INVENTOR OF THE MODERN PLOW. 67 



to perfect development in the next century by 

 an American citizen who died the poorer for 

 his invention. 



The highest of all authorities upon this 

 and cognate subjects is " Knight's American 

 Mechanical Dictionary," and Knight says of 

 Jethro Wood, " He made the best plows up 

 to date. " He adds, " He met with great op- 

 position, and then with much injustice, losing 

 a competency in introducing his plow and 

 fighting infringers." The same writer defines 

 the peculiarities of the Wood plow with re- 

 markable clearness and brevity : " It con- 

 sisted in the mode of securing the cast-iron 

 portions together by lugs and locking pieces, 

 doing away with screw-bolts, and much weight, 

 complexity and expense. It was the first 

 plow in which the parts most exposed to wear 

 could be renewed in the field by the substitu- 

 tion of cast pieces." Considering the source 

 of this passage, it may be said that literature 



