196 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



April 



required for a strong team. He did not believe the 

 plow ■would go out of use in his day, though it is 

 barely possible. The axe was referred to as one of 

 the most important of agricultural implements, and 

 he claimed for Massachusetts the credit of making 

 the best axes that are used in the country. Carts 

 ■were next spoken of, and the question of the rela- 

 tive excellence of carts with narrow or wide wheels 

 was considered. He thought the narrow wheeled 

 carts better, because they were so much lighter. 

 Clumsy, heavy implements of all kinds should give 

 place to lighter ones where it is practicable. The 

 Michigan plows had failed to meet with favor at 

 the West. 



Mr. Ward, of Orange, said the reason that the 

 plows taken to the West failed, was because there 

 is no grit in the soil to scour the plows and keep 

 them bright. The steel plow, used there, keeps 

 smooth more easily in that soil, and therefore they 

 are the only plows used. The Michigan plow was 

 then spoken of as being superior to any, for general 

 use, in this State. 



Mr. Parsons, of Ludlow, said the farmers in his 

 vicinity were satisfied that the old-fashioned Hart- 

 ford plow was the best they had ever used. The 

 plow should be adapted to the use to which it is to 

 be applied ; and as the soil in Ludlow and vicinity 

 is hard, the short, Hartford plow is much preferred ; 

 and though the Michigan plow has been used there, 

 it is not found well adapted to the soil. Mr. P. 

 preferred a wide-wheeled cart, and he had used both 

 Kinds. He had never seen a mowing machine in 

 his town ; and the soil is so filled up with small flat 

 stones, that he did not think they could be used 

 profitably there. But where the eurfaoo is emooth, 

 he had no doubt they would prove of great value. 

 As to the hesitancy with which farmers accept new 

 machines, he said it was to be accounted for in the 

 fact that they are generally men who have no money 

 to spend for mere experiments. He had no doubt 

 that vast improvements had been made in agricul- 

 tural implements ; the hoe, for instance, has been 

 vastly improved, and he hoped that the wealthy 

 ■who have money to use in experiments, would con- 

 tinue to test machines, and then let the common 

 farmers have the benefit of the results. 



Mr. W. J. BucKMiNSTER, of the Ploughman, 

 said that if he is a public benefactor who makes 

 two blades of grass grow where one grew before, 

 he is also one who enables us to accomplish as 

 much in one hour as we did in two before. Several 

 of the new kinds of machines now coming before 

 the public were spoken of. The Corn Shelling ma- 

 chine was spoken of as good ; but at the same time 

 it does not follow that a machine will milk cows 

 well. The corn planting machine had been used 

 by a neighbor of his, who regretted that he did so, 

 because the corn did not come up well and evenly. 



Mr. Proctor wanted to hear something of the 



mowing machine which took the premium cflered 

 by the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. 



Mr. Flint replied that the name of the person 

 who entered the successful machine was Heath, of 

 Ohio, and it was operated by a Mr. Henderson. 

 The ■svhole of the experiments in reference to mow- 

 ing machines would appear in his report to the 

 Legislature in a few days, and therefore he did not 

 deem it necessary to speak of them now. 



Mr. Blake, of Boston, questioned whether a 

 proper test would show that the plows of fifty 

 years ago were equal to those of the present day. 

 The great reason why the comparison is thought 

 to be so favorable for the old plow is, that less was 

 required of plows then than now. He had tried 

 the Michigan plow in all kinds of soils, and he be- 

 lieved It to be best adapted to the wants of the 

 farmer, since with the same power you can go deep- 

 er, and the land is in as good tilth the first year as 

 it is the second with any other plow. He thought 

 it could be made to plow stony land by simply re- 

 moving the small, forward plow, then they will be 

 good plows to cover up stubble, corn stalks, or any 

 thing else. He liked a side-hill plow also. One 

 advantage is that so far as the plowing is begun it 

 is completed, and the disadvantage of carting ma- 

 nure across any plowed land will be obviated. 



Mr. Howard thought the opinions of the peo- 

 ple with regard to the value of plows were based 

 too much on the results in connection with the 

 narrow locality where they had used them. There 

 was no question that plows which would work well 

 in some soils will not do any thing in others. As 

 to the relative value of ancient or modern plows, 

 he thought the fact that earth will adhere more to 

 a wooden shovel than to an iron one would indicate 

 to any person that a modern iron plow must work 

 more easily than a wooden one. 



Mr. Brooks still contended that a wooden shovel 

 would work easier than an iron or a steel one, in 

 most circumstances, because there is less friction 

 between the wood and soil than between iron or 

 steel and the soil. Every body concedes that a 

 wooden shod sled runs easier than an iron shod one, 

 and a steel shod one easier than iron. 



Mr. BuCKMlNSTER inquired where the compara- 

 tive friction of wood and iron, in sleds, had been 

 tested. 



Mr. Brooks replied that nobody would dispute 

 the fact that a wooden sled run easier on bare 

 ground than an iron one. Without any very 

 satisfactory conclusion of the question, the matter 

 was dropped, and the subject for the next meeting 

 was announced to be, "Farming in iN'ew England 

 and the West." Adjourned. 



Never sat Die. — If you can't succeed at one 

 business, try another. If you fail as a cobbler, en- 

 ter yourself as a member of Congress. In short, do 



