A HUNDRED YEAES' PROGRESS. 285 



short, mecbauical principles are better understood and more intelligently 

 applied. Wo have combined simplicity of construction with economy 

 of power. A better knowledge of the strength of materials has enabled 

 us to reduce the size of all the parts of farming-tools, and so to avoid 

 the clumsiness of the older style of implements, and, at the same time, 

 to secure much more efiective work. We have made some progress, 

 also, in substituting the principle of the spade, or the fork, for that of 

 the plow, as the use of the rotary spader is a sufficient proof. We have 

 made some progress in the application of steam to the operation of 

 plowing, and the wonderful performances of the steam-plow, in the 

 few instances where it has been tried, have indicated the possibilities of 

 the future, and shown that the time is not far distant when we shall 

 have it in our power to develop the resources of the great West to an 

 extent and with an economy never yet dreamed of. 



The imi)ortauce of a complete and perfect pulverization of the soil, to 

 admit of the extension of the roots of plants, and the access of air and 

 moisture, was never more fully realized than at the present time. As it 

 is at best but partially effected by the plow, which crumbles and breaks 

 down the soil simply in the process of turning, something farther has 

 always been required, and the harrow has been used for this purpose, 

 to follow the plow, from time immemorial. With the early settlers 

 this implement, like most others, was made of wood, of simple bars and 

 cross-bars, furnished with wooden teeth. It was usually home-made, 

 rude and clumsy enough. The first improvement was the substitution 

 of iron for wooden teeth, which were afterward ])ointed with steel, when 

 it was made lighter, so as to admit of being moved more rapidly through 

 the soil. 



The changes and improvements of this implement came very slowly, 

 and it is scarcely twenty years since it can be said to have approached 

 perfection. It has now assumed a more compact form and greater flexi- 

 bility, certain parts of the frame-work being hinged together, so that any 

 part can be lifted or raised without disturbing the working of the rest, 

 while particular forms have been made for special purj)oses, like the 

 Share and the Nishwitz, admirably adapted to meUowiug the surface 

 of newly-broken land without tearing up the inverted sod. The rotary 

 and the smoothiiig harrow may be mentioned, also, as a vast improve- 

 ment upon the old styles. These and many other patterns, after which 

 the harrow is now made, seem to leave little to desire in the form and 

 efficiency of this most important implement. 



A large class of the most valuable labor-saving implements may be 

 mentioned which are almost entirely due to modern ingenuity, such as 

 the cultivators, the horse-hoes, the grubbers, the drills and seed-sowers, 

 and others of a similar character. By means of the horse-hoe and the 

 cultivator the soil can be frequently stirred among growing crops, at a 

 slight expense, thus enabling them to withstand the effects of drought, 

 giving us, practically, a greater control over the seasons. Many of these 

 smaller machines are wonderfully perfect and well adapted to the pur- 

 pose for which they are constructed. And while mechanical invention 

 has been active in this direction, our shovels, spades, hoes, and forks 

 have been vastly improved and made more effective, till, for lightness 

 and finish, in combination with strength and durability, they are unsur- 

 passed by any similar tools in any part of the world; while the rapidity 

 Avith which they can be manufactured, and the consequent cheapness 

 with which they are sold, are among the marvels of modern mechanics. 



The manufacture of these important articles was undertaken, to be 

 sure, even before the Revolution, and as early as 1788 the iron-plated 



