114 



Ploughs and Ploughing. 



Vol. VI. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Ploughs and Ploughing. 



The immense concourse of persons who 

 assembled together on the second day of the 

 Exhibition of the Philadelphia Aoricultural 

 Society, to witness the trial of Ploughs, 

 showed very clearly the intense interest with 

 which the subject was viewed by all classes; 

 indeed, there is no object which at the pre- 

 sent time is at all comparable with it in 

 novelty, usefulness, or general importance. 

 Now, here is a new and legitimate excite- 

 ment of the public mind — a tide in our affairs, 

 which if taken at the flood would lead to for- 

 tune, in the best acceptation of the term : it 

 only needs to be taken up by some competent 

 and spirited individual and turned into the 

 proper channel, to become a source of the 

 greatest national advantage. We have so- 

 cieties almost innumerable for the encourage- 

 ment of science, art and manufactures; for 

 the furtherance of political, moral, and reli- 

 gious purposes, and the general improvement 

 of mankind, both at home and abroad; but 

 can any of them be of more real interest than 

 that, which should have for its single object 

 " the improvement of the plough and the en- 

 couragement of ploughmen ]" — an object of 

 primary importance, to which it is not possi- 

 ble for any one to bring the shadow of objec- 

 tion in any shape ; it is unattended with ex- 

 pense, danger or difficulty, and is calculated i 

 to bring into one bond all interests; a subject 

 of universal application, certain of obtaining 

 the approbation of all men, and, what is more, 

 of women also! for it admits of the union of 

 all classes, forming a pure, unadulterated 

 source of pleasure and amusement, unaccom- 

 panied by a single drawback, even on the 

 score of inutility and inexpediency ; interest- 

 ing all and benefiting all, and creating an 

 emulation of the most unexceptionable cha- 

 racter. I would therefore propose, that a so- 

 ciety be formed for the purpose of encourag- 

 ing the art of ploughing and the trial of 

 plo7ighs ; the members to be real, practical 

 men, who can handle the instrument, and, by 

 experience, judge of its merits ; not confining 

 the operations of the society to any particular 

 slate or part of the country, but opening its 

 exhibitions to every one who will bring a 

 well-appointed team and a person to guide it; 

 the premiums to consist of certificates of 

 merit, rather than of pecuniary rewards. 



Mr. D. O. Prouty was again the successful 

 competitor at the exhibition, as the maker of 

 the best plough. That gentleman appears to 

 me bound to show us the real and intrinsic 

 value of his plough for all kinds of work and 

 on various soils; and it would not be too much 

 for him to give us a day's ploughing for this 

 purpose, devoting six or eight hours to the 



business, and convincing us that the centre- 

 draught plough can be made to carry a me- 

 dium furrow over to an angle of 45°, or to 

 lay it flat; to work as well as any other 

 plough in gravelly soils, sod, or stubbles, and 

 at the same time requiring less power of 

 draught under all circumstances. He should 

 be prepared with a first-rate span of plough 

 horses, suitable harness and ploughs of differ- 

 ent sizes, with the dynanometer, all ready for 

 immediate operation, with a ploughman of 

 superlative ability to show the best that can 

 be done; at the same time encouraging any 

 respectable and practical man present, to 

 judge for himself by guiding the plough a 

 sufficient length of time to become acquaint- 

 ed with its "going." If I were that gentle- 

 man, I should not fear the result, and I would 

 take effectual means to make my plough 

 known throughout the country, by sending it 

 to different parts for trial; employing for this 

 purpose a competent agent to travel with the 

 instrument, constructed of two or three dif- 

 ferent sizes, with a handsome pair of horses 

 well accustomed to the work, which could in 

 an instant be transferred from the wagon con- 

 taining the ploughs to one of them with the 

 dynanometer attached, inviting a competition 

 with other ploughs throughout the country, 

 and making a point of being present at every 

 exhibition of agricultural societies, and en- 

 tering for the premium on "Ploughs and 

 Ploughmen." The plan would be by no means 

 impracticable, but be productive of the most 

 important results to all parties ; for if the 

 plough be, what I fully believe it is, its in- 

 troduction to general notice would be hailed 

 throughout the country ; and to prove this, it 

 would only be necessary to give every prac- 

 tical man an opportunity of judafing for him- 

 self by actual experience. This is by no 

 means more than its very general success 

 would warrant, or than, in my opinion, it de- 

 serves; but, as was observed by several prac- 

 tical men on the ground at its late exhibition, 

 the handles should be longer and straighter, 

 and the point of the share mifrht be sharp in- 

 stead of flat, thickening it a little as it extends 

 [ upward, so as to give it additional strength: 

 this could easily be done, and would, in all 

 probability, do away with the objection that 

 is made to cast-iron ploughs in general, 

 namely, the tendency of the point of the 

 share to wear away on the land-side, by 

 j v.'hich the ploughman is incapacitated from 

 guiding the plough aright. W. 



Philadelphia County. 



A CHARACTER that is sound in principle 

 may be habited in a rough exterior — but the 

 covering is not becoming. We make allow- 

 ances for such a character, which proves that 

 there is something defective. 



