66 



Ploughing and Ploug/is. 



Vol. iV, 



of ploughing, cross ploughing and cropping, 

 alternately under the plough, and in grass, 

 and had become so impoverished, that the 

 products were insufficient to cover the ex- 

 pense of cultivation. The same piece of 

 land, v/hich gave me one ton of hay, will 

 now, at the same distance of time, after lay- 

 ing to grass, give me three. 



In the cultivation of land, which has been 

 a year or more under the plough, nearly the 

 same course is to be pursued, especially when 

 it is intended to sow wheat or rye, plough 

 your land so as to turn under the rich mould, 

 bring to the surface a portion of tiie fresh 

 earth that has never before been disturbed by 

 t!ie plough, and mix tliis well, (if the preced- 

 ing crops have not been well manured) with 

 a light dressing of well-rotted compost, and 

 from twenty to lifty bushels of slaked lime to 

 the acre, and I am confident you will never 

 require a Legislative bounty, as an induce- 

 ment to cultivate wheat. 



Good ploughinjr cannot be effected without 

 ploughs suitably adapted to the purpose. In 

 this all important agricultural implement, I 

 venture H'le assertion, without fear of contra- 

 diction, that the Americans have made great- 

 er, and more useful improvements in its 

 adaptation and fitness for the designed pur 

 pose, within the last twenty years, than have 

 been made in Great Britain for a century. 

 From a conviction of the indispensable ne- 

 cessity of good ploughing to a successful til- 

 lage, near twenty years ago I persuaded the 

 person, who occupied the farm I now own, to 

 send to England for an improved Scotch 

 plough, (I think Small's) which was highly 

 recommended in the agricultural publications 

 of that time. This was before the introduc- 

 tion of the cast iron plough into this part of 

 the country. The plough came, and I must 

 confess I was greatly astonished at the first 

 sight of it, and as much disappointed when I 

 witnessed its operations. A huge, misshapen 

 combination of wood and iron, it was the 

 laughing-stock of my neighbors, who at once 

 denounced ine as a " book farmer." The 

 plough was laid aside, and has been kept for 

 show, and in construction and workmanship, 

 when compared with American ploughs, fiir- 

 nishes a striking illustration of the superior 

 skill and ingenuity of our own mechanics, 

 over those of Em-ope. I can now do t^vice as 

 nuich work, and do it infinitely better, with 

 Prouty Sl Mears' improved plough, witli one 

 horse, and a single hand, than a yoke of oxen 

 and a horse, and one additional hand to drive, 

 could do with the famous Scotch plough. 



Public attention was first awakened to the 

 subject of improvements upon the old-fasli- 

 ioned, wedge-like plougli, by the writin!>-s of 

 Mr. Jefferson, who, in 170^, publi.siied his 

 new theory of the construction of the mould 



board, formed upon mathematical and philo- 

 sophical principles. It was in consequence 

 of a suggestion from him, that Robert Smith, 

 of Pennsylvania, in 1803, substituted the cast 

 iron for the wooden mould board, for which he 

 obtained a patent. This was tlie commence- 

 ment of a series of improvements which have 

 resulted in the substitution of cast iron for all 

 parts of the plough, except the beam and 

 handles, and such has been the progress in 

 reducing this implement to a fitness for the 

 purposes designed, that the American cast 

 iron plough, as now constructed, may in truth 

 be consiucred, as it has been denominated, 

 the most important instrument known toman. 

 About fifteen years since the cast iron share 

 came into general use in this part of the coun- 

 try. Wood's, Tyce's, Hitchcock's, Howard's, 

 and last of all Prouty & Mears', have each 

 had their share of public flivor. I have par- 

 ticularly attended to the operation of all these, 

 and noticed the defects and excellencies of 

 each. About twelve years ago, Hitchcock's 

 plough, then in general use, and highly ap- 

 proved by the farmers of New York, was in- 

 troduced into this State by Mr. Prouty, who 

 was well acquainted with the pnctical use, 

 as well as the construction, of the plough. 

 His science in agriculture, aided by his me- 

 chanical skill, from time to time, suggested 

 to him various and important alterations and 

 improvements in this plough, and about two 

 years since, Prouty & Mears obtained from 

 the government a patent for their " improved 

 cast iron plough." 



The prevailing difficulty with all ploughs, 

 with the exception of the last named, is, that 

 the force necessary in the drauglit, is not ap- 

 plied directly to the centre of resistance. 

 Writers on this subject, as well as practical 

 farmers, have erred in their notion, tliat the 

 beam siioukl be placed directly over the land 

 side of the plough, and that the cut of the 

 coulter, or tiie position of the standard, should 

 bo square, or at a right angle with the cut 

 of the t-hire, thinking that if the share and 

 coulter make an acute ancle on the land side, 

 the plough will incline to fall to the right. 

 This would be the tendency, unless the other 

 parts of the plough are so constructed as to 

 resi.st and overcome this inclination. By so 

 placing the coulter as to form an acute angle 

 with the plane of the share, on the land side, 

 the beam is brought more directly over the 

 centre of the plough, as is the case with 

 Prouty and Mears' improved plough, and 

 thereby the power necessary to move it, is 

 applied more' directly to the centre of resist- 

 ance, and tlie force required to move it, and 

 overcome this resistance, is of cour»e less 

 than when applied on one side. I cannot 

 better ni:ike myself understood, than by sup- 

 posing Uie land, or left hand side of a liar- 



