PLOUGH. 



PLOUGH. 



depth; he can work with it on almost all lands, 

 and in all weathers when ploughing can be 

 done at all. 



The Wheel Plough (with high Gallowses}. This 

 derives its name from having the appendage 

 of a Carriage and wheels. The body of the 

 plough is essentially the same as that of the 

 swing plough, and notwithstanding the different 

 form of its beam, the point of draught shoold 

 be the same as that of the swing plough, 

 namely, to cut a line drawn from the horse's 

 shoulder to the share or point of resistance. 



In the Report to the Board of Agriculture from 

 the county of Leicester, published in 1808, it 

 is stated, "that more than thirty years ago, 

 wheels were first applied to the fore-end of the 

 beam, and it was found by 'pitching' the plough 

 a little deeper, and setting the wheels so as to 

 prevent its drawing too deep, the wheels were 

 a sufficient guide, and the plough required no 

 one to hold it except in places of difficulty." 

 If properly adjusted,- a lad of 14 years of age 

 can manage it ea.sily ; and the writer of this 

 article once saw, at a ploughing match, a lad 

 having a plough of this sort the only one in 

 the field walking leisurely beside it, to the 

 great astonishment of the other competitors, 

 and from whom, to their still greater astonish- 

 ment, he carried away the prize. This lad had 

 been taught ploughing only a few months. 



When one wheel only is attached to the 

 plough, some persons give the preference to a 

 small one to run upon the unploughed land, as 

 it is less likely to clog up, and requires no al- 

 teration towards the end of the furrow ; but 

 others prefer 'a larger wheel which runs in the 

 furrow, as it has an even bottom to travel over, 

 and correctly regulates the width of the furrow- 

 slice. It also more effectually facilitates the 

 turning round at the headland, particularly if 

 the horses have to go to the right hand. The 

 larger wheel to run in the furrow, therefore, is 

 best for general purposes, and, with a lever 

 attached to it, is rendered very easy of adjust- 

 ment. 



In the use of a gauge for the depth of plough- 

 ing, whether of two wheels, one wheel, or a 

 foot, the plough should be so regulated as to 

 press but lightly on the ground when passing 

 over it; thus admitting as little of the counter- 

 acting force between the wheel and share as 

 possible. 



In the Prize Essay by Henry Handley, Esq., 

 the advantages of wheels are clearly set forth, 

 and his arguments in favour of their us"e have 

 since been very strikingly confirmed by the 

 trials made under the directions of Philip 

 Pusey, Esq. 



The silver medal of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England was awarded to John 

 Clarke, of Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, for the 

 invention of a plough (see Jour, of Roy. Agr. 

 Soc., vol. i. p. 66) for the purpose of ridge cul- 

 ture ; by a*n easy transition of shape, which 

 is accomplished in a very simple manner, this 

 implement becomes, 



1. A double torn or ridge plough. 



2. A moulding plough. 



3. A horse-hoe, or cleaning plough. 



4. A skeleton, or broad-share plough. 

 Subsoil Ploughs. At the thought of a subsoil 



910 



plough, says Mr. Ransome, our minds turn at 

 once to James Smith, of Deanstone, as the gen- 

 tleman who has opened a very interesting and 

 mportant view of tillage, by the system of sub- 

 soil ploughing, and thereby breaking the under 

 soil without turning it up to the surface. His 

 ^radical knowledge has long been devoted to 

 he inte^sts of agriculture, and the results have 

 fteen most beneficial. The plough he invented 

 for the purpose is too well known to need a de- 

 scription, though we should consider our Essay 

 ' icomplete without a sketch of it. See pi. 17, o; 

 also g. 



Following the invention of James Smith, of 

 Deanstone, was another of a different and 

 much lighter description, the invention of Sir 

 Edward Stracey, Bart., Rackheath, and the 

 plough is called by the latter name. It answers 

 the purpose of deep ploughing, that is, from 10 

 to 16 inches below the surface, and when pre- 

 ceded by the common plough, which is th 

 plan recommended, the depth below the sur- 

 face-ground is just as much again as the firs 

 plough effects. 



This plough answers admirably for under- 

 ploughing grass lands, and is made into a sub- 

 turf plough by changing the wheel gear in 

 front, to that of a carriage and two wheels. 



P. Pusey, Esq., in an interesting paper in, 

 the Eng. Agr. Soc. Journ. (vol. i. p. 434), gives 

 an account of a plough, made to his order by 

 Charles Hart, of Wantage ; at the hinder part 

 of this plough was fixed a strong tine, some- 

 thing like those on Biddel's scarifier, for the 

 purpose of under-ploughing the soil. This tine 

 was made to rise or lower at pleasure; and 

 from the description of its use and operation, 

 given in the above paper, we should think it a 

 valuable invention, as it may be easily attached 

 to a plough of the common sort, and removed 

 when not wanted. 



Skeleton, or Cleaning Ploughs, are often the 

 transformations of 'common ploughs for that 

 purpose, by taking the mould-boards and shares 

 off, and substituting for the shares subsoil or 

 cleaning shares, with prongs. See PI. 17, f. 



The plan of laying furrows in one direction, 

 so as to have neither ridge nor water furrows, 

 has within the last year attracted more than 

 common' attention in Britain. It has led to a 

 careful inquiry into the the system of ploughing 

 pursued in Kent, and there seems to be a dis- 

 position among many first-rate agriculturists 

 to try the pjan, provided lighter implements 

 can be furnished for the purpose, not exceed- 

 ing the power of two horses' draught. To this 

 object some eminent practical farmers have 

 turned their attention, and a plough, made 

 under the direction of Mr. William Smart, a 

 farmer of great respectability and experience 

 at Rainham, in Kent, bids fair to open a new 

 and very important view of the mechanical 

 principles of the turn-rest plough, which he 

 has remodelled ; and it may be made equally 

 applicable to the power of two or four horses. 



This gentleman, after many trials, arrived 

 at the conclusion that, inasmuch as the work 

 of the turn-rest plough depended on its wedge- 

 like construction, its form, could only be cor- 

 rect in proportion to its approach to the per- 

 fect wedge; and this form, obtained by straight 



