174 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Spaniard among the Cantabrian mountains, at this day, uses for a 

 plow, a huge rake, having four iron teeth about two feet long. 

 The rake's tail he ties to the yoke with leather thongs. The 

 yoke is but a straight stick fastened by other thongs to the horns 

 of a pair of cows or oxen, or a cow and an ox, as often happens. 

 Thus harnessed, he drives them over the field, more in some 

 places and less in others, till the whole is mellowed as far as the 

 teeth can reach, a depth of two feet slant measure, and at least 

 one foot perpendicular. The operation must be enormously labo- 

 rious, but the results are somewhat proportioned. Fifty bushels 

 of wheat to the acre is but the average crop in that part of 

 Spain. The people there will tell you that this rake-fashioned 

 plow is 3,000 years old. Its effect on the soil, like that of Abra- 

 ham and of Virgil, must be to pick it to pieces and to mix it. 

 Similar to this has been the effect of nearly all plows used pre- 

 viously to the present century. The process with all was 

 tediously laborious ; but it pulverised and mixed the soil 

 thoroughly if persevered in sufficiently long. Within the present 

 century the efforts at improvement in the plow seem to have 

 aimed at saving of labor more than at a thorough pulverization 

 and intermixture of the surface and subsoils. If a complete 

 inversion of the soil is to be aimed at and is to be the only end 

 gained by plowing, then our best modern plows are about per- 

 fect. In lightness of draft, in ease of holding, and in the beauty 

 of the work they are capable of doing, there is little room left 

 for improvement. But do they effect that on the soil which 

 secures the greatest crops ? I think not. The Spaniard of the 

 Cantabrian hills, does a much better thing for his crop in six 

 days, with his cows or mixed team, and himself or his wife to 

 drive, than we with our fine teams and A No. 1 plows can do in 

 six hours. In speed, we beat him all hollow; in the crop, he 

 beats us as much. What is now wanted is to combine our speed 

 with his thoroughness. On another occasion I propose to con. 

 tinue this subject, and to exhibit the model of an implement for 

 this purpose. 



Prof. Mapes. — The ordinary plows introduce a wedge into the 

 earth which tends to compress the soil on the land side and also 

 below it. There is a digging machine, the cost of which is a 

 great objection to it, but which will do the work more thoroughly. 



Mr. Puller. — The garden fork is the best digging machine I 

 know of, although I think I could improve upon that. 



