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De Gasparin* mentions the plough (Fig. 30) and cap- 

 stan of Bier ley, travelling at a speed of 1*36 in. per 

 second, under a hauling traction of 13 cwt. 3 qrs. The 



Fig. 30. Bierley's Plough. 



plough was reduced to its simplest form, the wire cable being 

 fastened to the front of the body. De Gasparin says :-- 

 " We have also seen ploughs and capstans used for the 

 uprooting of madder ; a donkey or a weak horse opened a 

 furrow, which would have needed a team of 24 horses ; a 

 cable winding round a drum increased the force of the trac- 

 tion, but proportionately increased the time necessary to 

 perform the work. A furrow of 526 feet only was opened 

 in one hour, and after each furrow a great deal of time was 

 wasted in returning the plough to the starting point. The 

 cost was half that done by hand, but four days were required 

 to plough I acre, which 24 horses would have ploughed in 

 twelve hours for the same cost. 



"In 1841 Georges worked a horse-gin with a Dombasle 

 plough. He is reported to have ploughed three parallel 

 furrows 52 feet in length, 8J inches in width and depth, in 

 eighteen minutes. Six men worked the capstan alternately; 

 it was 4ft. 11 in. in diameter; the men worked levers 10ft. 

 9in. in length. The resistance of the plough must have 

 been 454 Ibs., equivalent to four ordinary horses, which could 

 have ploughed J acre in eight hours. f To estimate the cost 

 of the two operations it suffices to compare 32 hours for one 

 horse, as against 372 hours for one man. But if, instead 

 of six men, one horse had been used, we see that the 

 mechanism of the capstan would have caused a loss of half 

 the strength used." 



De Gaspariu only studied this system as applied to yearly 

 cultural operations, and not from the point x>f view of the per- 

 manent improvement of the land, which explains his inference. 



* Cours d' Agriculture, vol. iii., p. 155. 

 t Laur, Culture de la Garance. 



