Ch. I.] WHEEL-PLOUGHS. 21 



necessity fortliem, unless eitlier the plough be ill-made, or the plouyhmau 

 iil-qualified for his work. 



We have thus given a succinct, and v'/e trust an accurate account of the 

 ploughs most generally employed throughout the United Kingdom, though 

 we are conscious that there are many others — as, for instance, the Bever- 

 stone, the Norfolk, and Suffolk, together with one much used in Rutland- 

 shire and the neighbouring counties, as well as several under different 

 denominations — which also merit description, if our limits would permit. 

 Most of them have been adopted by the experience of farmers, arising 

 from their knowledge of the peculiarities of their soil ; and as every man of 

 intelligence conceives that the implement is one which he can improve in a 

 manner to render it more suitable to his own land, the number of those 

 which liave thus been brought into vogue can occasion no surprise ; neither 

 ought we to wonder if, when found to answer the intended purpose, and put 

 into the hands of workmen who have been brought up to their use, both 

 masters and servants should entertain prejudices, even though unfounded, in 

 .their favour. 



It is a very commonly received opinion, that every kind of soil requires a 

 different kind of plough ; and this idea is so firmly established, that if the 

 use of a plough berecummended to the farmers of one district, more simple, 

 and requiring less labour than their own,' the answer generally is " that it may 

 suit that country, but will not answer in theirs.'' AVhatever truth there may 

 be in the remark when applied to particular cases, it cannot however be 

 generally correct ; for if we take into consideration the different soils of 

 the kingdom, both as they exist in themselves, and as they are operated 

 upon by climate, we shall probably find that only two different principles of 

 construction should prevail in the ploughs that might be most advanta- 

 geously used for general purposes, in Great Britain ; and could an altera- 

 tion to that effect be brought about, it would be to the full as desirable as 

 a uniform standai'd of weights and measures. 



The different degrees of tenacity in strong soils do not seem to require 

 any other variety in the construction of the plough than a difference of 

 strength in the materials, to meet the greater exertion of the teams in 

 tillage. Deep stiff land, both from its stubborn nature, which occasions it 

 to clog, and from its generally requiring to be deeper ploughed than loose 

 friable soils, may require a greater power of beam and a differently formed 

 mould-board, as well as a stronger plough, than a light dry soil. It 

 may also be necessary to elevate the beam to a greater height * ; and it 

 may likewise be proper, in some cases, to work it with wheels ; but on all 



* " ' In many modern ploughs, the beam receives a considerable cuivafiire, which, at 

 the same time, diminishes its strength and adds to its cost. If this curvature is intended 

 to give more room for weeds which may accumulate under the beam, this purpose is 

 effected only by an inconvenient length of coulter, which makes it unsteady ; and if the 

 coulter be fastened by a hook, &c., the space that was gained by the elevation of the 

 beam in the middle is again taken away by the hook and screw, which of course, to say 

 nothing of the expense, renders the whole scheme abortive. The apparatus of iron bars 

 and chains, which is sometimes made to pass several inches below a crooked beam, 

 appears to me at best to answer no other good purpose than that of showing the most pro- 

 per position of the beam itself.' — Batche/or's Survey of Bed/or ihhire,\t.\(>f). Tliere ismuch 

 truth in this ; and it has accordingly been justly remarked by Captain Williamson, ' that 

 much ink has been expended by the several advocates for various forms of the beam; a 

 matter which surely need not have excited controversy, if it had but been considered that 

 all lines of draught are direct lines, and that the straightest beam is the shortest, the 

 lightest, and the strongest. The beam should, therefore, have no curve whatever, but 

 juoceed in a straight line from the muzzle to the foot, and that too in a parallel line with 

 the sole, or chep." — Jgric, 31echanism, p. 149. 



