No. 5. 



Ploughs. — Advantages of Planting. 



157 



over, and very much of the ploughing so 

 done should rather be called pushing — doing 

 but little for the renovation of the soil, and 

 less for the eradication of the weeds. Indeed, 

 on many of our light and kindly loams, the 

 double-furrow plough would prove a most 

 valuable instrument, expediting the labour, 

 and performing better than any single plough 

 whatever, the requisite pressure or resistance 

 being given to the rising furrow-slice, with- 

 out the care or labour of the ploughman, or 

 the possibility of error or evil, arising from 

 neglect, for one plough is ever acting on the 

 other, keeping both to their work, and secur- 

 ing at all times the necessary degree of power 

 to take up the furrow to a proper depth, to 

 carry it over to the given distance, and to 

 place it at the proper angle, and all, without 

 the least attention on the part of the con- 

 ductor of the plough. These ploughs are 

 constructed fq§ either one or two wheels, one 

 being, however, sufficient. 



Now, how easily could such a plough be 

 introduced amongst us as a pattern ; it is only 

 for a few individuals to subscribe a small sum 

 each, and send at once to the maker of them 

 in Staffordshire, with orders to forward one 

 by the next packet from Liverpool, which is 

 now, by rail-road, near by, and it might arrive 

 in time for spring use ; and, if it be found a 

 desirable instrument, others could be made 

 from it, and possibly with improvements. 

 And, at the same time, I would propose to 

 extend the subscription, so as to embrace the 

 opportunity of obtaining another plough of a 

 different construction, which is made at 

 Southwark, in London, by a person whose 

 name is Jefferis ; it is called " the wet and 

 dry-weather plough ;" and, when the land is 

 80 dry and hard that no other plough can be 

 made to touch it, this plough would be found 

 to enter and turn it up to any depth, and with 

 the greatest facility ; it is long and heavy, as 

 it must be, to resist the pressure upon such 

 occasions, but the work which it makes under 

 such circumstances is truly astonishing: as- 

 suredly, if one of these ploughs had been on 

 the ground at the time of the exhibition of 

 the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, the 

 plonghing-match would not have proved a 

 failure. The shares are of different widths, 

 a very narrow one being used when the land 

 is very dry and hard; they are of cast iron, 

 the underside being hardened by a peculiar 

 process while casting, so that the upper sur- 

 face, being soft, wears quickly away, leaving 

 the under edge sharp as a knife ; and this is 

 the case with the point also, which always 

 thus keeps sharp and narrow, and in a straight 

 line with the outer line of the share. 



Now, I wonder if the Philadelphia Agri- 

 cultural Society could be induced to patronize 

 the proposal of sending to England for these 



ploughs, and perhaps another instrument or 

 two which are not at present in use amongst 

 us, the seed-sowing box* particularly, and also 

 a few varieties of seeds, &c., of which we 

 have heard such high commendations, and 

 which could be distributed amongst its mem- 

 bers and friends for use and cultivation in the 

 spring ? To those of us who reside at such 

 a distance from the place of import, the ar- 

 rangement would be of great importance, and 

 in no way could the Society confer so great a 

 service on the cause of improved husbandry. 

 Subscriber. 



Luzerne County. 



* [Rennet's seed-sowing box — assuredly one of the 

 most valuable implements ever invented — has been 

 made in this country, by Mr. Lehman, late of German- 

 town, now of Lebanon: would that gentleman inform 

 us through the pages of the Cabinet w!)cre it might be 

 seen, and if they can be obtained, and at what price 7 



An engraving of it may be found in the 4th vol. of 

 the Pli. Ag. Trans., but from that view of it, the whole 

 instrument, particularly the carriage, is too heavily 

 constructed. Would Mr. Lehman state if that be a 

 correct drawing?] Ed. 



Advantages of Planting. 



"I KNEW a certain old military officer who, 

 during his early years, was a captain in a 

 militia regiment ; his brother officers were a 

 gay set of fellows and were continually 

 drawing on their private incomes, often com- 

 ing to him to borrow money ; but he made it 

 a rule never to spend more than his own pay, 

 and as to money he had none to lend. He 

 went down to his estate every spring and au- 

 tumn, and planted as many acres of trees as 

 his rental would allow him, his planting giv- 

 ing him a perpetual plea of poverty. At a 

 certain period, he retired on his half-pay;' a 

 large family was growing up around him, but 

 his woods were growing too. Many a time 

 have I seen him, mounted on an old brood 

 mare, with a sort of capacious game-bag 

 across her loins, with his gun slung at his 

 shoulder, his saws and pruning-knives strap- 

 ped behind his saddle, going away into his 

 woods; and I can imagine the profound satis- 

 faction which the old gentleman, through a 

 long course of years must have felt in the 

 depths of his forest solitudes ! He is still liv- 

 ing at an advanced age; his family is large, 

 and has been expensive, but his woods are 

 large also, and no doubt their thinnings have 

 proved very grateful thinnings of his family 

 charges." — Howitt. 



A Large Hog. — Dr. S. D. Martin, at the 

 Clark County Fair, Kentucky, exhibited a fat 

 hog, of the Woburn breed, which weighed 

 nine hundred and six pounds, and for which 

 he obtained the premium. 



