320 DESCRIPTION o? a MOULD-BOARD. 



not from ;;;. to k. as in the firft directions. Thefc vari- 

 ations will be eafy to any one after underflanding the 

 general principle. While thefe mould-boards have been 

 under trial, and efl'iys have been making of greater or lefs 

 projedtions for the upper right edge of the block, and of 

 difi'erent heights in proportion to the depth of the furrow, 

 I have continued to make them of wood. But now fatis- 

 fied by a fuflBcient experience, that for a furrow of 9 by 6 

 inches, the dimenfions I have flated are the bell, 1 pro- 

 pofe to have the mould-board made of caft iron. 



I am fenlible that this defcription may be thought too 

 lengthy and elaborate for a fubjeft which has hardly been 

 deemed worthy the application of fcience. But if the plough 

 be in truth the moll ufeful of the inftrum.ents known to 

 man, its perfection cannot be an idle fpeculation. And in 

 any cafe whatever, the combination of a theory which may 

 iatisfy the learned, with a praB'ice intelligible to the mofl 

 vmlettered labourer, will be acceptable to the two moft ufe- 

 ful clafTes of fociety. Be this as it may, from the widow 

 her mite only was exped:ed. I have contributed according 

 to my poverty ; others will from their abundance. — None 

 fo much as yourfelf, who have been the animating principle 

 of the inftitution from its firft germ. When I contemplate 

 the extenfive good which the proceedings under your di- 

 redlion are calculated to produce, I cannot but deplore every 

 poflibility of their interruption. I am fixed in awe at the 

 mighty conflict to which two great nations are advancing, 

 and recoil with horror at the ferocioufnefs of man. Will 

 nations never devife a more rational umpire of differences 

 than force ? Are there no means of coercing injuftice more 

 gratifying to our nature than a wafte of the blood of thou- 

 fands, and of the labour of millions of our fellow-crea- 

 tures ? We fee numerous focicties of men (the aborigi- 

 nals of this country) living together without the acknow- 

 ledgment of either laws or magiftracy. Yet they live in 



peace 





