1853.] OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 265 
WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 
Friday, Feb. 25. 
Tue Duke or Nortuumserianp, K.G., F.R.S., President, 
in the Chair. 
Joun Witson, FEsa., F.R.S.E. &e. 
On Ploughs and Ploughing, Ancient and Modern. 
WirnovuTt attempting to discuss the general question of scientific 
farming, on one point, at all events, all will agree, that the applica- 
tion of science to the improvement of machines and implements has 
been productive of great benefit to agriculture. Just now two 
circumstances in particular combine to affect the farmer’s calling,— 
the competition of foreign produce in our markets and the diminishing 
supply of labour, due to emigration. To meet these successfully, 
production must be increased, and labour economised. These ends 
must be obtained either by the perfection of present processes or the 
substitution of others, for which the application of improved machines 
and implements offers the readiest means. 
The plough was selected as the subject of the Lecture, firstly, 
because it is commonly recognized as the symbol of agriculture,— 
and secondly; because during the long period of its history it has, 
until quite recently, undergone fewer changes than most other 
implements of such universal use. 
The object of agriculture is the conversion of mineral into organized 
matter, through the agency of the plants which she cultivates. The 
soil is the factory in which these changes principally take place ;— 
and one of the conditions necessary is contact with the atmosphere. 
To effect this, mechanical means are needed to open up and divide 
the soil; and the plough was soon found to be a more efficient tool 
than either the pick or the spade, which were limited to manual 
labour. 
Ploughs are mentioned in the early pages of our sacred history ; 
indeed we have there described the skeleton upon which all ploughs, 
past and present, have been framed. The ancient Greeks and 
Romans paid great attention to farming, and especially to implements 
and their application. The plough, then as now, occupied a pro- 
minent place, and much practical information in respect to its uses 
has been handed down to us. Of the Greeks, the principal writers 
on agricultural matters, are Hesiod, Xenophon, Homer, Theocritus, 
and Theophrastus. The Roman authors are more numerous and 
their works better known ; amongst them we may cite Cato, Virgil, 
Columella, Varro, Palladius, and Pliny. Many of their precepts are 
