History of the Plow. 91 



Mr. Burden never made a plow which exactly conformed to 

 his own ideas of the true form, being restrained by the preju- 

 dices of the farmers, who required a longer and heavier plow 

 than he deemed necessary. In all the trials that were made with 

 this plow in competition with others, it was found to do better work 

 with less power than any other. It was all of iron except the 

 beam and handles; its use extended as far as Richmond, in Vir- 

 ginia. 



Many other plows were patented and many were made and 

 sold without being patented, which varied very little in their 

 general principles, but which founded their claims on public favor 

 upon some very slight real or ftmcied improvements. As they 

 soon went out of use it is unnecessary to describe them in detail. 



David Hitchcock, of New York, constructed a plow which he 

 patented July 16, 1823, which was very popular, and continued 

 to have a large sale for eight or ten years. These plows were of 

 cast iron, and were much shorter than those now in use. They 

 were better adapted for stubble than for sod plowing, though 

 they did fair work on sod land — at least it was considered good 

 in that day; they would not be as well approved at present. He 

 made seven sizes. None of these plows would work well at a 

 greater depth than five inches; the best work was done at four 

 inches. It was largely used in New York, New Jersc}^ and 

 Canada, but most within a circle of forty miles radius, of which 

 Worcester, Mass., was the centre. 



About this period the Hingham self-holding plow became very 

 popular in Norfolk and Plymouth counties, in Massachusetts. It 

 is the tirst attempt that has come to our knowledge of a deliberate 

 effort to make a self-holding plow, and for this reason we notice 

 it, although it soon went out of use. It had an oblique beam, 

 set strongly to land, on the forward part of which a strong iron 

 axle was bolted transversely and at right angles to it; on the left 

 end a small wheel ran on the grass, and on the right end a larger 

 wheel ran in the bottom of the furrow, which arrangement pre- 

 vented it from canting to either side. On this axlo rises an arch, 

 through which and through the axle a perpendicular shaft passes 

 down near the bottom, having a drum, four inches in diameter and 

 five inches lono^, which, rollino- a<2:ainst the edo-e of the slice being; 

 cut, gauges its width. 



Mr. Joel Nourse, who is one of the most successful improvers 

 of the plow of the ])resent generation, having made and sold more 



