212 Report on Trials of Plows. 



Collins & Co.'s B 14. Weight, 98 pounds. Price, $25. Size 

 of furrow slice, thirteen inches wide, seven inches deep. 



The lot of land on which the trial was had sloped downwards 

 towards the north. It may be described as a stiff clay loam 

 which is underlaid from four to five inches below the surface with 

 a gravelly stratum, consisting of stones varying in size from a 

 hen's egg to a cherry, impacted in a stiff clay. It had never been 

 plowed deeper than five inches. The plows, therefore, had to 

 work in two inches of soil which had never been stirred before. 

 The land had been saturated with water in the early part of the 

 season, and in the latter j^art it had been baked by the fierce 

 summer sun until it was almost as hard as a brickbat. A luxuri- 

 ant coat of vegetation had sprung up under these influences, con- 

 sisting of smart-weed {^Polygonum acre), mild water pepper (P. 

 hydropiperoides), mullein {X'erbascum Thapsus), Indian tobacco 

 {Lobelia infiala)] several Asters, chiefly A corymb osus and A cor- 

 difolius, heal-all {Brunella vulgaris), red-top {Agrostis vidgaris), 

 quack {Triticum repens). Fescue grass {Festuca elatior), hairy 

 panic grass (Panicum capillars) — this was very abundant — scour- 

 ing rush {Eqaisitum arvense), fox-tail [S elaria glanca), three or four 

 species of sedge, thistles {Cir'sium Lanceolatum and Carvense), 

 golden rod {Solidago Ohioensisf) yarrow {Achillea Millefolium), 

 fled clover {TrifoUum pratense), white clover {Trifoliam repens), 

 reabane {Erigeron Pkiladelphicum) , daisy fleabane {Estrigosum), 

 shepherd's purse {Oapsella Bensa pastoris), dandelion {Taraxi- 

 cum Densleonis), blue vervein ( Verbena hastata), water hoarhound 

 {Lycopus sinuatus), sunflower {Helianthus strumosus). Some of 

 these plants grew together in patches, while others were found 

 scattered in all parts of the lot. Besides these plants there was 

 the stubble of the preceding year, which had been cut pretty 

 high. Take it altogether it was one of the most difiicult fields to 

 plow that could be well imagined. The plowing was executed 

 in furrows running north and south; at about one-third of the 

 length of the furrow a line running east and west divided the lands 

 into parts differing essentially in their physical characters. The 

 lower or northern end of the land was more unctuous and adhe- 

 sive, of a yellow color, and having fewer stones than the upper 

 or southern portion. It appeared to the eye to be more easy to 

 ploAv than the upper part, but in every furrow the dynamometer 

 showed a greater degree of resistance. 



