1849. 



mii: <;i;\i;ski; kaiimkk. 



85 



THE PLOW -ITS HISTORY AND IMPROVEMENTS. 

 r,Y HORACE I. EMRRV. 



Friend Mqorr: — With what cuts I have been 

 enabled to obtain in time, I resume the subject 

 commenced in your March number. 

 [ c! ing of the improvers 



of the plow. Among others, it is hut justice to name 

 E. ti. Matthews as one of the most ingenious of 

 the later improvers] but more particularly as an in- 

 by which the wood work of the 

 plow is made with perfed uniformity and precision 

 not otherwise attainable, and by the aid of which six 

 to twelve men are enabled to make more and better 

 plows Chan three or four times the number could make 

 in the usual way. The effect of the use of this 

 hinery has been to give a character to the plows 

 Id to establish the confidence of the 

 public in I Hence. It has, also, in a great 



measure, been the key to the success of some of the 

 st establishments engaged in their manufacture. 

 With regard to the form of plows, much improve 1 

 ment has been made by combining more perfectly the 

 power of the wedge and screw, (which, by the way, 

 are the only two natural powers combined in the 

 I boaTdof the plow). Very many patterns pre- 

 sent a broad and thick, stunt 

 wedge, with too much of a cross 

 cut to the edge, not unlike that 

 shown in Fig. 1, (of plow in- 

 verted,) while others, of later 

 and more approved model, are 

 thinner and more pointed, as Fig. 2. 



shown in Fig. 2. This dif- 

 :.> is observable between 

 the American and the ap- 

 proved w 7 rought iron English 

 and Scotch plows. One great <■■ )» A\% 



obstacle in making plows after this form, as shown 

 in Fig. 2, has heretofore been the deficiency in the 

 strength of cast iron when made thin and pointed and 

 sufficiently hard. Such, however, have been the 

 improvements in the combination of the various iron 

 ores, as to obtain strength, with less weight and 

 thickness, nearly equal to malleable iron. Although 

 rather soft, this iron bears the hardening process to 

 a lmost any degree, and can be used in those parts most- 

 ly exposed to wear, without endangering the strength. 

 As this fact has become known, the cast-iron plow has 

 become more pointed and wedge form, and the ap- 

 proved modern American plow will not suffer by a 

 comparison with those of England or Scotia ml. 



Much depends upon the curves given to the mould- 

 board. They should be so formed as to bear the 

 earth equally and lightly over the whole surface, and 

 these curves carried so far as to completely invert 

 the soil. In grass or sod land it is not desirable to 

 break the furrow slice, and good length of mould- 

 board is required — nearly in the proportion of width 

 to length, as one to four — while, in stubble and tilled 

 land, a shorter mould-board is preferred, say width 

 to length, as one to two or two and a half: the same 

 rule should be observed in both cases. 



I have formed the opinion, from close observation, 

 that the best form for plows (and the best plows now 

 in use come very nearly to this standard.) is that 

 which will lift, carry, ana turn the soil in straight 

 lines, from that point upon the forward part of the 

 share where it first begins to rise, to the point where 

 it leaves the mould-board. For instance, in a furrow 



twelve inches wide, the sward would begin to 



alter the point had penetrated three to live ini 



one edge of the slice would rise from this point by 

 the forward motion oi the plow, until, at the point 

 where it leas the h : the mould board, it 



is twelve inches from the bottom of the furrow. 

 What ! WOuld ! 'nil the Btraight line would he ;i 



fulness to a straight en these ! 



This fulness to a straight lino should apply not only 



to one r^^o, of the slice, but to the v h ■ of 



the mould-board. 



Again, to work easily and turn a smooth furrow, 

 the slice should also be fully supported c 



Fig. 3. therefore the mould- 



board should ba 

 fulness at right angles 

 or nearly so, with 

 straight lines before 

 described, and as rep- 

 resented in Fig. 3. — 

 When the mould-boards are so formed as to present 

 irregular curves, or so as to lack this fulness, or to be 

 too full, the friction becomes unequal, the draft of team 

 and labor of plowman are increased, to say nothing of 

 the imperfection of the work performed. 



In Fig. 4 is shown a form which, although regular, 

 is not in accordance Fig. 4. 



with the foregoing 

 description. A plow 

 which presents the 

 straight lines in these 

 directions is inferior 

 to the first in operation, in all respects. Therefore, 

 if I am correct, a farmer purchasing a plow will find 

 a simple straight-edge of great service in making a 

 good selection. 



Thus much for the form of the mould-board. — 

 Another improvement now adopted in nearly all late 

 patterns, is that of forming the share so as to renew 

 the front portion of the plow and the landside, so as to 

 extend the whole length and next the share. By this 

 arrangement the strength of the whole ba se and front, 

 of the plow is preserved, and when the old point and 

 landside are replaced by new ones, the original 

 strength, form and effect are restored. The chilling 

 process being applied to the edge of the share and the 

 base of the landside and mould-board, those parts are 

 not only made to' wear sharp, and of three or four 

 times more service, but actually create less friction — 

 the difference being the same as that between steel 

 and iron Bleigh shoes upon the ground. Albany, 

 JY Y., March, 1849. . 



[To be continued.] 



Bonks. — That world-renowned chemist. Liebig, 

 says that a single pound of bone dust contains as 

 much phosporic acid as one hundred pounds of w ! 

 From this we can easily perceive that there are 

 bones wasted on every 'farm sufficient to manure 

 the entire wheat crop. * This, to many, w ill doub 

 ■ strange, but it is nevertheless true. 



The Salt found in the great salt lake in Califor- 

 nia, is said to be su now in use, for 

 preserving butter, beef, &c. It is the strongest ever 

 yet discovered. 



Never grumble at what you cannot prevent: you 

 have no right to grumble at what you can prevent. 



