History of the Plow. 85 



large number of the Society of Friends settled there, which 

 probably induced him to select this location, he being a member 

 of that society. There was much social visiting among them, 

 and as they were all engaged in agricultural pursuits, this was 

 naturally the leading sul)ject of conversation at these gatherings. 

 Roswell Towsle}^ Matthew Patrick, John Swanm, J. Morgan and 

 J. B. Harris, all patentees of plows and all members of the Society 

 of Friends, were also residents of Aurora. It was natural that 

 daily association with men of this stamp should turn his mind to 

 speculations upon the best form of the plow. He was not, as is 

 'generally supposed, a manufacturer of plows; we are assured 

 upon the highest authority that he never made a plow in his life, 

 he made the patterns only, and sold rights to manufacture them. 

 Fig. 64 is an accurate copy of the figure drawn by him and depos- 

 ited in the patent office as an illustration of his views of the best 

 possible plan for the mould-board of a plow, and in connection 

 with the specifications which we give in a somewhat abridged 

 form will, we trust, convey a clear idea to the mind of the reader 

 of his views upon the subject. 



First Specification. — The mould-board: This may be termed a 

 plane curvilinear figure, not defined nor described in any of the 

 elementary books of geometry or mathematics, but an idea may 

 be conceived of it thus: The land side of the plow measuring 

 from the point of the mould-board, is two feet two inches long. 

 It is a straight lined surface from four to five arid a half inches 

 wide and half an inch thick. Of the twenty-six inches in length, 

 eighteen inches belong to the part of the plow strictly called the 

 land side, and eight inches to the mould-board. The part of the 

 mould-board comprehended by this space of eight inches is very 



