ON DRAUGHT. 547 



tlon wliich we have stated to be advantageous to tlie perfect development 

 of animal power. 



That, as regards the degree of resistance where velocity is not required, 

 a force of traction of from 100 lbs. to 125 lbs., or even 150 lbs., according 

 to the strength of the horse, continued for eight hours a day, at about two 

 and a half to three miles per hour, is the best proportion of quantity and 

 duration of labour. The load which will produce this amount of draught 

 will be determined when we consider the subject of the roads, on the 

 quahty of which it will be seen that this mainly depends ; that where six 

 or eight miles per hour is required, the duration of the day's work should 

 be shortened to five or six hours, and the draught reduced to 80 lbs. or 

 100 lbs. At still higher velocities the draught must not exceed 50 lbs. or 

 GO lbs., and the time of working two or three hours. But this speed 

 can only be attained by the sacrifice of the horse ; and consequently the 

 question will rather be what the horse is capable of doing than what can 

 be done with economy ; and it becomes a matter of calculation, depending 

 altogether upon the first cost of the horse, and the profits arising from his 

 employment. 



With respect to the mode of harnessing the horse, it is hardly necessary 

 to say that great care should be taken in fitting the collar and in attaching 

 the traces to the proper point. As to the direction of the traces, it must, 

 as Ave have shown, entu-ely depend upon the circumstances of the case. 

 ^Vhere the draught is heavy and slow, if the road be good, the traces 

 should be nearly horizontal, unless the journey be short, or the trafiic be 

 only in one direction, and the cart return empty, or unless any other 

 reason render it desirable to compel the horse to exert himself more than 

 he would naturally do ; the traces should then be inclined downward 

 towards the carriage, Avith an inclination perhaps of one upon four or five, 

 provided always that the horse is capable of continuing the exertion which, 

 by the additional load thrown upon his shoulders, he is thus called upon 

 to make. If, in the same case of low speed, the road be very heavy, or 

 broken and rough, the proportion of draught upon each horse must be 

 lessened by diminishing the load, but the traces should be attached still 

 lower to the carriage, at a slope of one upon three or four, by which much 

 greater power is given to the animal to drag the load over any obstrnction. 



At all high velocities, the traces should generally be horizontal. The 

 cases of rough roads or powerful horses may slightly affect this arrange- 

 ment, as at low velocities, but not in so great a degree. 



We will now proceed to examine the mode in which these conditions are 

 practically to be fulfilled, and the result of the application of the principles 

 Avhich we have laid down, by considering the subject of the vehicles for 

 conveying the weight to he moved. 



Those in present use are boats, as canal-boats, sledges, and wheeled 

 carriages, which last of course include every species of carriage, whether 

 Avaggon or cart, heavy or hght. 



Canal-boats and canals we suspect are gradually going out of use, and 

 Avill, excepting in some pecuHar cases, or unless some great improvement 

 takes place in time, be superseded entirely by railways ; but still it must 

 be many years before this can be effected ; and in the meantime, the pro- 

 duce of the most extensive manufactories in the Avoi-ld, and the supply of 

 immense masses of people, will be transported over these beautifully 

 smooth, level, and noiseless roads ; and, even if their beds were diy, and 

 become the course of railways (an event which may perhaps befall some of 

 them), we must, out of respect for the extraorclinary benefits Ave have 

 derived from their assistance, and the almost incredible effqct they have 

 produced upon the commerce and riches of the country, have devoted a few 



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