IG BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. I. 



double plougli, lliere does not appear to them any sufficiently powerful 

 reason to recommend it to general use *. 



It thus certainly does not perform such neat work as a single-furrow 

 plough, nor can it jjlough so deep as is done by the two-horse system ; 

 though it is evident that, from its construction, it must take a firmer 

 hold of the ground tiian a swing-plough, and consequently, not being so 

 easilv thrown out, can be managed with less diflicully. On the slow work 

 performed by ox-teams, a double yoke will thus be found to get over a great 

 deal of ground with comparative ease ; and were horses liarnessed three 

 abreast, thev would jirobably be found to do their work with as much facility, 

 and certainly with more equality of labour, than if driven four in a line. 



A three-furrow plough was also invented some years ago by the 

 Rev. Dr. Cartwright, to whom the silver medal of the Society of Arts was 

 in consequence granted t- I" the description which is given of it lie 

 observes — that " any man who considers the action of the common plough 

 will find a very material part of the labour in ploughing arises from the 

 friction of the land-side of the furrow, and of the other against the bottom. 

 In a single plough a certain length and width are required in those parts of 

 it, to make it go steady ; and even then the effect would be imperfectly 

 obtained did not the ploughman assist by the leverage, or lifting, of the. 

 handles of the plough. Hence it is clear that the less disposition any 

 plough has to follow the draught in a straight line, the greater is the 

 labour of working it, because the ploughing in that case requires a greater 

 power of leverage to keep it steady. On the contrary, when two, three, 

 or more ploughs are combined, they serve to steady each other, and 

 require comparatively very little power of the lever to keep them in a 

 straight line. Under these circumstances, neither the first nor the second 

 plough has any sole or land-side whatever, and even the third does not 

 require so much of either as a single plough." 



He then calculates the saving of power from this consideration alone, 

 as equal to at least one plough ; and attributes a further saving to the 

 lightness and compactness of the implement. The construction is certainly 

 simple ; consisting of three straight beams of different lengths mounted 

 upon a pair of wheels, and connected together by cross pieces. The 

 coulter and share are both in one piece, and fixed before each other, each 

 turning a furrow of nine inches broad ; and, when the land is either too strong, 

 or too foul, to work all three, one of them can be removed. Notwith- 

 standing these presumed advantages, we, however, do not find that this 

 jilough has been brought into general use ; though others with even nine 

 shares have been employed, and when drawn with six horses have been 

 found to get over eiglit acres a-day with great success J. 



THE RIBBING PLOUGH. 



The advantages dorived from deep and effectual hoeing are now univer- 

 sally admitted by all intelligent cultivators : this, however, can only be 

 done where the growing crop lias been sown in straight lines. Good drills 

 for corn are expensive in the construction, and often not attainable by the 

 small farmer; but the ribbing plough is within the reach of all, and will 

 be found admirably calculated for every description of grain that may be 



* Stevenson's Survey of Surrey, p. 1'2'2 ; Batchelor's Bedfordshire, p. 164 ; and Loch's 

 Account of the Improvements on the Estates of the Marquess of Stafford, p. 187. 



f See vol. xxi. of the Tr.uisartions of tl>e Society: in which there is an engraving of 

 the implement, witli full directions for its construction. 



+ St;e the description of one used by the late jMorris Birkl.eck, at Guildford, in 

 Malcolm's Survey of Surrey, kc, vol. i., p. 2()o'. 



