i^OL. YIIL 



PMis ke d by Jo„>, B. Rdssel... at ^r^. 62 ^Torih MarU. o.,..,, ^,a tte Jl^kuUural //««Ao«.v. j.-Thomas G.^eT^^^^^^I^oV. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1830. 



No. 86. 



RIGINAI, COMMUMC ATIONS. 



FOK THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



IPROVED RINGS FOR BREAKING 

 STEERS. 



Pig- 1. 



Open. To be shut 

 cold with the tongs by 

 a grip after being at- 

 tached to the nose. 



! being the form of the ring when attacked to the 

 vary in size as occasion, may require, 

 ed by the smiths a cold shxtt. 

 n '-inch braziers' rods is about the size requisite. 

 BREAKING STEERS. 

 FESSEnoE.f — 111 ypiir very useful pn|)er of 

 h iiii-tant, is a comiriiinicatioii respecting the 

 iig of Steers, which is very good. Still a 



jbettor mode may be a.loptetl, with a saving of I clinej to visit the blacksmith's shop to ho of much 

 miich time and lahcr. profit to their owners. 



I The course 1 have pursued is, to have them 



in the first phice. 'J'ake them to the black 

 smith's, have them snugly fastened in the frame 

 and with a sharp, smooth instrument, pierce tlieii 

 noses ; then repeat the operation with an iron very 

 hot ; after which insert a ring, of the form here 

 represented (Jig. 1.)— open to admit it to its place ; 

 then to he shut cold with the large tongs generally 

 i: ' .^e by the smiths. This o|)eration is simple and 

 (jUM-kly done, at a trifling expense, which is no 

 obstruction to the animal's feeding, and is only 

 soro for a few days ; when the animals become 

 perfectly submissive and fit for use in as many 

 days as would requite weeks in the ordinary me- 

 thnd of breaking to the yoke. If this informa- 

 tion is worthy of a place in the New Ejigiand 

 Farmer, you will please to insert it. 

 Respectfully yours, 



A SUBSCRIBER 

 Canandaigua, M Y. March 9, 1830. 



roRTHE NEW ENGLAND I-AKMEK. 



TIIEPLOUGH, 



From its importance, justly holds the most con- 



2. The next cUiss of wrought iron (doughs as- 

 jsumcs a variety of forms, being dependent on the 

 eye of the smith, for their construction. There 

 is no certainty of their being alike. They are li- 

 able to become loose at the juncture of share and 

 mould hoard, and about the holts that pass through 

 the thin plate of which they are made ; and also 

 to get too much of a tendency to land by reason 

 of the stretching of the wing of the share in 

 sh.-irpening. They are usually inclined to crowd 

 ofi; rather than raise and turn over the furrow 

 slice. Many of them, however, have proved verv 

 good. 



3. The third ciiss, or wrought iron, with steel 

 spring mould hoard, although very similar to the 

 last described clas$ ; If well made, will probably 

 besr rough usage*, ng rocks, stumps, &c. bet- 

 ter than any other. 



•I. The fourth class, or wrought iron share and 

 coulter, with cast iron land side and mould board 

 is known by thename of Howard's Patent. The 

 two largest sizes of this class aie certainly the 

 best of the lockal-coulter variety, they are partic- 

 ularly adapted lo breaking uj) land that is filled 



spicuoiis place among the instruments ofhi.'sband-j with roots that .iiav be cut off by the plough 

 ry, andtnere is none that admits of, or has at- They are good in grass land, making smooth" auu 

 tamed !o greater diversity of form and material handsome workiThe form of the mould hoard par- 

 in Its structure If we look back to the days of take, too much of a combination of straight lines a» 

 ourladiers and contemplate the relics of their | in the Jefferson |lrinciple; which gives it atendencv 

 giant-ploughs, some ten or twelve feet long, or if to crowd off ratKerthan raise and turn over the 

 ...•,n^e the gradual footsteps of improvement, slice-leaving it et^T-md hard ; also the coulter 

 ; shall find that the plough has attracted the following the point of the plough allows it to clo-- 



attention of the inventive spirit of the age. Since 

 the establishment of the patent oflice, there has 

 been issued about one hundred patents for either 



real or s ipposed improvement on the plough. 



Formerly they were constructed of wood, with 

 very little iron about them, save the coulter and 

 share, now we find them of wrought iron ; 

 wrought iron and steel, with spring mould boarl.s ; 

 wrought and cast iron, and others almost entirely 

 of cast iron, and this made to assume a great va- 

 iety of forms and sizes. Now a question arises, 



and causes it to require from one fifth to one third 

 more power to cut and turn over a furrow slice of 

 equal dimensions than the detached or knife coul- 

 ter, which is set about two inches in advance of 

 the point of the share, and so as to cut half an 

 inch of the land side of the plougli. The travel 

 and attendance to and from the smith's, together 

 with his fees, make too large nn item to pass un- 

 noticed in considering this variety. 



5. We now come to the fifth class, or cast iron 



r - .1 1- . . .. ' '-plough. Here \ve are iiresented with a /ri-cit vn 



how is the farmer to make a jiidcbus selection, '•,(• c i • ''"''"."'""''' ^ fe'^^t va- 



• ■ - ■' =cicL.iuij, riety ol forms and sizes, but it should be remem- 



bered, that all the castings for a particular |)atterii 



from this iunumorable host .' An answer may 

 best ho given by those who have examined care- 

 fully the construction of the different im[ilements, 

 and who have thoroughly tried the greatest num- 

 ber of them in the field. 



Having had some acquaintance with ploughs of 



all the above classes, I feel disposed to offer a few I,..- i r j. i i " 



,. ,v,,,i .1 .■ . "','" "^" trial, are di.*no.sed to deny. I am aware that ma 



remarks on the resiiective characters of those that ..„ I i a- i. i • ■• , "'i'"'" 



[ . eu 1 1 • "y '''>^'^ '"^•■1 offered to the public that were bad 



liavc tallen under my observation. i i • • - ■ " '^"'" "'^"- "<"* 



are exactly alike ; so that if we should find a 

 good cast iron plough, we may be certain of pro- 

 curing others like it in all respects. That ploughs 

 of this descrijliou may be used to advantage on 

 most soils, few, if any, who have given them a fair 



1. The old wooden plough with wrought iron 

 sliare and coulter, has generally jiroved good in 

 breaking up rough, heavy, rooty, sward land ; but 

 in no instance have I seen the work performed 

 with no little expenditure of strength, of man and 

 beast, as with the iron plough of equal size, it is 

 next to impossible to find two, even from the same 

 maker, that are alike in the form of the mould 

 hoard — they are constantly swelling and shriiik- 

 which renders the joints loose, and the plough 

 weak and varying in its running. They are so 

 apt to clog and load up with earth, that they are 

 unfit for old land or tillage, and are too much in- 



ly con.«lructed, — ^joints not fitting well, and ths 

 material but little better than pot-metal. That 

 these should break anddisappoint the expectations 

 o( the owner, or that they should be knocked to 

 pieces by rough and inexperienced hands, is 

 not to be wondered at ; I am also aware that in 

 some instances they have been condemned ; but I 

 apprehend in most cases it has been in conse- 

 quence of unskilful management, in not properly 

 adjusting the length of chain to balance the jilough 

 and cause it to run level, and from forming an 

 opinion of tlie merits of the plough before it had 

 been worn bright enough for the slice to slide 

 freely upon it — than which nothing could be more 



