266 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



same time have it set equarely on its sole, run 

 even with the power impelling it, and of light 

 draft, has cost an immense amount of thought, 

 labor, and a very large expenditure of money. 

 The mould-board must have the form of the 

 screw, in a considerable degree, in order to 

 twist the furrow-slice into millions of fine par- 

 ticles as it rolls it over and leaves it upside 

 down. The Holbrook ploughs did this so 

 thoroughly that when the furrow was eight or 

 ten inches deep, the most perfect seed-bed 

 was lefr, without the aid of any other too 

 upon it. 



Deep PlouKhing. 



The next great point aimed at is deep ploughing. 

 The Committee say : "The distance to which the 

 roots of a plant will extend when there is no phy- 

 sical obstruction to their progress through the soil, 

 is far greater than is usually suppposed by those 

 who have not actually witnessed their extension. 

 We have seen the roots of Indian corn extending 

 seve}i feet downward ; the roots of lucerne will 

 penetrate fifteen feet; onions will run downward 

 three feet where the physical condition of the soil 

 favors the extension of their range. It is obvious 

 that as the nutritive matters in the soil cannot 

 travel to the root, the latter must therefore go to 

 the former: and the further the root extends the 

 greater the amount of food which the plant can 

 obtain, and the greater must be its growth. The 

 roots of plants always develop themselves in the 

 direction of least resistance." 



A high degree of pulverization, however, is 

 not the only point to be gained ; among others, 

 one is, that a good plough will perfectly turn 

 under all weeds and grass on the surface, where 

 they will rot and be converted into food for 

 the plants we are cultivating. 



Several other points were also examined 

 with the greatest care by the committee^ and 

 the following are all specially set forth in the 

 report : To promote the germination of seeds. 

 To get clear of stagnant water from the surface. 

 To prevent the refrigeration of the soil by 

 evaporation. To secure the return of the 

 water evaporated by the plant in the form of 

 dew. To destroy the weeds in the soil. 



In investigating these, and all other points 

 under consideration, the committee were gov- 

 erned by a set of rules which were carefully 

 drawn np, and which they rigidly observed. A 

 most ingenious and perfectly-working instru- 

 ment to test the power required to draw the 

 ploughs was constructed by Mr. Henry Wa- 

 terman, of Hudson, the consulting engineer of 

 the society. Mr. Waterman's dynamometer is 

 in itself a great triumph of inventive genius, and 

 Is the only really satisfactory Instrument to 

 measure the power expended yet made. The 



most important poyits were fully examined, 

 viz : — 



1. Pulverizmg power. 



2. Non-liability to choke in stubble. 



3. Lightness of draft, considered in connec- 

 tion with pulverizing power. 



4. Ease of holding. 



5. Durability. 

 G. Cheapness. 



7. Excellence of inechanical work. 



8. Excellence of material. 



9. Thorough inversion and burial of weeds. 



10. Even distribution of wear. 



11. Regularity or trueness of turning and 

 carrying the furrow or sod. 



What the society most desired In these tests 

 was, to bring out the best plough for deep cul- 

 tivation, and Its large gold medal was offered 

 to the maker of the best plough to cut a fur- 

 row one foot deep, that three horses could prop- 

 erly handle. Mr. Webster's plough, which we 

 spoke of in the February article, cut a furrow 

 a foot deep and the slice two feet wide, and 

 required from four to six yoke of oxen. This 

 was not what the society wanted ; and it left 

 the question of width to the competitors, ex- 

 cept that it must not be less than five inches 

 deep, and three horses must be able to draw 

 it in actual use. 



Two ploughs were entered for this premium, 

 both of them, the committee say, "doing the 

 work which was called for." One was from 

 Collins & Co., Hartford, Conn., and the other 

 from F. F. Holbrook, Boston. The Collins 

 plough was of steel, weight 95 pounds. The 

 Holbrook of cast-iron, weight 139 pounds. 

 Both cut furrows 12 inches wide and 12 deep. 

 On ploughing the first furrow, the power re- 

 quired to draw the Collins' plough one yard, 

 was 6G5 pounds, and the Holbrook 632, On 

 the second furrow, the Collins C54 pounds, 

 and the Holbrook C32. Going through all 

 the points, it was decided that the Hol- 

 brook was best in eight points, and the 

 Collins in two, and in one they were equal. 

 Thus Holbrook was awarded the great medal, 

 and the credit of having produced a plough 

 that three horses could draw through laud 'hat 

 the committee say was extremely bad to 

 plough, and turn a furrow 12 inches deep and 

 12 inches wide. 



We cannot enter here Into any description 

 of the forms of ploughs that will execute such 



