608 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



S742. Double shafts have been proposed by Edgeworth, Morton, and some others, as 

 likely to divide the traction of drauglit cattle. B. Farey considers single shafts in 

 waggons very injurious; the horses follow in one track, in the centre of the carriage; 

 and the wheels also follow each other in their tracks, and cut ruts. If there were double 

 shafts, they would naturally avoid former wheel tracks, which would be less injurious 

 to the road. 



3743. J. Farey concurs in opinion with his brother, and thinks that Sbtnfe'abatement of tolls might be 

 made to those carriages which now generally use single shafts, like the farmers' carts and waggons, on 

 their adopting double shafts, so that all their horses may draw in pairs ; this being applicable even to three- 

 horse carts, as far as the two foremost are concerned. Stage-coaches, for the reasons here alluded to, as 

 they all draw in pairs, and very seldom follow in any previous and deep rut, do far less damage to the roads 

 than otherwise would happen ; their springs also, and swiftness of motion, contributing, very materially, 

 to lessening their wear of the road. 



3744. Roads are generally repaired by manual labour', but various machines have been 

 contrived for this purpose. The snow-plough is a well known implement, consisting 

 simply of two boards placed on edge in the form of two sides of a triangle, and drawn 

 by a hook attached to the apex. The common harrow, followed by the common roller, 

 has been used for levelling roads broken up by ruts, and a studded roller has also 

 been lately invented for this purpose. 



565 ^^=^^ 3745. Harriott's road 



harrow {fig. 565.) has 

 been used in some places, 

 for dragging over roads 

 when much out of repair, 

 to replace the stones or 

 gravel dist urbed by wh eel 

 carriages. " A man, a 

 boy, and two horses, will 

 do three miles in length 

 in one day; completely 

 harrowing down the 

 quarters, and drawing 

 the stones together, 

 which, by means of the 

 mould-boards, are drop, 

 ped into the ruts far bet- 

 ter than a man can stub 

 them in " 



3746. To prevent the formation qffuts in roads, and for use in lanes and unmetalled farm roads, Beatson 

 ^ suggests the idea of placing a roller between 



5o6 jg the other wheels {fig. 566.), and so strongly 



secured to the axle tree, as to be able to sup- 

 port the whole weight in the cart when neces- 

 sary. This roller he proposes to call a pro- 

 tector, and he thinks it will be much more 

 easily drawn than two wheels running in 

 deep ruts. {Com. to B. of Ag. vol i. p. 154). 



^jA {y- B m/r /^ ^ A^ KVM^ W ^\ 1^ 3747. The cleaning of roads is 



tI I |Z-ZI_^ ^^_.. i' i" j ] (^ Ip effected by scraping, sweeping, water- 



"^^^"^ "^^^ ^ ing, and rashing. 



3748. Scraping is an operation uni- 

 versally necessary to keep roads clean, 

 by the removal of mud in wet weather, 

 dust in a very dry season, and snow in 

 winter. It has been performed by 

 machinery ; and on a well made road, 

 this mode might be attended with a considerable saving of labour. Were the scraping 

 board edged with a brush of wires, or even of birch spray, the work, even on a road some- 

 what irregular, might be done to great perfection. Both in scraping and sweeping, care 

 should be taken as soon as possible to dispose of the mud or dust, either in making 

 or keeping up tKe sides of the road or fence mounds, or in such other way as circum- 

 stances may direct. Hand scrapers are commonly made with iron* plates j^^ Iput a>|>iece 

 of board is considered less likely to raise the surface of the road. ' ''^^ ^ *^'^' ""* '''*' 



3749. The scraping machine {fig. 567.) is the invention of John Boase, Esq., and cbnsists of an oblong 

 frame of iron, supported on three wheels, two of which are common carriage- wheels, about three feet m 

 diameter, working on an axle fixed to the frame ; the third is a small cast-iron one, placed under the 

 centre of the front bar of the frame. Below the frame, and obliquely to it, is placed the flexible scraper, 



