170 



Premium Ploughs. 



Vol. V. 



Premium Ploughs. 



We copy from the pages of the Kentucky- 

 Farmer — " the organ of the Kentucky State 

 Agricultural Society" — a condensed, but 

 highly interesting and important account of 

 the trial of ploughs, which "came off" at the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Fair, held on the 

 13th of October, at which time the grand 

 premium of one hundred dollars was awarded 

 to Messrs. Prouty and Mears, for their flat 

 sod plough, and another of seventy-five dol- 

 lars, to Charles Howard of Hingham, for the 

 best plough to set the furrow at an angle of, 

 say 45°, the degree most preferred by many 

 of our best agriculturists, when the land is 

 clean. 



" The tests by which the decision was 

 made, were the comparative smoothness and 

 evenness of the work, and the ease, both to 

 the teams and operators, with which that was 

 accomplished, every operation being subject- 

 ed to the test of the dynamometer. 



Fifteen ploughs were started successively, 

 five hours being consumed in the trial. Each 

 competitor was allowed to furnish his own 

 ploughman, to make his furrow of whatever 

 depth and width he chose, and thus to give 

 his own specimen of the work of his own 

 plough : the dynamometer, or measure of the 

 power required to draw the plough, being ap- 

 plied to each, through two or more furrows : 

 this power was immediately noted down, with 

 the depth and width of the furrow carried. 



The Committee agreed in the opinion, that 

 the ploughs of Howard, and Prouty & Mears, 

 are managed with great ease and comfort by 

 the ploughman, and that each, when left to 

 itself, holds on its proper position and course, 

 when the sod is uniform and the soil free of 

 stones. They also agreed that the form and 

 position of the beam-handle of Ruggles' 

 plough, prevents the ploughman from walk- 

 ing erect and comfortably, wlien the plough 

 is in a position to make good work, and they 

 believe that when left to itself, it tends to 

 narrow the furrow-slice and run out; and, 

 therefore, that a constant, although slight ef- 

 fort on the part of the ploughman is requisite 

 to keep it in its place. It is true that, in the 

 hands of a skilful holder, this plough, in shal- 

 low and flat ploughing, makes as handsome 

 work as any, but where all make handsome 

 work, those are best which make the smallest 

 draught upon the team and the skill and com- 

 fort of the ploughman. 



The power required to turn over a given 

 quantity of earth by a plough, is a very im- 

 portant consideration ; this power can be mea- 

 Bured with greater accuracy than many of 



the Committee had supposed possible, before 

 they had witnessed the operation; for the dy- 

 namometer, inserted between the plough-beam 

 and the chain, measures with perfect correct- 

 ness the strength e.xerted by the team. Now, 

 suppose the strength applied be the same that 

 would be required to raise 336 lbs. over a sin- 

 gle pulley, and suppose, also, that the depth 

 of the furrow is 6^ inches and the width 13 

 inches ; then by multiplying 13 by 6^ you 

 have 84, with a fraction. Now, if 336 lbs. 

 of power will take up and turn over 84 inches 

 of earth, then 112 lbs. will turn 28 inches — 

 and, tried in this manner, the ploughs exhi- 

 bited showed the following results — the 

 power in each case being 112 lbs. 



Ploughs for lapping Furrows. 



Howard, of Hingham 29i inches. 



Riiggles, of Worcester 24 " 



Wilson, Deerfield 211 " 



Stevens, Barnet, Vt 20 " 



Steward, Newbury, (Scotdi) Ifli " 



Bergen, Brooklyn, N. y ]8 " 



Barnabv, Itliaca, N. Y 17f " 



Whiting, Rochester 18 " 



Flat Furrows. 



Prouty & Mears, Boston 27J " 



Howard, of Hingham 25 " 



Ruggles, Worcester 24 " 



Barnaby, Ithaca 18|- " 



Whiting, Rochester ]4 " 



2d plough by Prouty 26 " 



do. by Howard 25 " 



The above table, containing results arrived 

 at, not by estimation but by actual measure- 

 ment, is given to the public, in the full belief 

 that it will be acceptable to all farmers, and 

 especially useful to many manufacturers of 

 ploughs themselves, for here are exhibited 

 some remarkable and highly important facts, 

 for we find 112 lbs. of power, applied to How- 

 ard's plough, turning over 29|- inches of 

 earth, while the same power, at one of Mr. 

 Whitingr's ploughs, will turn only 14 inches 

 — a difference of more than 100 per cent. ! 

 The structure of the plough, therefore, must 

 be a most important matter to the farmer's 

 cattle; and the Committee think they may 

 add, that the excellence of the work per- 

 formed with the plough was, with few excep- 

 tions, in the direct ratio of the ease of draught ; 

 they, therefore, cannot forbear to call the at- 

 tention of farmers to the vast difference in 

 the power required to move ploughs, which 

 are all, doubtless, considered excellent in 

 those sections from whence they are brought. 

 At this trial, ploughs were exhibited from 

 places hundreds of miles distant from each 

 other, and all subjected to the same test — a 

 test as accurate as scales and figures can 

 make, and by which it is proved, that the 

 work which one team of horses or one yoke 

 of oxen can perform at one plough, will re- 

 quire two yoke at another ! Farmers judge 

 by comparison, and when holding the best 



