Chap. XVIII. Of Ploughs. 201 



'Tis ftrange that no Author mould have written 

 fully of the Fabric of Ploughs ! Men of the greateft 

 Learning have fpent their Time in contriving Inftru- 

 ments to meafure the immenfe Diftance of the Stars, 

 and in finding out the Dimenfions, and even Weight, 

 of the Planets : They think it more eligible to fTudy 

 the Art of plowing the Sea with Ships, than of til- 

 ling the Land with Ploughs ; they beftow the utmoit 

 of their Skill, learnedly, to pervert the natural Ufe 

 of all the Elements for Deftruclion of their own Spe- 

 cies, by the bloody Art of War. Some wafte their 

 whole Lives in ftudying how to arm Death with new 

 Engines of Horror, and inventing an infinite Variety 

 of Slaughter; but think it beneath Men of Learning 

 (who only are capable of doing it) to employ their 

 learned Labours in the Invention of new (or even im- 

 proving the old) Inftrumentsfor increasing of Bread. 



The eafieft Method of perpetuating the Ufe pf 

 the many coulter'd Ploughs, and other newly-in- 

 vented Inftruments of Hufbandry, is by Models, i. e. 

 the Things themfelves in little; and thefe may be all 

 portable even in a Man's Pocket : Every Part muft 

 be fully defcribed, with the true Dimenfions, and the 

 mathematical Reafons, on which their Contrivance is 

 founded. Dire&ions alfo for ufing them muft be given 

 at the fame time that their Manner of making is de- 

 fcribed. In fome, the very Hories which draw muft be 

 reprefented, to fhew the manner of fixing the Horfes, 

 and the Traces: Cautions againft all the Errors that 

 may happen by the want of Experience in the Makers 

 or Ufers, muft be given. 



When this is done, and the Rules put into a Method, 

 the new Hoeing- Hufbandry, in all its Branches, will be 

 much more eafy and certain than the old ; becaufe 

 there are no mathematical Rulesextant in any Method; 

 and a Man may praclife the old random Hufbandry 

 all his Life, without attaining fo much Certainty in 

 Agriculture as may be learned in a few Hours from 

 iuch a Treati ie. U2 The 



