124 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER. 



Vol. 3. 



Wood's Plough. 



With the general aim of ihe subjoined remaiSa we 

 eniirdy concur ; and we are in the same eiiuniion as 

 to a knowledge c'f the grciT'nds on which the decision 

 of the Court rested as the writer is. An entirely dif- 

 ferent impression from what he Beems to have in this 

 matter has been given to ns ; aS wc learnt from one 

 of the cOnneel engaged in the cause, that it was de- 

 cided on its actual merits, and on the ground, which 

 the Jury at least supposed !o 'sbvr been made out, that 

 Wood was not the original inventor of the improve- 

 ment oil which his patent depended. We should 

 with exlrtme rclactance do his memory the slightest 

 injustice; and should be very glad if some of our 

 correspondenta would set us right in the case — Ed. 

 For the New Genesee Farmer 



The late decision of the Supreme Court at Cnnnn- 

 daigtia, or rather the reports of that d'-ciaion may in- 

 duce many to regard the inventor of Wood's Plough 

 in a diDcrent light from what he justly merits. Nut 

 beins present nor having seen a full report of the trial, 

 I cannot judge so well as some others, hut I under- 

 stand the patent was chiefly set aside on the ground 

 of legal technicalities, and not because Wood was not 

 in reality the inventor. So far as he is in real equity 

 entitled to the thanks of his country for the great ben- 

 efit he has conferred upon it, cannot be afl'ectcd by 

 testimony of hasty observers, given entirely on mem- 

 ory of thirty years standing, which there is every rea- 

 Bon to believe is founded in mistake, or by the faci 

 that he delayed one year in getting a patent. No one 

 denies that it was by his perseverancre and talent that 

 the cast iron plough was introduced into general use, 

 and that this, together with the great improvement he 

 made in it, has been the means of effecting a greater 

 revolution in the agriciiltare of the United Stales than 

 all the improvements in other agricultural implements 

 and machines for the last twenty years put together. 

 At the time he obtained his patent, no one thought of 

 denying his right to it ; but instead of this, his oppo 

 nenia endeavored to show that his plough was of no 

 value. But as soon as he had trii!inplied over this op- 

 position, and its real worth could be no longer doubt- 

 ed, his fellow-citizens commenced depriving him of 

 the advantages he had thus obtained with so much 

 labor and e-tpcnse, with a very few exceptions, and 

 the rest of his lite was one ineffectual struggle to main- 

 tain what he supposed the law of hia country had real- 

 ly given him. 



The history of American Inventors, almost with- 

 out e.N-eption, affords but a melancholy picture. 

 Robert Fulton brought successfully into use a machine 

 which has indeed conferred wonderful advantages 

 upon the country and the world ; yet lie was opposed 

 on every hand, and attempts were by i^o means want- 

 ing to deprive him of the honor of the invention, by 

 showing the prior claims of others-^but who doubts 

 to whom the right belongs ? Eli Whimsy, by the 

 construction of the cotton gin, conferred wealth on 

 the Siiulhern States to the amount of millions on mil- 

 lions ; yet his life was a constant eucceesion of vex- 

 ations and disappointments in maintaining the validi- 

 ty of his patent ; and so great was the opposition he 

 had to encounter, and so little relief could he get from 

 cottrts of law, that on one oocas-ion he found it almost 

 impossible to prove that his machine had ever been 

 used in the state, while one could at that moment be 

 heaid within a short distance of the court house door. 

 Yet it is doubtful, considering the constant and multi. 

 farious uses of the plough, if even the steamboat and 

 cotton gin together, have conferred nearly the reol 

 , benefit on the country, which the cast iron plough has 

 ' done. 



These remarks are not made from any selfish mo- 

 tives, as the writer is in no wise interested in the mat- 

 ter however remotely, but merely from a desire to 



have justice done to the memory of a man who, in' 

 stead of abuse, deserves the lasting thanks of all his 



countrym en. A CIT IZEN. 



Crauberry Rake. 

 (Extract from a leittr.J 

 "In your Ivi^arch numtor article, "Cranberries'" is 

 mentioned a Rake by which a man can gather 50 or a 

 100 bushels of Cranberries per day. Such a rake 

 uld be of great value here, and I hope you will pro- 

 e a drawing or description of it, taat jvill, enable 

 us to mal:e it." J. M. L. 



The Cranberry iiake vvliich he inquires after, is n 

 very simple instrument, made in a form of which we 

 give a view. 



It has curved teeth about fourteen inches in length 

 made thin and set co closely together that the berries 

 will not escape through them, and qides with aboard 

 about the tliickneta of a shingle or J of an inch'. The 

 teeth are made of hickory. We give the dimensions 

 from mere sight and not measurement. They are for 

 saleatthcesCellent and extensive Agricultural Ware 

 House and Seed Store of Messrs. Jos. Brcck & Co., 

 Boston. The price cannot be much, but we do not 

 know wh at it is. 



On PlouglilMS mid Fallowing for Wheat. 



Dear Sm :— I perceive that the eabject of summer 

 fallow is agnm attracting amorg our farmers, serious 

 attention, and well it may — for the loss of the use of 

 wheat land for the half of the time is a serious draw 

 back upon the farmers profits — and that is not his 

 only loss in consequence — the sun shining upon the 

 naked surfuce of the land, during the hot summer 

 months seriously injures it — and a continued use of 

 the practice, would after a few years entirely ruin it. 

 But fortunately nature ever mindful of the improvi- 

 dence of man— sends Ic'rth npon the surface various 

 vegetable productions, which serve as a csrpst for the 

 protection of the soil — even weeds do some good for 

 thot purpose. 



Summer fallows and the loss of toe land iri conse- 

 quence, and a remedy therefor, has for a long time at- 

 tracted my attention and cbsei'vatioh, and some prac 

 tical operations have materially assisted me in the in- 

 vestigations. 



Of all the operations of ihe farmer, pilougliiri^ is first 

 in importance, and unless it is performed in the beet 

 possible manner, no very large crop need be expected; 

 and the inquiry is abroad, cannot a good crop of wheat 

 be obtained by once ploughing the ground, and that 

 too after the crop hos been taken off, either by hay or 

 pasturage. I think it can be done, provided it is pro- 

 perly managed. But this is certain, that if a farmer 

 undertakes the course with a common plough, one 

 span of horses or one yoke of oxen, and it is turned 

 up rather shallow, as that strength ot team necessarily 



must do — ^wiili the greater part of the furrows set np 

 edgewise, instead of being laid flat and his furrows so 

 narrow, that no animal can walk straight forward in 

 without reeling out, sc'mctiraes on cue side and 

 then on the other, the plough following the cattlej 

 sometimes in the rfgbt place, but oftener in the wrong, 

 to the great discomfort of the ploughman as well as 

 his tent!5 — that no crop of wheat can be expected with 

 such management — the wheat will be choked under 

 that kind of ploughing '.vith very foul stuff, and the 

 little wheat you get will not pay for the tottor expend- 

 ed — and with such ploughing as we see frequently 

 about the country, it is indeed a wonder that a crop 

 of wheat is ever obtained even after three such 

 plough inga. 



No ploughman with the best of plougho can make 

 good work on grassy land unless there is sufficient 

 width of furrow for the animal to walk in it steadily 

 and with ea?e to himself. 



But the grand question is, what trJust be done to 

 insure a ^ood crop after bay or pasturage with hut one 

 ploughing ? And on smooth land as most of tha 

 land now is, by repeated fallowing 1 To accomplish 

 so desirable an object, the firot tding necessary, is to 

 obtain a plongh of sullicient capacity to turn a furrov/ 

 at least ten inches deep and fi'fteeri inches wide, and 

 turn it flat over, if twelve inches deep and eigh'eelt 

 inches wide so much the better — and team strimg 

 enough to draw it that v;ill gi7e an abundance of 

 earth above the sod to be pulverised, and be prepared 

 for a large crop of wheat. 



A gunge wheel to the plough is not otiy corwenfer't 

 but useful in such ploughing— ^the extra expence at- 

 tending it, over that of common and narrow furrows 

 is not so great as would appear at the first look, to' cnt 

 as much at two furrows as you otherwise would at 

 three furrows, will be found nearly to make up the 

 difference in the expense of the two modes. 



I cannot hardly tell why ; but the first time the 

 ground is managed in this way, a good crop is genr,« 

 rally obtained, but not a very large one — whether it ia 

 owing to its not receiving aproper degree of pulveriza- 

 tion the new parts of the sod not being sufficiently 

 divided, I cannot say, afthougli it mt'st te rich enough,' 

 from what most people may have observed in making 

 excavations. But the second time the operation ia 

 gone through with, and ever after if rightly managed, 

 a largo and heavy crop may be expected, with but s 

 light expence in preparing the ground — for leal 

 strength of team will do the ploughing froth v\»hat it 

 took the first time. 



I am fully of opinion that the land to be kept up 

 good and not allowed to dcleriorate and to be the most 

 profitable to the farmer in a long run, ought not to be 

 put into wheat oftener than once in three years— be 

 thickly seeded with grass seed tlie iiext spring after 

 sowing, a fine lot of after growth will probably be 

 obtaiitcd in the fall after the wheat is off — the follow- 

 ing year seedeS pri.tcipnlly with clover, with a small 

 proportion of other grasses, and v^ell plastered, an 

 abundance of hay and pasture may he obtained ; the 

 next year the best of hay may be cut from it, or pas- 

 tured if preferred— ^and the same season again plough- 

 ed arid sown v^ith a prospect of a first-rate crop — 

 and if manure is liberally made and saved on the farm 

 and opplied to the hoed crops, regularly to each part 

 of the farm until each part of the farm obtain its 

 share of the manure, the cultivator will find his farm 

 in high order — and it will be his own fault if his pock- 

 eta are not well supplied. One-third of a good wheat 

 farm managed in this way, may be sown to wheat 

 every year, and more stock kept upon it, than can be 

 kept on any exclusive grazing farm that can be found 

 in this country. T am respecfullv sir. 



Yours &c. THOMAS TUFTS. 



Le Roy, July 9, 1842. 



