge 

 that, when a plough was made to move quicker, though more earth 

 was of course moved, there was no increase in the draught, at 

 least as between the pace of 1 J and of 2 J miles in an hour. 

 Strange as this fact appears, it agrees with what is known by 

 mechanicians, that in many cases the resistance arising from friction 

 does not augment with increase of speed, and it tends to confirm 

 my belief that friction is a principal cause of the labour of 

 ploughing-teams. An example of increase of pace without addi- 

 tion of draught may be found, I believe, in the descent of a carriage 

 with a drag on the wheel. The horses, indeed, who have to cover 

 more ground at plough, have of course to carry their own weight 

 a greater distance each day. But, if they be in good condition and 

 nimble, I doubt if they feel it ; and the northern horses appear to 

 me to be naturally quick steppers. The best Clydesdale horses, 

 such as the pair of greys which Lord Derby sent to our trial - 

 ground at Liverpool, or Lord Ducie's browns, which were seen 

 by many of our members at Bristol, appear to unite the merits of 

 our three English breeds — the compactness of the Suffolks, the 

 power of the old Lincolns, and the courage and quickness of the 

 Cleveland race. 



* Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Agriculture, p. 1136. 



