FARMERS' REGISTBR— BERWICKSHIRE SYSTEM OF FARMING. 



87 



perly. A wagoner on country roads always puts 

 the greater weight over his hinder wheels, being 

 the highest, — and he is right, for he has obstacles 

 to meet, and the power necessary to overcome 

 them diminishes with the increased diameter of the 

 wheel. On our turnpike roads, however, where there 

 is now no obstacle, the load on a coach should be 

 condensed as much as possible, and the heaviest 

 packages placed in the fore-boot. Indeed, all the 

 heavier packages should be put into the boots, and 

 the lighter ones only on the roof. A well loaded 

 coach is sure to follow well, and is always pleasant 

 to ride in ; and as a Aveak child totters less when it 

 has a weight on its head, coach-springs break less 

 frequently with a heavy load than with a light one. 

 Allowance is made for the retarding power of 

 friction in all kinds of machinery, and of course it 

 is not overlooked in carriages. The coachman sees 

 its effect every time he passes the drag-chain on 

 his wheel, which merely decreases the velocity of 

 his coach, by increasing the quantity of friction. 

 Common sense must likewise instruct him, that, 

 when two bodies are rubbing against each other 

 in opposite directions— as the arm of an axletree 

 and the iron box of a wheel — the smoother these 

 bodies can be made, the less of course is the fric- 

 tion. As economy in the expense of power is one 

 of the chief objects of a mechanic, it is not to be 

 wondered at that great pains have been taken in 

 the construction of the axles and boxes of car- 

 riages. 



To Mr. Collinge are we chiefly indeljted for his pa- 

 tent cylindrical axletree and box, which have stood 

 the test of many years, and given universal satisfac- 

 tion — for the silent and steady motion they impart to 

 the wheel — for their great strengtii and durability — 

 and for carrying oil several thousand miles williout 

 the necessity of replenishing it. They are turned 

 upon a lathe, case-hardened, and rendered as smooth 

 on the surface as it is possible, in the existing state 

 of the art, to render them. But as the expense of 

 these boxes is too great for stage-coaches, patents 

 have been taken out for others of a less costly na- 

 ture, which ansAver extremely well, and have long 

 since been in use on all coaches that run from the 

 Bull and Mouth and many others besides. N'o 

 stage-coach can be safe without the patent boxes, as 

 they are termed, but there is a prejudice amongst 

 proprietors against them. They certainly add to 

 the cost, and also to the weight of the coach, and 

 by preventing the wheels from escaping any ob- 

 stacle that may present itself— the consequence of 

 their being air-tight — they wear out rather sooner 

 than when used with the common axle. Their 

 general adoption, however, would be a great sale- 

 g-uard to the public, as well as of considerable as- 

 sistance to trade. In the mail-coaches, the boxes 

 are of a dilTerent construction, and owe their safety 

 to four bolts, which pass completely through the 

 nave of the wheel, having a square slioulder on the 

 back of the nave, with screws and nuts on its front. 

 We have no hesitation in saying, this is the best 

 wheel ever put under a coach; and of course, Mr. 

 Vidler, the contractor for the mails, has a patent 

 for it. The mails could never do their work with 

 the common axle and box.* 



*An improvement on all the patents yet brought 

 forth, was some time since attempted by two spirited 

 coach-makers in London, but we have not heard of its 

 success. Its object is to diminish draught in two distinct 



BEnwiCKSIIIRE, UNDER THE 



Old and I^ew Systems of Fannin g^. 



From the (Edinburgh) Farmers' Magazine. 



I will here, sir, quote an example with which 

 you are well acquainted, and which is both a de- 

 cisive and instructive one. It is that of Berwick- 

 sliire, which is a merely agricultural district. — 

 This county, now so eminent in the history of im- 

 proved cultivation, was, about seventy or eighty 

 years ago, farmed chiefly by petty tenants, whose 

 farms were cultivated "by themselves and their 

 children ; what was tlicn the state of the country.' 

 Its fine soil was miserably managed. Its crops, of 

 course, were poor, except on some infield lands, 

 on which all the manure and mostof tiie care were 

 bestowed. Its cattle and its instruments of culture 

 were alike wretched. The farmers' houses were 

 in general hovels, which too frequently displayed 

 little more than dirt and poverty ; and amid much 

 liealth, there was mucli that was uncomfortable. 

 Ten or a dozen stout cliildren, with little or no- 

 thing to do except in seed-time and harvest, (the 

 lasses, during the rest of the year, idling away 

 their time at the spinning wheel, and the lads 

 spending the greater part of the day at the smithy 

 and other places of resort for rustic idlers,) lived 

 upon the poor tenant and kept him in poverty. In 

 sliort, whatever the patriotic reminiscences of the 

 older folks of those happy times of little farms may 

 be, the whole was in reality, a scene of misem- 

 ployment, unproduction, and poverty, with much 

 discomfort. 



But the improved system began. Farms in- 

 stantly grew larger, — farmers with capital were 

 selected, — cultivation was now carried on with 

 skill, vigor, and spirit not before known, and 

 proved a copious source of wealth both to farmer 

 and land-holder. The persons not necessary to 

 carry on the business were forced to migrate from 

 the country to towns, and as there are no large 

 towns in the county, to those out of it.f Thus, 

 instead of accumulating where they were not 

 wanted, tliey accumulated w here they were want- 

 ed, and jiroduccd wealth to themselves as well as 



ways — first, by reducing the bearing parts, and thereby 

 lessening friction; and secondly, by diminishing the 

 "dead hug," as it is termed, which is always an attend- 

 ant on the cylindrical arm and box. It substitutes a 

 square, instead of a cylindrical box, in which the cy- 

 lindrical axle or arm works. This is^made to fit on 

 each of the four sides as true and as air-tight as if it 

 were a complete circle ; and if the four different bear- 

 ings are but one-eighth of an inch each, it is apparent 

 that there is but half an inch of surface for the arm to 

 oppose or work against, in each axle — and so on in pro- 

 portion to the size of the bearing. Nor is this all ; those 

 parts or angles, not touched by the arm — as may be 

 seen when the box is revolving, — serve as reservoirs for 

 oil, affording a constant supply. The nose of the arm 

 is protected by a circular end, ground on to form the 

 nicest fit, and prevent the possibility of the smallest par- 

 ticle of gravel finding its way into the box. 



t This is the cause why Berwickshire, though, under 

 the improved system of farming, produces as much, if 

 not more food in proportion to its resident population, 

 than perhaps any other county in the island, makes such 

 slow progress in population. Between 1801 and 1811, 

 its increase Avas nearly the slowest in the island, being 

 not quite 1 per cent. Between 1811 and 1821, it how- 

 ever increased 8 per cent; but even tliis is loss than half 

 the average rate of the island. 



