AND HORTICULTUkAL REGISTER. 



vol.. \l X.I 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoricultubai. Waeehouse.) 

 BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER U, 1840. 



[NO. 19. 



N . E . FARMER 



TRIAL OF PLOUGHS AT WORCESTER. 

 No. II. 



The trial of ploughs at Worcester on the I3th 

 October, has created so much interest in the agri- 

 cultural cominunity, that wo continue our remarks 

 upon it, our limits in the last N. E. Farmer oblig- 

 ing us to cut short our observations. 



The award of the Committee of the premium of 

 one hundred dollars to Prouty &, Mears, for the 

 plough best adapted to lay the furrow slice Hat, and 

 to Charles Howard, for the plough best adapted to 

 j lay it at an oblique angle, the premium of seventy- 

 five dollars, have given, we believe, general satis- 

 i faction. Where men's private interests or friend- 

 ships are immediately affected, universal acquies- 

 cence is scarcely to be e.\pected. In a case of 

 j competition so close, and in which the claimants 

 j come up in a line in a sort of lock-step, as the 

 state prisoners march to their work, almo.-it tread- 

 ing upon the heels of each other, it is extremely 

 j difficult to distinguish between them. Our own 

 , judgment would have given a somewhat different 

 award from that of the Committee ; but we have 

 not for that reason, any less respect for the judg- 

 ment of the Committee. They hail more and dif- 

 ferent elements on which to form their opinions 

 than what we possessed ; and the impartiality and 

 disinterestedness of their decision are unquestiona- 

 ble. 

 j The report of the sub-comn)ittee, which is drawn 

 I up with ability, is silent in some respects, where 

 1 information was desired, and the public had some 

 reason to expect it. This may have arisen from a 

 strong desire to satisfy early the impatience of the 

 community to see their report. 

 j In the conditions of the award, regard, it was 

 I said, was to be had " to the strength of the plough, 

 easiness of draft, excellence of the work it performs, 

 and its cheapness." The Committee rest mainly 

 upon the easiness of draft. Nothing is said of the 

 strength of the respective ploughs nor of their c/ica/;- 

 ness. We heard no statement of price required or 

 given in, though it may have been done without 

 our knowledge. 



In respect to the "excellence of the work" per- 

 formed by the plough, "the committee think they 

 may add that the excellence of the work perform- 

 ed with tire ploughs, was with few o.\ceptions in 

 the direct ratio of the ease of draft." These few 

 e.Tceptions being left both in number and name, to 

 conjecture, the assertion of the committee may 

 safely stand. We wish, however, they had been 

 more explicit. We have no hesitation, and we are 

 willing to risk what little agricultural reputation 

 we have, in saying that the be.«t work in lay- 

 ing the furrow slice at an oblique angle, was 

 done by James Stewart, of West Newbury, with 

 Wilkie's Scotch plough. We refer particularly to 

 the work performed in the afternoon, and not seen, 

 we believe except by a few of the Committee. It was 

 beautiful and e.xact, and approached the perfection 

 ofrheart. The work done by the Barnet plough 



was admirable. The work done by the ploughs of 

 Kuggles &. Co., was excellent, and especially as 

 seen the ensuing day at the county ploughing-niatch, 

 though the efforts of the ploughman in the man- 

 agement of this plough, (himself exceedingly skil- 

 ful,) were so much mure severe than were neces- i 

 sary, that some persons pleasantly suggested that 

 the dynamometer should be applied to him as well ! 

 as to the plough. 



The furrows, where the trial was had, were too 

 short for the work to be done to the best advan- : 

 tage ; and the different ploughings should not have 

 been laid upon each other, but each ploughing 

 should have been kept wholly distinct from its ' 

 neighbor. In an experiment entirely novel among 

 us, it is not surprising that the arrangements should 

 not have been perfect ; but it is surprising that they ■ 

 should have been so unexceptionable as they were. 



Several interesting points of discussion came up ; 

 and questions were involved in the case, which 

 could hardly have been anticipated. In one mat- 

 ter we should be at issue with an opinion maintain- 

 ed by many persons; whether held and acted up- 

 on by the committee, we do not know. We will 

 state the case. 



The premium, it was understood, should belong 

 to the plough. Now in order to determine the ex- 

 cellence of a plough by actual trial, should the 

 skill of the ploughman be at all taken into conside- 

 ration ? Many gentlemen were of opinion that it 

 should not be : because, it was said, that a skilful 

 ploughman, with a comparatively poor implement, 

 would do better work than a poor ploughman with 

 a good plough. In such a trial as this, therefore, 

 upon this presumption it would seem as though 

 skill and excellent management in ploughing were ' 

 likely to be prejudicial to success, because, in a 

 result at all doubtful, it might be said, that the 

 good work was the effect of the ploughman's supu- !■ 

 rior art. If any improper bias could be supposed i 

 to have operated in this case, certainly not inten-, ' 

 tionally nor consciously, this was likely to have its ' 

 influence, as there were in the field two, perhaps 

 three ploughmen of masterly skill. He this, how- j 

 ever, as it may, we have no disposition to give ! 

 any encouragement, directly or indirectly, to igno- 

 rance, which is avoidable, or to indolence or neg- 

 ligence in any case. We have no desire for farm- 

 ing implements which will go of their own accord, 

 and equally well under a careless as a careful su- 

 perintendence. We therefore, without a question, 

 regard that as the best implement, which in the best 

 hands wilt do the best loork. The excellence of the 

 work which it is capable of performing is the test 

 of the excellence of the implement, as far as that 

 point is concerned. In the final judgment of the 

 Committee various other matters were of course to 

 be considered. The cheapness of agricultural in- 

 struments is a matter of much importance. On 

 this point the Committee have given us no light. 

 The first matter to be sought after in an agricultu- 

 ral implement is, that it should be suited to the 

 purpose for which it is designed. Next to this its 

 durability and strength are to be considered. These 

 points being secured, its cheapness comes next. 



Ornament or embellishment are quite secondary 

 matters and often out of place ; save only the gen- 

 eral consideration, that the more handsome and 

 finished an implement is, the more care will gene- 

 rally be taken of it. The expenses of a farmer 

 for tools and carriages, on a large farm especially, 

 are always great, and must deiuund his attention, 

 unless he means to live by borrowing, a habit which 

 is utterly disgraceful and mean, and which renders 

 a man a perfect nuisance to his neighbors. 



In respect to rollers, for example, we have known 

 the prices vary from seven to fifty dollars, and a 

 roller costing fifteen dollars was as good as we 

 could desire. For cutting machines we have 

 known paid three dollars, and have paid sixtythree 

 dollars fir one of Eastman's. Green's at thirty, 

 has been perfectly effectual. We mention these 

 cases to show how much expense is often incurred 

 without any advantage. 



We did nut learn the prices of all the ploughs 

 presented for trial, and could have wished the com- 

 mittee had given them, since the cheapness of the 

 implement was to be taken into their calculation. 

 Wilkie's Scotch plough being made almost wholly 

 of wrought iron, beam as well as handles, excepting 

 the mould-board, must be an expensive instrument ; 

 and the difficulty of handling by persons unused to it, 

 will prevent its exteniive adoption among us. We 

 believe the excellent form of the mould-board of this 

 plough might be preserved ; and framed with wood 

 by some ofuur ingenious mechanics, it would come 

 much into use. The Barnet plough, in which this 

 has been to a degree attempted, is priced at seven 

 dollars, but made far in the interior where labor 

 and materials are low. The Bergen plough, capa- 

 ble of doing very good work, sells far seven dol- 

 lars, but the worbmanship is ordinary and coarse. 

 The plough of Barnaby &, Mooers, of Ithaca, N. Y., 

 called the Supi rsedkr, with two mould-boards, 

 and made in a substantial and neat manner, sells 

 for twelve dollars. The No. of Howard's plough 

 which obtained the premium, is sold for twelve dol. 

 lars, hut this without roller or cutter. The plough 

 of Prouty (Si Mears which obtained the premium, is 

 sold without roller or cutter for eleven and a half 

 dollars. With other prices we are not acquainted. 

 The farmer who would live by his farm, must prac- 

 tice the most rigid economy ; and we recommend 

 to him, where his great object, the doing of his 

 work in the best manner, can be attained without 

 it, to pay nothing for his fancy ; unless with one 

 only exception, his industrious wife wants a new 

 gown or bonnet. 



As it respects the manner in which the furrow 

 slice should be laid, whether perfectly flat or at 

 an oblique angle, as we have said, this depends as 

 much upon the adroitness of the ploughman as up. 

 on the form of the plough, There are exceptions, 

 however, to this remark, as with the Scotch plough 

 it is almost impossible to lay the furrow slice flat. 

 The Scotch farmers never practice this kind of 

 ploughing, Where land is to be ploughed, and 

 without other cultivation than that of harrowing, 

 immediately laid down to grass again, a practice 

 which in many cases is much to be commended, 



