1.-U6 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. supplement. 



bottom It has been constructed so as to be of easy draught, and to penetrate to a depth of from sixb en 

 to eighteen Inches from the surface. It has no mould-board, and is intended merely to break and stir 

 up the subsoil without brining it to the surface, or mixing it in the first instance with the incumbent 

 soil It is in fact, a horse-pick, and readily loosens and throws out all stones not exceeding seventy 

 pound-' weight It is drawn by four horse-, two and two abreast, and it is held in the usual way by one 

 man In working, the common plough goes before it, taking a furrow ten inches hy six inches the 

 subsoil plough following in the bottom of that furrow, and going deeper by ten or twelve inches. \\ hen 

 this ploogh is applied on a tenacious bottom, and in conjunction with parallel drams about two feet and 

 a half deep, and distant from twelve to twenty feet from each other, it produces wonderful effects in 

 attaining a deep and dry soil ; and even on gravelly and sandy bottoms, its effects are considerable, and 

 are especially apparent in the succeeding pasture. The cost of such a plough, with a soam, or main 



chain for the leading horses to draw by, is about W. 1 he ordinary swingle-trees and harnessing suit. 

 With straps over the quarters of the leading horses to bear up the swingle-trees to their buttocks, and 

 a chain from the collars of the hind horses to bear up the soam chain. Ihis plough, with four horses, a 

 ploughman and a lad to drive, will do about an acre imperial per day, at a cost of about 1/. : no charge 

 being made for the common plough, as the land would require a furrow at any rate. Such ploughs are 

 made by Robertson Smith, at Drip (by Stirling), on the estate of Blair-Drummond. {Highland Soc. 

 Tram ' vol viii p 20f>.) On July 7th, 1843, Mr. Smith gave a lecture on this plough in \\ llhs s rooms, 

 London in which 'he exhibited the first subsoil plough which he had made, and which alter twenty years 

 use had not required the slightest alteration in the construction. A modification of the subsoil plough 

 by Mr Pusev is known as the Charlbury subsoil plough ; and another was made in Stirlingshire by 

 I\'lr Armstrong whose implement combines a common plough and a subsoil plough, and is considered 

 an important boon to small farmers, as facilitating among them the system of subsoil ploughing. 



B184—- 3637 IVilkie's improved friction wheel plough for two horses. The invention of the friction 

 wheel plough is claimed by Mr. Morton, an implement manufacturer of Leith Walk, Edinburgh, who 

 " conceived the idea of introducing a wheel into the bodv or bosom of the common plough, about fifteen 

 Inches in diameti r. to act as the sole," so far back as 1813. The average draught of the ploughs when 

 the wheel was applied was reduced about one fifth, or to about two cwt. and three quarters. He manu- 

 factured a number of these ploughs both for home and foreign use ; but in a short time, the farmers in 

 the neighbourhood of Edinburgh left them oh", giving as a reason for so doing, that they required more 

 attention from the ploughmen to grease the axle of the wheel, than the latter were willing to give. 

 {Card Mag vol. vi. p. '20!).) We may notice it, as a remarkable circumstance, that Professor Low, in 

 his Elements of Practical Agriculture, published in 1834, describes only Small's plough, without 

 mentioning Morion, Wilkie, or any other improver, and without once introducing the subject ot wheel 

 ploughs of any kind. The invention of the friction wheel is also claimed by Mr. E. Elliott, who lately 

 managed a farm near Shepperton, in the county of Middlesex. In the Farmer's Journal for August 1. 

 1831, an account of an experiment is given in which Wilkie's improved plough without a friction wheel 

 was tried against the same implement with a friction wheel, and both against the common swing plough in 

 use in Middlesex. Wilkie's plough, without the friction wheel, required four cwt. two quarters ; with 

 a friction wheel, three cwt. ; and the common Middlesex swing plough, six cwt. Notwithstanding 

 experiments of this kind, it is an undeniable fact, that the old, heavy, clumsy Middlesex plough, which 

 it appears requires twice as much strength to draw it as Wilkie's friction wheel plough, is still that com- 

 monly used in the county ! We cannot suppose that any class of men would persist in a practice which 

 they knew i.i be decidedly opposed to their own interest, and therefore we unavoidably conclude that in 

 ignorance, or prejudice, 'or both, we must seek for the cause of these men so obstinately adhering to 

 the practice of their forefathers. The truth is, as we have elsewhere observed, the farmers are the only 

 class of Englishmen who do not read. 



8185 —2617. Pearson's dr'iining plough has been used extensively by Sir C. M. Burrell in clayey soil, at 

 Knepp Castle, near Horsham, in Sussex, by which the land has been increased in value one third. The 

 drains are made in parallel lines about hi feet apart ; they are from 24 inches to 26 inches deep ; a tile is 

 laid in the bottom ; and, charging at the rate of 2s. a day per horse, the total cost, the tiles being made 

 on the spot, is about 52*. per acre. ((;. .V. 1840, p. 102.) 



81SG 2649. Comparative estimate of ploughs hu English agriculturists. Scotch agriculturists, with 



scarcely any exceptions, consider the Scotch swing plough as preferable to all others ; but since the 

 establishment of the Agricultural Society ol England, a number of experiments have been tried with 

 wheel ploughs and swing ploughs of various kinds, and the'general results are, that certain wheel ploughs 

 are of easier draught than swing ploughs, and that some English swing ploughs are of lighter draught 

 than the most approved Scotch swing plough. The progress of the inquiries of the English Agricultural 

 Society is thus summed up bv Mr. Pusey in an article published in November, 1H42 : — " At the time of 

 our foundation, four years "back, the Scotch iron swing-plough was stated to be the most perfect 

 form of plough. Lord Spencer having remarked that, from his observation of ploughing-matches, 

 he doubted whether sw big ploughs had any advantage over those with wheels, a prize was proposed 

 by our council for the best essay upon the subject, which was won by Mr. Handley, who applied the 



