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XIV.— IMPLEMENTS. 



THE implements of the dales' farmer in 1710, as evidenced by 

 the sale of the effects of Wm. Hawkrigg, yeoman, of Underhelm, 

 Grasmere, consisted of an " oxe-yoak, 4 pack saddles, 5 pairs of holts 

 and a peat holt, syth and strickle, a sledge, 2 ffawing spade and a peat 

 spade, sickles, a tarr kett and tarr costrell " — together with pewter 

 dishes. 



Pringle, in 1794, wrote that the ploughs in Westmorland are 

 light, though not neatly constructed, and some had a wheel at the 

 extremity of the beam — they were drawn by two or three horses. 

 Bishop Watson had introduced the turn wrist plough. Many of the 

 carts were mounted on clog-wheels. Winnowing machines and harrows 

 were of the ordinary kind, and there were but few instruments for hoe 

 or drilling. These, together with a malt mill on the larger farms 

 and the generally used up and down churns, would constitute the 

 implements on most of the farms at the beginning of the century. 



With the inclosure of the commons " push ploughs " and " paring 

 spades " were introduced, and great interest was centred in ploughs 

 and ploughing. The improvement during the first 20 years in ploughing 

 was attributed to the introduction, by Dudgeon, of Lawrence House, 

 Levens, of Small's plough and to an iron plough first introduced by 

 Col. Bolton, of Storrs Hall, made by Wilkie, of Glasgow, and known 

 as the Scotch plough, which soon superseded all other kinds. The 

 Westmorland plough makers became famous, and between 1820 and 

 1850 the most noted were Harling of Sedgwick, Wm. Gamett of End 

 Moor, and Stainton of Milton. Ploughing matches were started by 

 the Kendal Agricultural Society in 1810 — they became very popular, 

 and nearly all the local agricultural societies as they were established 

 started competitions. The culmination of the ploughing competitions 

 was reached in 1S50, when a great ploughing match for £100 between 

 Pool of Westmorland and Stogdale of Cumberland took place at 

 Ladyford, near Kendal — the match was awarded to Pool — over 3000 

 persons paid for entrance to the field. 



Sickles continued to be used for reaping till well into the fifties. 



