274 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



PEB. as, 1S« 



SEVENTH AGRICULTURAL.MEETING AT 

 THE STATE HOUSE— Fee. 20. 



Tlio subject under discussion was " Farm Tools." 

 Hon. .Tosiali Quincy, jr. presided. Mr Buckmin- 

 ster, of the "Ploughman," opened the meeting 

 with the following remarks, which we take from 

 his paper : 



"The Plow would be acknowledged by all far- 

 mers to be the most important tool in agriculture. 

 He would not go back and inquire when the plow 

 was first introduced, or where it was first used: 

 he would look back 25 years, and compare our 

 present plows witii those in common use at that 

 period. 



" Plows were then made in a form that varied 

 but little in appearance from our best modern 

 plows ; but the mould-board — now called the 

 mould-plate — was so fitted that there was a break 

 between it and the share ; the furrow would not 

 rise easily, as it had not a smooth inclined plane 

 to rise on. Now, the mould-plate is so fitted to 

 the share, that the furrow rises without obstruction, 

 on a smooth surface. 



"The first cast-iron plows were made quite 

 short, for fear if made long, they would be broken 

 on being thrown against rocks ; but now, better 

 metal is used, and plow-makers venture to make 

 them nearly as long as the old-fashioned wooden 

 ones. The short plows work well enough in rough 

 and stony land, but in plain fields where one great 

 object is to turn flat and bury all the surface mat- 

 ter, long plows work best. 



" It has been objected that long plows occasion 

 more friction than short ones : the speaker thought 

 this was a mistake, and that the furrow would rise 

 as easily on a long mould-plate as on a short one ; 

 it would rise more gradually, but not up so steep 

 an ascent. The plow would more resemble a thin 

 wedge, which enters more easily than a thick one ; 

 the furrow would be longer on the rise, but would 

 not i7ioiint so steep a hill. 



" He thought, notwithstanding all that had been 

 written on the improvement of plows, that the 

 smooth surface of the plate and the regular rising 

 of the furrow, were the chief cause of our being 

 able to plow with one-half the team that was for- 

 merly required. 



" Tht harrotc follows the plow. He preferred 

 the simple square harrow to the crotch, or three- 

 cornered kind, for in using the latter, the team 

 draws the principal teeth up from the soil. For a 

 horse ho preferred a square harrow with si-^iteen 

 teeth — made in the simplest manner — to any one 

 of complicated form. 



" The rotter is an instrument more recently 

 brought into use here. He had seen large and ! 

 small ones ; some 8 feet long, 5 feet in diameter, ' 

 and a joint in the middle to facilitate turning at 

 the corners of fields. Some cost over 50 dollars, 

 but they are not so good as those that cost but 5. 

 They cover too broad a surface and make too little 

 impression on the eod. A roller may be made so 

 small as to cause too much labor in drawing; some 

 are made of logs only one foot in diameter ; these 

 are built too low and cannot be well drawn over 

 loose stones or even over earth. A roller should 

 be 4 feet or 4 12 feet long and 2 to 2 1-2 feet in 

 diameter. One horse will draw such a one with 

 the driver on it, and it may be niado for 5 dollars.* 



*A rather low estimate of the expense of a cheap roll- 

 er, we lliink. The cost of pl.ink, spikes, anil iron bands 

 would exceed five dollarj. We should like to see a de- 

 cent one fur that price, with a place to " ride on." — Ed. 



Two plank wheels are first made, then narrow 

 strips of plank are spiked on, and thin iron hoops 

 are drove on to keep the planks tight. Planks 

 will last longer than a log. 



" By rolling well we make the surface better 

 for both the scythe and for the horse rake ; we 

 beat down the surface only, and leave the soil un- 

 der it as light as ever ; but a harrow, with long 

 teeth, leaves all the earth heavy except a little 

 matter at the surface. The roller often sinks 

 small stones and saves picking. 



" Tlic tiorse rake is an important tool, much la- 

 bor may be saved by its use. When made in the 

 simplest form it is sold for four dollars, and this is 

 the best form for use. One man will rake an acre 

 in half an hour, yet with a hand rake he will be 

 half a day. He said a man bought one of him 

 last summer in West Cambridge, hut on condition 

 that he should himself go out there and rake an 

 aero in half an hour ; he went and raked an acre 

 perfectly clean within the half hour, and to the sat- 

 isfaction of the purchaser. 



" JbcA-s be would name. By making them of 

 good steel the tines are now only one fourth as 

 large as formerly ; consequently they enter the 

 manure readily and it is easily thrown ofl^ again, so 

 that a man may fill a cart with one half the labor 

 that was required with the old clumsy tines. 



" Iron sliovels too are substituted for the old 

 wooden shovel, shod with iron, and they enter into 

 the soil as much more easily than the wooden 

 ones as the cast iron ploughs do more easily than 

 the Avonden mould-boards. He could go no far- 

 ther, for his half hour had elapsed." 



Mr Dodge observed that the previous speaker 

 seemed to be in favor of using horses in harrowing, 

 rolling, &c., hut he should suppose it would be 

 hard work, and that it was more appropriate to use 

 oxen : this was his custom. He thought we should 

 be slow to substitute the horse for ox labor. He 

 should hardly agree with Mr Buckminster that the 

 roller he had described could be drawn with ease 

 by a single horse. He thought it was an impor- 

 tant question how far we should go in adopting 

 the many and expensive implements used in mod- 

 ern English husbandry. He was not in favor of a 

 profuse expenditure in tools ; nor did he think it 

 good policy to be niggardly in this respect. Our 

 climate was rugged and labor high, and we must 

 bring in the aid of improved implements to save 

 labor and time. 



Having purchased good implements, the next 

 thing was to use them well. They should be 

 cleaned after using, and then properly housed. 

 He spoke of the good effects which the temperance 

 reformation had produced in the care of tools : for- 

 merly, when under the influence of strong drink, 

 the hired men broke and injured many more than 

 the sober men of the present time. »'?/?('r eleven 

 o'clock, harrows, plows, &c., were apt to come in 

 contact with stumps and rocks ; but such accidents 

 were comparatively rare now. 



He thought he had seen a roller made of solid 

 wood, 1 1-4 foot in diameter and 6 feet long, that 

 he should prefer to the one described by the pre- 

 vious speaker. 



He spoke of the [value of the"scruffle hoe," 

 which he had never used until the last summer, as 

 being a very excellent instrument in a nursery, 

 and for other purposes, especially in root crops. 



The editor of this paper said he had used the 

 scruffier, or Dutch hoe, for many years, and con- 



sidered it indispensiblo in the cultivation of 

 crops and for garden purposes : that he C( 

 weed one acre of ground in the same time 

 four men would require to go over the same qi 

 tity of land with hoes, and the work wouli 

 done much better : the handle of the instrun 

 should be so long that the operator may si 

 erect : the work may then be accomplished ' 

 ease. The scruffier cuts forward and backward 



Mr Merriam, of Auburn, said he considered 

 plow one of the most useful tools. He was 

 first person who introduced a cast iron plow 

 Auburn. His neighbors laughed at him at I 

 but now those plows are in general use an- 

 them. As to the harrow, he was somewhat u 

 cided which form was best; but was incline 

 believe the triangular shape was most prelerj 

 He disliked, however, to use the harrow at 

 rate, unless the ground was very rough, as it 

 a tendency to make the ground heavy. He 

 sidered the cultivator a good instrument to lig 

 the ground. Could not dispense with a rol 

 thought it too heavy work for one horse : uses 

 6 feet long and 4 in diameter, with three cai 

 rolls green sward after it is turned over ; also i 

 sowing down to grass ; and in the spring, i 

 his young grass, to press down the roots w 

 have been thrown out by frost. He uses a h( 

 rake, and could not do without it ; he has rake 

 acre in 15 minutes, hut considers it good wo; 

 rake an acre in 30 minutes. He said it was n 

 as much to lusa in hay-time as a man. 



Mr Morse, of Shelburne, said he was not a 

 mer, but a manufacturer of scythes. There n 

 great diff'erence in their make at the present 

 from what there was 30 years ago. The comp 

 now is that they do not last; that the steel is 

 gone; but the difficulty was, the farmers w 

 have them made light, which he thought wai 

 correct ; as a person could not mow bo easy 

 a light scythe as he could with one that 

 heavier ; nor would the light ones be eo dun 

 As to length, some wanted them only 3 feet ', 

 dies, while others would have them over 4 

 He thought a long scythe the best, as with i 

 could take more of a drawing stroke. 



MrKnowles, of Eastham, spoke of the scy 

 used in mowing salt grass : there was much 

 culty in using narrow ones, and it was neces 

 to use those that were wide and thin. 



Mr Stone, of Beverly, spoke of the improven- 

 which had been made in various agricultural 

 plements, which, for want of room, we slia 

 obliged to pass over. 



Mr Cole described a cheap mode of consti 

 ing a hay wagon, and grain cradle, and of 

 mode of sharpening scythes in Pennsylvanii 

 hammering the edge, instead of grinding it 1 



The President, Mr Quincy, said there was 

 implement which had not been alluded to, w 

 had been used in England with great success, 

 which had not been introduced, he believed, 

 this country, and that was the subsoil plow. Il 

 been stated in returns made before Parlian 

 that where it had been used in connexion 

 thorough draining, the crops had been incre 

 four fold. It pulverized the ground to the d 

 of 12 to 24 inches, without bringing the subsc 

 the surface. It was regarded as an instrui 

 calculated to effect a great revolution in agr 

 ture. He remarked that something had been 

 about the first invention of the plow. It was f 

 ably not known where it did originate. Hc( 



