NEW MACHINERY. 311 



number of individuals engaged in agricultural production was 

 given, and the quantity of product per individual worker was 

 also reported. From these figures, therefore, a very accurate 

 estimate may be made of the relative effectiveness of the farm 

 worker of that day and of the present day. By this method 

 it is determined that the yield per average worker in 1900 

 was greater than in 1870 by nearly 86 per cent. 



The evolution of the plow has been by no means the least 

 important of the improvements in farming implements. In 

 1836 Daniel Webster designed a plow which he helped to 

 build at a neighboring blacksmith shop, for in those days 

 every blacksmith shop was a plow factory, turning out an 

 implement whenever ordered. The plow in question was of 

 giant proportions, as befitted its owner, and like the old colo- 

 nial plow of which it was a type, must have made the furrows 

 "stand up like the ribs of a lean horse in the month of March." 

 The moldboard had a spread of 27 inches, was made of wood 

 and protected with straps of iron. The landside was 4 

 feet long, the breadth at the heel was 18 inches, and the 

 lower edge of the beam stood 2*/2 feet above the sole. The 

 length over all from clevis to handle tips was 12 feet. The 

 structure was designed to plow a furrow from 12 to 14 

 inches deep. With oxen to draw it and three or four men 

 to help him, Webster was wont to delight in the use of this 

 plow in stumpy and otherwise difficult land. He is reported 

 to have said : "When in such a field as this I have hold of the 

 handles of my big plow, with four yoke of oxen to pull it 

 through, and I hear the roots crack and sec the stumps go un- 

 der and out of sight and observe the clean, mellow surface 

 of the plowed land, I feel more enthusiasm over my achieve- 

 ment than from my encounters in public life at Washington." 



