PLOUGH AND PLOUGHING. 



the plough is of a good form, it certainly re- 

 quires less power to move it than many which 

 596 



are without wlicels. There 

 are some very irregular and 

 stony soils, where a common 

 swing -plough can scarcely 

 be kept steady without tlie 

 help of wheels, and where it 

 would not be so convenient 

 to have the beam fixed on 

 the wheels. In this case, a 

 separate carnage is neces- 

 sary, that the ploughman 

 may have a fulcrum on which 

 he can rai.se his plough, or 

 turn it to either side to avoid 

 any considerable stone or 

 other obstacle. As a gen- 

 eral rule, it may be safely 

 asserted tiiat a slight i)Ut 

 strong swing-plough, in the 

 hands of a clever ploughman 

 . — with one wheel in partic- 

 ular soils, but, in general, 

 without any wheel — will ef- 

 fect its purpose with the 

 greatest precision, and the 

 least exertion of the horses 

 drawing it. Theory and prac- 

 tice agree in this ; and if any 

 experiments appear to throw 

 a doubt upon it, we shall 

 probably find some circum- 

 stances which have influen- 

 ced the result, when wlieel- 

 ploughs have appeared to re- 

 quire the least power of 

 draught. But wheels have 

 one advantage — they will en- 

 able an inferior ploughman 

 to make better work than he 

 could possibly do without 

 them ; and that, too, with 

 less labour to tlie horses, be- 

 cause, from his want of skill, 

 the swing-plough would be 

 continually subject to sud- 

 den deviations, requiring him 

 to use his strength to coun- 

 teract them ; and each exer- 

 tion of the ploughman adds 

 to the labour of the horses." 

 The numbers in the fol- 

 lowing table show the com- 

 parative draught of the same 

 ploughs in different soils ; 

 they are from Mr. Pusey's 

 experiments : 



