INVENTOR OF THE MODERN PLOW. 11 



<; He who by the plow would thrive, 

 Himself must either hold or drive." 



Born in comparative affluence, blessed with a 

 good education, an ample library and a well 

 equipped workshop, enjoying the correspond- 

 ence of such men as Thomas Jefferson and 

 David Thomas, he was unremitting in his en- 

 deavor to realize his ideal. u His chief de- 

 sire," to quote further from our venerable cor- 

 respondent, " was to invent a new mold- 

 board, which, from its form, should meet the 

 least resistance from the soil, and which could 

 be made with share and standard, entirely of 

 cast iron. To hit upon the exact shape for 

 the mold-board he whittled away, day after 

 day, until his neighbors, who thought him 

 mad on the subject, gave him the soubriquet 

 of the "whittling Yankee." His custom was 

 to take a large oblong potato which was easy 

 for the knife, and cut it till he obtained what 

 he fancied was the exact curve." 



