No. 244.] 325 



aged, his reason unsettled and finally ended his days in an asylum. 

 Mr. Sands said Mr. Newbold's plough was at first liable to break, 

 and the blacksmiths were unwilling- to repair it. The mould board 

 and land side were cast whole. Mr. Sands paid $10 apiece for two 

 cf Newbold's ploughs, and used them in Orange county, and then 

 considered them to be the very best plough he had ever handled. 

 Mr. Sands said the cast iron Newbold plough, was the basis of all 

 the kinds since made in our country; that it was an excellent model 

 and all the improvements made after this among us were based upon 

 it. Newbold at last added a steel edged share to his cast iron mould- 

 board and land-side. Thomas Jefferson tried Newbold's plough at 

 Washington, approved of it and set himself to work to invent a scien- 

 tific mould-boardjwh ich Mr. Sands understood he accomplished. That 

 Wood's patent was for an improvement in the plough of attaching the 

 share, that after many trials Wood had to return nearly to Newbold's 

 model. 



It is believed, and we think may (from the peculiar state of the 

 country about 1790, and the circumstances under which this imple- 

 ment was produced) be considered as certain, that Newbold had no 

 knowledge of Smalls cast iron plough, then used in Great Britain, 

 as it is believed there was not one then in the country. Taking 

 this view of the case, we think Newbold's claim to the invention of 

 the cast iron plough, at least as great as Small's and if the former 

 had not spent his estate and been otherwise unfortunate and had 

 lived, in all probability, he would have made his plough as perfect 

 as Small's. 



To show more strongly the claims the family of the unfortunate 

 Newbold have upon their country for some compensation, we will 

 give here a concise history of the plough in the world, especially 

 during the last 150 years. Among civilized nations, both ancient 

 and modern, the plough has been considered the most useful and im- 

 portant implement in agriculture. It is emblematical of husbandry, 

 in all devices, for this purpose it is the most prominent figure in the 

 piece, and first catches the eye; it has for more than 2000 years, and 

 is to this day used to designate the occupation of a farmer, " that he 

 follows the 'plough.''^ It was the saying among the Romans, when 

 they selected a general to command their armies, to take him, which 

 they often did, from the class of farmers, that " they took himjrom 

 the 'plough.'^ When the Republic was in danger and they wished 

 to confer extraordinary powers upon a chief, whom they could trust, 

 they often chose a practical Roman farmer of known merit. Some- 



