ON PLOWS. 31 



To John A. Stevens, of Metlmen, a gratuity of five 

 dollars. For the Committee, 



JEREMIAH COLMAN. 



ON THE COxVIPARATIVE MERITS OF PLOWS. 



The Committee on this subject, consisting of Moses 

 Newell, of W. Newbury, J. W. Proctor, of Danvers, 

 William Sutton, of Salem, A. T. Newhall, of Lynnfield, 

 and Andrew Dodge, of Wenham, have attended to that 

 duty, as far as other engagements would admit, and sub- 

 mit the following Report: 



From the examinations of this kind that have hereto- 

 fore been made, we are aw-are of the interest felt by the 

 different manufacturers in the doings of this committee. 

 We have therefore felt it to be our duty to proceed with 

 caution, and not to adopt conclusive opinions upon im- 

 perfect evidence. — We shall endeavour to state such facts 

 as have come within our observation, with such remarks 

 explanatory of the same as may seem appropriate ; leav- 

 ing it to those curious on the subject, to compare and 

 form their own conclusions. And in so doing we hope 

 they will have the fairness to take all the facts into view, 

 and not a garbled selection, as has sometimes been done, 

 thereby entirely misrepresenting the impressions intend- 

 ed to be made by the Committee. 



In testing the quality of a plow, the poiver by which 

 it is moved, the ease with which it is handled, and the 

 manner in which it completes the work, are prominent 

 points for consideration. 



The dynamometer is the best instrument at present 

 at command to determine the power. This can be done 

 with a good degree of accuracy where the soil is free of 

 stones, and the team is well disciplined, and driven in a 

 uniform manner. But even then it is not easy to be 

 certain within a quarter of a hundred pounds, and of 

 course, much must depend upon the judgment of the ob- 

 server. Without doubt by the application of pullies a 

 nearer approximation to accuracy could be attained ; but 



