No. 8. 



Dialogue between a Father and Son, 



241 



to sink in water, it would soon stop the course 

 ot' river^;, for one of the little streams in the 

 meadow lias become frozen to the bottom, 

 and the consequence is, the fiowing over of [ 

 the water, and tiiis again freezing, and the 

 water again flowing and again freezing, there 

 is a sheet of ice twenty yards in width. 



I hope, liowever, the trost will soon break up, 

 for I see tiiat our new plough is just brought 

 home, and 1 long to try it ; its line wide share 

 and long mould-plate nmst make great havoc 

 amongst the weeds. I have often been as- 

 tonished at the variety of ploughs that have 

 been invented, each professing to be superior 

 to every other. Is it not possible to deter- 

 mine which is the hesl, that so a preference 

 might be given to it above all others \ There 

 is not only a diifercnce in tiie formation of the 

 body and mould-plate, but also in the mode 

 of working them ; some are with two wheels, 

 others witli one ; some with a foot, and others 

 with neither: now which is to be preferred, 

 or is there, after all, no essential difference ] 



Father — A very interesting question ; and 

 that we may thoroughly understand the sub- 

 ject, we will go into its examination when 

 we come to use our new plough in turning 

 the two acre field for sugar beet, which was, 

 you know, ploughed very deep in November 

 of last year, preparatory to a spring working ; 

 then you will perceive the advantage of prac- 

 tice, when compared with mere theory, and 

 will be enabled to decide which is, upon the 

 whole, best suited for the purpose of cultivat- 

 ing the soil — that is the question with us, 

 with many others it is, I believe, which fol- 

 lows the horses most easily. 



Frank — I have often heard, that the plough 

 which follows the horses the easiest, must he 

 the best; now there might be a great differ- 

 ence in this respect, but as the horses cannot 

 tell any thing about it, how are we to judge 1 



Father — An instrument has been invented 

 to fix to the end of the beam of the plough 

 by which the horses are made to draw ; it is 

 called an Eidometer, and has an index, by 

 whicli may be seen, very exactly, how much 

 power is required to draw it when put to dif 

 ferent depths ; it is something like the little 

 instrument with which your mother weighs 

 articles in the house. 



Frank — [ know — it draws out in length in 

 proportion to the weight which is attached to 

 it, and the number of pounds weight is stamp- 

 ed on the little index rod. This is a very 

 clever contrivance, and must decide the ques- 

 tion in an instant, for that plough must cer- 

 tainly be the best which requires the least 

 power to drag it, provided the depth be the 

 same ; and I wonder why this best plough has 

 not got into general use, to the exclusion of 

 all others. 



Father — How easily you have decided the 



question, and ui the way too, in which many 

 other interesting questions are decided, name- 

 ly, by mere theory ; by taking a statement 

 for granted, and acting upon it; but if the 

 statement be fallacious, so must be the con- 

 clusions which are drawn from it — just as if 

 a man were to take for granted that the foun- 

 dations of a house arc good, and build upon 

 them without examination, tliey might be de- 

 fective and if they are, so will be the house, 

 when completed, although it might look fair 

 to the eye. 



Frank — How v;ell I understand that; I see 

 now that there might be other considerations 

 connected with the subject, and I long for an 

 opportunity to decide by practice. 



Father — And as I consider it a question of 

 the greatest consequence, we will lose no time 

 in making the experiment, on the breaking 

 up of the frost 



Frank — Well, Father, here is a fine day, 

 and we are quite ready; w'hich plough shall 

 we commence with ! 



Father — Put the horses to the single wheel 

 patent plough, invented by a person named 

 Plenty, which is in very general use in many 

 of the counties in England. Do you know 

 the meaning of the term jjateni 1 



Frank — Perhaps not, exactly. 



Father — The inventor of this plough thinks 

 so well of its merits, that he has asked of the 

 government to secure to himself the making 

 of them for a certain number of years, and the 

 government issues an order, that no other per- 

 son shall presume to make them for a time 

 agreed upon, under a severe penalty — this is 

 granting a patent, which in England costs 

 about one hundred pound.s sterling (five hun- 

 dred dollars. ~) But now for our ploughing 

 match. 



The weather fine, the season noiv, 



Drive on, my boy, "God siiecd the plongh." 



Well Frank, what think you 1 



Frank — I shall be careful how I say again, 

 what I think. It appears, however, to be a 

 heavy instrument with which to turn a fur- 

 row eight inches wide and five inches deep, 

 which is as much as it will do; to be sure it 

 goes straight, and makes what is called good 

 work, but^after all it does not turn the land 

 over, it merely sets it on edge, or a little 

 more, and passes on. 



Father — But now for your criterion of a 

 good plough, do you not think it follows the 

 horses easily ] 



Prank — I now understand why you said, 

 the object with us ought to be, to ascertain 

 which is the plough best suited for the pur- 

 pose of cultivating the soil, and that you 

 thought this was not the object with some — 

 those for instance, who are more careful of 



