Ch. II.] HARROWS. 23 



II inches in lengtli from the under surface, and pi'oportionably strong, 

 five being firmly mortised and passed through a plate of iron into each 

 bull ; those in the front being also, in some cases, shorter, with a gradual 

 increase of length to those at the back. The bulls consist of four, and 

 sometimes five, very stout bars, chiefly made of ash, being generally not 

 less than 3 to 4 inches square, placed lengthwise, and four, of a smaller 

 description, across : thus containing 20 to 25 teeth. The small ones are 

 commonly about 3^ feet wide in the front, and 4 at the back ; but the large 

 ones, here represented, are intended for heavy work, and are usually termed 

 " drags " — in some places " brakes ; " not unfrequently made as wide as 

 6 feet in the front, with a bar of iron screwed on in a diagonal direction to 

 keep the whole secure. 



The drags, even when used singly, are generally worked by a pair of 

 horses ; but when employed, as they commonly are, upon rough ground, 

 and two together, the labour is usually found sufficiently heavy for four ; 

 and, on turning over the immense clods upon the summer fallows of heavy 

 clay land, as many as six horses or oxen are frequently necessary. A 

 boy usually drives, and a man walks behind to clear the harrows of weeds 

 and lift them when they get encumbered ; for which purpose he usually carries 

 a notched stick, or else attaches a rope to them, for handles are not used. 

 They are thus often nearly as effectual as a ploughing ; for, in such a summer, 

 for instance, as that of 1S34, the land could not, during a great part of the 

 season, be properly said to be ploughed: the clods might indeed be moved 

 about ; but the work, so far as it could be performed in such weather, would 

 be better and more expeditiously done by the drag. It is, in fact, a very 

 powerful tool, requiring great strength and considerable weight to do effi- 

 cient execution, but generally doing work in proportion, particularly when 

 it can be worked at a quick rate, in which case the clods are much more 

 effectually broken than when the teams are driven at a slow place. 



The perpendicular position of the teeth, however, evidently does not fit 

 those heavy implements for working to a proper depth with effect, and 

 therefore some farmers, judiciously observing that those straight tines do 

 not take firm hold of the ground, set them with a slight rake forwards, and 

 made in the form represented above ; but this is seldom done with the 

 lesser harrows, as it would render them more apt to collect the weeds be- 

 tween them and the frame, instead of merely tearing them out of the ground, 

 and would thus impede the forward motion of the implement. It has indeed 

 been recommended, as a preferable plan, to form the tines in something like 

 the shape of plough coulters* ; and also to mount the harrow at each corner 

 upon low wheels, with axles set upon a pivot, so as to fix them either 

 higher or lower, as the nature of the ground and the depth to which it ought 

 to be stirred may require ; but the teeth, if thus constructed, would form an 

 angle with the frame-work, and the use of wheels would render the imple- 

 ment more like a grubber than a harrow. 



The small harrows are always worked either in pairs, or sometimes three 

 together, so connected by links as to allow them sufficient play to yield to 

 tlie curved form of the ridges, and thus they perform the work very com- 

 pletely. The links by which they are coupled are formed in various ways : 

 either by sliding iron hinges, or by pins bolted through the adjoining bulls, 

 and joined by pivots, which, while allowing them full liberty to work, yet 

 keep them eflFectually asunder, and prevent tliem from entangling or getting 

 foul of each other. The most common method, however, is to connect 



* See an Essay on Drags and Harrows, Art. No. III. in the papers of the Bath and 

 West of England Society, vol. x. 



