Be 



IV. 



WHEEL PLOUGHS. 



S97 



or six inches deeper than the other. The first (a) cuts or pares off the surface to the 

 required depth, say five inches, and turns it over into the furrow, ten or twelve inches 

 deep, made by the main body. The second body generally works from ten to twelve 

 inches deep, but might be made to work to the depth of thirteen or fifteen inches ; upon 

 its mould-board is formed an inclined plane, extending from the back part of the feather 

 of the sock or share (c) to the back part of the mould-board (d), where it terminates 

 about six inches above the level of the sole (e). This inclined plane raises the soil from 

 the bottom of the furrow, and turns it over on the top of that which has been laid in the 

 bottom of the previous 

 furrow by the body (a) 

 going before. 



2625. Gladstone s water- 

 furrowing plough ( figs. 

 306. and 307. ) is used for 

 cleaning out the furrows of 

 anew-sown field, when the 

 nature of the soil, or the 

 inclination of the surface, 

 requires extraordinary at- 

 tention to leading off the 

 rain water. The beam (a), 

 handles (6), and sole (c), 

 of this plough are form- 

 ed in the usual manner 

 of double mould-board ploughs. The 

 forming a square bottom to the furrow, 



d\%pHld 



307 



sole is five inches square, for the purpose of 

 The two mould-boards (d) are loose, so as to 

 rise and fall with the depth or shallowness of the furrow, being fastened only by the 

 centre pin {e) to the upright (/). The mould-boards, or wings, as they are called, are 

 kept extended by a piece of iron (g) ; and this piece of iron has a number of holes in it, 

 so that, by means of a pin (A) it may be raised or lowered at pleasure, according to the 

 depth of the water furrow. The mould-boards are made of wood. Any old plough may 

 be converted into one of this description for a few shillings. 



2626. Draining ploughs are of various kinds, but none of them are of much use ; the 

 work can always be done better, and generally cheaper, by manual labour. As most of 

 these ploughs have wheels, we have included the whole of them in next subsection. 



Subsect. 2. Wheel Ploughs. 



2627. Wheel ploughs are of two kinds : those, and which are by far the most common, 

 where the wheel or wheels are introduced for the purpose of regulating the depth of the 

 furrow, and rendering the implement more steady to hold ; and those where the wheel is 

 introduced for the purpose of lessening the friction of the sole or share. This last 

 description of wheel plough is scarcely known, but it promises great advantages. The 

 former is of unknown antiquity, having been used by the Romans. ^ 



2628. Ploughs with wheels for regulation and steadiness vary considerably in their con- 

 struction in different places, according to the nature of soils and other circumstances ; 

 but in every form, and in all situations, they probably require less skill in the plough- 

 man. Wheels seem, indeed, to have formed an addition to ploughs, in consequence of 

 the want of experience in ploughmen ; and in all sorts of soil, but more particularly in 

 those which are of a stony and stubborn quality, they afford great assistance to such 

 ploughmen, enabling them to perform their work with greater regularity in respect to 

 depth, and with much more neatness in regard to equality of surface. From the friction 

 caused by the wheels, they are generally considered as giving much greater resistance, 

 and consequently demand more strength in the team that is employed ; and, besides, are 

 more expensive in their construction, and more liable to be put out of order, as well as 

 more apt to be disturbed in their progress by clods, stones, and other inequalities that, 

 mav be on the surface of the ground, than those of the swing kind. It is also observed, 

 " that with wheel ploughs workmen are apt to set the points of their shares too low, so as 

 by their inclined direction to occasion a heavy pressure on the wheel, which must pro- 

 ceed horizontally :" the effect of this struggle is an increased weight of draught, infinitely 

 beyond what could be supposed : for which reason, the wheel is to be considered as of no 

 importance in setting a plough for work ; but passing lightly over the surface, it will be 

 of material aid in breaking up old leys, or ground where flints, rocks, or roots of trees 

 occur, and in correcting the depression of the share from any sudden obstruction, as well 

 as in bringing it quickly into work again, when thrown out towards the surface. {Com- 

 munications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 419.) 



