THE ILLIIN^OIS F^HIVIER. 



131 



ting taught by Prof. Rarv, but on the 

 other hand Prof. Belew, of St. Louis, 

 claims it as original. Without discussing 

 the merits of the claim, we are free to 

 say these two points are the most valu 

 able of the whole list of improvements, 

 and far ahead of Rary's plan of throwing 

 the horse, though that is a valuable one 

 for certain purposes. When the colt is 

 perfectly halter-broke and bitted, he can 

 be rode, and here we come back to the 

 Rary system by first compelling him to 

 lie down and be handled, but this can be 

 omitted. We would say that in bitting, 

 a few feet of a cotton clothes line is used, 

 doing away with the old expensive bit- 

 ting rig, and the risk of his throwing 

 himself, for with this new mode he can- 

 not possibly injure himself. He is then 

 accustomed to the umbrella, the buffalo 

 robe and the harness. He can be han- 

 dled in any way, and be accustomed to 

 the line under his heels or the buggy to 

 be run against him, in fact he will be as 

 docile as you' can wish. Our family 

 nag was an unbroken five year old colt, a 

 couple of months since; we have given 

 him but a moderate schooling with hal- 

 ter and bitting cord, yet we now trust 

 him most implicity, knowing that he is 

 under full control at all times. We 

 took lessons of Mr. Belew in January 

 last, as stated in the February number 

 of the Farmer. We learn that it is the 

 intention of Mr. B. to have a tent on 

 the Fair Grounds at Jacksonville, where 

 he will give lessons at very low rates. 

 He also intends to have the aid of a 

 lady equestrian and horse tamer to assist 

 him in giving the ladies lessons. We 

 think this will be a decided improvement 

 on monkey shows, and the general rat- 

 tle-traps at the Fair. As he will have 

 large classes he can afford to teach for 

 a small sum each, mu-ch less than when 

 getting up classes in the county towns. 

 We might give the system of training, 

 but to do it would require a large num- 

 ber of engravings and^then it would not 

 be so well understood as by a teacher. 

 We might as well give a'^boy his arith- 

 metic and tell him to learn himself, as 

 to learn horse-taming from the book,not 

 that it would not prove useful, nor that 

 a large number would not master the 

 art, but to make good progress a teacher 

 is essential. We have seen this demon- 

 strated time 'and again, by those v^ho 

 having read Rary's horse tamer, and who 



remain in blissful ignorance of its real 

 value; one of these gentry we saw a 

 few days since mauling a kicking horse 

 around in a dray, but the more he maul- 

 ed the more the horse kicked, and was 

 at last given up; but upon the applica- 

 tion of the true system, which was sim- 

 ply the attaching of a cord to each side 

 of the bit — run up through the gag 

 irons, the hame rings, and through a 

 single ring on the back near the hips, 

 thence through a ring in each shaft of the 

 buggy, then to the driver, to be jerked 

 up, upon any intimation of kicking, 

 proved most effectual, and the vicious 

 animal is now as tractable as need be. 

 When a horse kicks, he lays back his ears 

 with head down, hence the philosophy of 

 bringing his head back to place, before 

 he can put his heels up; one end up at 

 a time is horse practice, and if you can 

 compel him to keep the proper end up, 

 it is all right. We advise all those who 

 have the care of horses to take lessons 

 of competant teachers, but Jo religious- 

 ly eschew quacks. 



History of the Steel Plow. 



It has been our purpose for a long 

 time to preserve from the rust of time 

 something of the history of the steel 

 clipper plow, that simple yet powerful 

 implement that has done so much toward 

 the rapid development of the rich prai- 

 ries of the West ; and without which 

 the great fields of cereals would not 

 wave their gentle undulations to the prai- 

 rie zephyrs, that now kiss their leaflets. 

 Were we to build a monument to the 

 progress of the West, we would lay the 

 foundation with iron rails, mount them 

 with a locomotive loaded with the vari- 

 ous patterns of steel plows, and sur- 

 mounted with a score of reapers and 

 mowers ; but the noblest of them all — 

 the steel clipper — the offspring of the 

 prairies — we would honor with our^State 

 coat of arms, painted in the gorgeous 

 hues of a prairie sunset. 



When we commenced prairie farming 

 in 1839, only twenty-one years since 

 the plows were made at the blacksmith 

 shops throughout the country, the share 

 was of German or American steel, a 

 small part of the mold board of iron, 

 forged for the purpose, the same as for 

 the old "bull plow," the remainder of 

 the board was made of strap iron, about 

 one and three- fourth inches wide, the 



forward ends of these straps were riv- 

 eted to the forward part of the mold 

 board and bolted through the right hand 

 handle. The spaces between the straps 

 were a little less in width than the straps. 

 Of course these plows never scoured, 

 and unless the plowman was constant in 

 his attentions to cleaning off the sticky 

 soil with a sort of shovel, they did mis- 

 erable work, and became very heavy for 

 the team. In fact, any thing like good 

 plowing was out of the question ; the 

 soil was rooted up into small ridges ; the 

 stubble was not covered up, and the labor 

 was of the most laborious and unpleas- 

 ant kind. No wonder then, that a plow 

 that would scour should be hailed with 

 no small rejoicing. The cast iron plow, 

 so admirably adapted to sandy and grav- 

 elly soils, had proved almost useless, the 

 wooden mold board with iron share be- 

 ing its superior. Notwithstanding the 

 great beauty of our vast stretches of rich 

 prairie, that lay so invitingly open to 

 the emigrant from the stony fields of 

 the East, yet in the very nature of the 

 soil, lay an embargo that seemed almost 

 insurmountable. 



On page 39 of the 1st volume of the 

 Prairie Farmer for 1841, we have a 

 glance at what had been done, and the 

 first record of a scouring ["plow. Yet 

 none of these plows would scour in com- 

 mon prairie soils, but the idea was there 

 and the fact, that at no] distant day we 

 should have a genuine scouring'plow was 

 shadowed forth: 



*' The PLouaH. — There seems to be 

 more difficulty in procuring a plow suit- 

 able to our prairies, than any other agri- 

 cultural implement. Many kinds have 

 been tried ; and observing farmers would 

 render a most essential service to the 

 West if they would publish their exper- 

 iments. Could the Prairie Farmer be 

 made instrumental in introducing a plow 

 of the right kind to prairie farmers, that 

 alone should be a sufficient benefit to pay 

 them for sustaining It.'* 



'< *A Clodhopper' in the BacTcwoods- 

 marij Green county, highly recommends 

 the 'Diamond Plow,' and 'Cincinnattus' 

 in a subsequent number of the same pa- 

 per, recommends as its superior, the 

 'Diamond Gary.' The Gary was inven- 

 ted by Mr. Jewett of Sangamon coun- 

 ty." v;'-^ ■■ /v.. ■/..;■,:.- :■..., ..■-- 



"Mr. Gifford of Kane county, writes 

 us that the Jewett Plow is just the thing 

 for the prairies, and that it scours well." 



At this time the Wisconsin Plow of 

 Mr. Whitney was attracting some atten 

 tion. 



