

AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 





miftSt iron b*un, head, soles, aliare, mouiu-ooaru 

 and handles - an improved English plough, with 



"ver. which raises ami 



qu 



handles of an improv 



frame that cannot pant or 



turns the farrow gradually, and wincii oesiuta !«»»«*& 

 long handle I > give the holder a more complete and 

 accurate control over its movements, possesses btautitul, 

 vet amph- mechanism, for adjusting coulter, draught, 

 &c, to the American plough of wooden frame with iron 

 share and breast so formed as apparently to root or 

 grub up the soil rather than regularly turn it, with 

 short beam, handles so short as to give but little leverage 

 power over the implement, and it may be with no 

 coulter to cut the slice clean from the un ploughed land ; 

 to the Belgian plough with but one short upright handle, 

 like that tick our forefathers discarded directly the 

 power of double handles was discovered ; or to the far 

 mure primitive and barbarous wedge, with handle and 

 beam wherewith 

 their Nile. And 



also ther s a great difference of form and dimen- 

 sion, according to the varied soils and uses for 

 which they are adapted, and to the fancy of 

 makers or the fashion of particular districts. Some 

 ploughs, especially the Scotch, are almost twice the 

 length of others ; there are mould-boards, concave 

 and convex, of steep incline or long sweep, shares of all 

 shapes, and numberless adaptations of the different parts 

 of the irame to the points and lines of pressure and 

 resistance, with a view of securing the greatest strength 

 and steadiness with the least weight and complexity. 

 We cannot give the reader an idea of the forms and 

 I roportions of the working parts without drawings and 

 cuts, so that our descriptions will be only of such 

 peculiarities as at once struck our notice in viewing the 

 implements, and may be easily understood ; and indeed 

 the merits of a plough depend not upon the "good 

 sweep" of its mould-board, or the apparent rigidity of 

 its parts, but are shown, like those of a road-horse, less 

 by its points than its performances. The eye of the 

 most practised maker can hardly pronounce which of two 

 good ploughs will do its work in the best manner ; 

 and for many ploughs even a day's competition is not 

 a sufficient trial, their peculiar property being, perhaps, 

 that of retaining their excellence of form and framing 

 unshaken for a great length of time. Experience only 

 will gradually extend and establish the use of the best 

 ploughs ; and our recommendations here will be limited, 

 therefore, to ingenious appliances which are obviously 

 calculated to facilitate the operation for which the im- 

 plement is intended. The order in which we mention 

 the ploughs of different makers will be very irregular — 

 The iron ploughs of William Busby, of Newton-le- 

 Hiilows, Bedale, Yorkshire, are worthy of attention. 

 The mould- turner has a great and gradual sweep, the 

 measure of one plough from the point of the share to the 

 lundermost edge of the mould-board being no less than 

 about 5 feet ; and the share can be made to dip more or 

 less, and set more or less " to land/' by screwing 

 m different directions the end of the lever upon" 

 which i is fixed ; this, we believe, was an invention 

 of the Messrs. Ransom-. While the leverage power and 

 command oyer the instrument afforded by long handles 

 are retained in these ploughs, the exactness of the whole 

 operation is not left, as in the swing ploughs, to the hand 

 of the workman upon these long lever handles, and to 

 the traces and backhands of the team ; but regularity of 

 depth and width are in a great measure insured by a 

 couple of wheels, one in the preceding furrow, and one 

 upon the unploughed land. The sword coulter is pressed 

 against one side of the flat iron beam by a square link 

 enclosing both and nipped tight with a screw, the link 

 passing behind the coulter shank below, and before it 

 above the beam,-thus preventing it from altering its 

 slanting posture by moving backward. This fastening 

 however does not allow of that universality of move- 

 ment and position which ploughmen find to be neees- 



piougli by D. Harkes, ot Mere, near Knutsfnrd tl lf > 

 coulter of which is set in a morWhole moS or le s 

 "land' being given by two side screws, and the blade 

 set further forward or otherwise by another screwin 

 front of the coulter shank and above the beam 

 As many attempts have been made to obviate the use 

 of wooden wedges for this purpose, we shall mention 



Mrts tars ctt-r r 4 * 



lerent teeth of a rack, or by dropping a bolt through 

 different holes, but by taking a feather or key out tf 



the plough • it h to ?» • V \ S wheel M at the "eel o f 



SucCg^he Uound elo'e tol, ***?' S °u that wh * 

 just wlfere ^JZZ^CJ^g^ h " d > 0r 

 between the « holes " or Wiut ' a adl ? u P ward 

 considerable size. The rimU wtf ^ thuS be of 



upon the ground ; but^Tou d tar ZTtt ™ *" 

 thft f*v a win *^ n ., . »" ",*u tnat the wear nf 



„ spindle, which lies along above the beam. By turning 

 this with a lever, one turner and share is taken up, and 

 that on the other side let down for work. The plough 

 head carries a chisel point, which serves for each share 

 without being moved. The end of the spindle has a 

 small eccentric stud, or block, which shifts the top of the 

 coulter, so as to have its point always more laudward 

 than the share. The requisite alteration of the line of 

 draught from one side of the beam to the other is managed 

 by a long horizontal link on the plough cock : the draught 

 chain to which the whipple-trees are attached slips from 

 end to end, as the horses are turning, and is held there 

 by the curved form of the link. More or less land can 

 le given by means of a semi circular rack, setting the link 

 in a direction more or less inclined to the line of the 

 beam. The arrangement of the two shares and 

 breasts in this plough appear to be 

 bersome and not so neat as in 

 The iron ploughs, by Allcock, of Radcliff, near Notting- 

 ham, have a pretty good contrivance for setting the 

 coulter. The shank, which being round, allows the 

 cutting-edge to be placed at any angle with the line of 

 draught or progression, is held tight by a staple with 

 screw, nut, &c, between two pairs of studs on an iron 

 disc, the staple-bolt passing sideways through the beam. 

 The disc in turned by an arm and screw so as to set 



mould-boards are fixed as on 

 pinion upon the same axis pushes one7T^ ** * 

 out while drawing the other in a V lhe * ^ 

 necting rod turn the spindle bv er " 



«f. fllQ CQTT1A **«*«. _L*A» ■, J 



crank 



and 



point 



required place. 



fere* ^ 



ttfe 



more cum- 

 some others. 



rod is attached for turning a double .lri i™ * r U 

 fore end of the beam T f le st^ht^ 

 necessarily be imperfect, since th* ™ if pioa 

 ill adapted for a "land^de^wh^'SS?!™ 

 Great defects seem inseparable from tfi^ 

 but our preference is decidedly given t7!u 

 both shares, mould-boards, and cfulters f s ^' 

 the mam frame, as in an ordinary pWlTS- 

 the greatest stability with the least me2 "*** 



SK 



Hum 



Uxbrid* 



rr or wood: t„ „»o; s st- 



._„ ._ the share is ^ fixed is not shifted by a screw iSTS 



the coulter-point backward or forward, and- is inclined, P Jou &h, out is curved and brought up to one qLlTi 

 by a side screw, In order to give the blade more or less^ tne heam wham tii* cot.cn^,,, — i__ .. ^a 



clogged or deranged.— John Smith, f 

 hibits Warren's Patent Ploughs, one ^ i- - — 

 which seems to dwell in the broad slf*"* < 

 they rest, the flat thin plates, 7 01 3 SSL^PT *? 

 ™ng np most of the furrow bottom TW^' 



[he friction over a 'large sul-face.- tU^uX o'S 



Tiia 

 ir 



Bentall, Maldou, Es^ex, have "thel^S tnif. ^ 



I 



land — The patent turn wrest plough, of Loweock, of 

 Thorverston, is perhaps the best of any for the intended 

 purpose. The form is well known : it is like two 

 ploughs set heel to heel, with both of the shares and 

 mould-boards lying the same way, and condensed into 

 a small compass by the mould-boards being divided, 

 and the hinder part of each united back to back in a 

 swinging bracket which adjusts itself to whichever way 

 the plough may be moving. When turning, all the 

 ploughman has to do is to release the handles by press- 

 ing a spring and turn them over to the other end of the 

 implement, the whippletrees with their link slipping along 

 a rod from one end of the beam to the other as the horses 

 are turning. There are two coulters, both having the ad- 

 vantage of remaining unmoved during the operation. 



A plough by W. Abbot of Bideford, is one of the few in 

 which cheap light iron has not superseded the less 

 durable and more clumsy wood. The chief novelty is a 

 small friction- wheel working vertically beneath the beam, 

 and in the place usually occupied by the heel of the 

 " sole' 1 and " land-side ;" a cutter or chisel of a tri- 

 angular form is carried in front of this wheel, apparently 

 to make a clear and eve/i path for it, and this can be 

 raised or lowered. A cleaner or scraper follows the 

 wheel. A paper on the implement informs us that, 

 "the principal benefit of this plough is, the great re- 

 duction of friction ; by which, according to the opinion 

 of judges, horse-labour is reduced one-third, as compared 

 with that required for ordinary ploughs. It also lessens 

 the expense of keeping in repair. The principle can be 

 applied to any plough."— A variety of ploughs catch the 

 eye of the visitor as he passes along the department, 

 excellent in workmanship, but having no special pe- 

 culiarity except that they are nearly all of wrought and 

 cast-iron ; the coulter fastenings 'consisting of° either 

 iron or wooden wedges, and of the different devices 

 mentioned in this report. Some ploughs carry a square 

 chisel point, instead of having a pointed share, bein" 

 apparently adapted for stony land; some have high mould" 

 boards of great length, on purpose for deep nloughin*; and 

 in some (as those from Essex), the concave form of mould- 

 board is discarded, and instead of this is convex ; the 

 share, instead of having a triangular wing, resemble 

 the circular knife of a small chaff-cutter ; this kind of 

 plough suiting the stubborn clay soil of some districts — 

 The patent ploughs of Howard, of Bedford, are well 

 worth attention ; they appear calculated to do their 

 work in a perfect manner. They are double- wheeled 

 ploughs, and the chief peculiarity is the lorn* lever 

 extending from the upright spindle affixed to these 

 wheels to the handles, by means of which the beam 

 is hfted or depressed. The dip of the share can 

 be regulated by a lever held in its place by a toothed 

 nut screwed to a serrated segment. From the multi- 

 plicity of objects we have only room to say one or two 

 words about those which we profess to describe ; and 

 as everybody wdl m turn witness the exhibition for 

 themselves, our readers will doubtless pick out from our 

 notices the contrivances which they deem worthy of a 

 minute examination, and award to the remainder 

 only a cursory view; these reports savin- them a 

 great deal of unnecessary time and search We 

 Bhal thus furnish them with a guide to the a-ricul! 

 tural portion of the Industrial Show, as well Z \ 

 permanent record of th« inwn*;^- aJ— • * 



coulter 



the beam where the se -screw can be easily reach* 

 R. J. and R. Laycock, of Newcasfle-on-Tyne 1* 

 plough, m which the flat shank of the coulter i! J 

 in a mortice by five screws. A link passes from a 

 sides of the beam behind the mortice over the Z >a 

 front oft he coulter; and a screw at its end, bv nr^iT 

 tiia fcm backward, moves forward the point offt 



two screws beside each other on one sid ft rf 

 the beam hold the coulter edge at any angle with t£ 

 land to be cut ; and two more 011 the other side, and 

 placed one above the other, give the blade more or'ks 

 land. This is rather complicated ; it seems desirablein 

 contrivances for this purpose to avoid as much » 

 possible a multiplicity of small screws, as the threat 

 quickly wear away when constantly used in the dusty 

 operations of the field.— About midway down the com 

 occupied by implements, the great makers, Garrett and 

 Crosskill, Barrett, and Ransome, have erected galleries 

 or stands, these being situated opposite each other aion 

 the main avenue, and decorated with colours and 

 lettering, according to the taste of the builders ; that of 

 the name last mentioned is a plain drab, and while 

 wanting the gaudy ornament seen on some of tht 

 others, and failing to match them in some descriptions 

 of machinery, is equal to any, we suppose, in its displig 

 of ploughs of almost every sort. As the patent case- 

 hardened cast-iron shares of Ransomes and May, the: 

 ploughs of wood and iron applicable to all soils aid pur- 

 poses, and the excellence of form and superior won 

 manship of their implements, have been long known to 

 all agriculturists, we need not stay to point out the good 

 qualities which may be found here. We may say in a 

 word, that long experience has proved the mould- 

 turners, and several parts of these ploughs, to have 

 been constructed upon sound principles ; no one dare 

 find fault with the general make and finish of th« 

 different parts, and most of the better appliance for 

 adjustment to be found elsewhere are also employed 

 here. Among the minor improvements, we may men- 

 tion that some of the ploughs have a plate or band aiew 

 inches broad attached to the upper edge of the mould 

 board, and sloping inwards at about right angles with 

 the mould-board so as to prevent loose moulds. from 

 pouring over into the furrow. — We must not forget 

 to name the improved ploughs of W. Pearce, Poole, 

 Dorset. The beam consists of two wrought-iron 

 bands, the space between which is filled up by a solid 

 cast-iron arch tapering off at its extremities. KaosenoB 

 and May have patented a beam in which flnnncas and 

 lightness appear to reach a maximum ; two iron bands 

 being set out to some distance apart by spells orspwles. 

 But a form of beam like a double bow is awkward for 

 the workman's eye ; a straight, narrow beam, on tue 

 other hand, like Pearce's, is much easier for ' ^^ 

 ridges and for ploughing straight generally. W«b t* 

 advantage of neatness, this beam is solid, compact, ana 

 cannot shiver, and is very little heavier than ^TT 

 The improvement' which Ransome's effi Bd by*uns*j 

 fating cast-iron for wrought-iron shares, has b^ na W 

 by this maker to the coulter. The shank and bwwj 

 in separate pieces ; and when the case-hardenea 

 iron blade wears out, another is screwed on- ^ 



plough * 

 1 plough 



ith about tto JJ 



attempt at aVriction wheel that we have seen, 

 small solid wheel, like the " traveller " of a i» - ^ 



i 



calculi 

 for lav 



price 



extremely low ; it was one of the one 



tried at Pusey, and did its work ir™" 



t Pearce's ploughs is furnished 



ing-machine, running clos 

 having an axle only on one side. 



to the unp.oug 



take th 



drops 

 aght 



cause 



damage 



Ther 



plough by the same maker* in" wLu ^ tura - NVres t 

 hoards with sharesare carried un* „ \ V* raouId - 



;/^just as ^oZ^^^Zo^t^^ "J 

 lenses and behold objects b thpvl- i*. V ubes a,ld 



we mav 



% and behold objects b the^y^^! 



say. of existing some thousands ofj years ago. 



from opposite sides'of a spindie aW ZeZ™^ 

 plough carries a fixed chisel-point, above vvh ch each 

 share rests ^en in work, the other share at 3 IbSS 

 not in work being carried in the air higher than the 



neatly fixing J ™ pSht ^bhde uZ ^T\^ hy P*™" \ the wheel & the pl°V^- The '^l* * 

 , /. . o P"oM blade pon each share; but the with the land-side and as it has no spo^j » .,, 



alter is. we annr.h-^ . ^^ t Jn to im de ifc The short axle jj^ 



-P- - r •- ' nside face ot t« ^ 



. on of the w »eeL 



„u n <ret ier app 1 . 



trifle bw< c than the plough sole so as to tak a « 

 o„ r i ;„,.^j „f „ ^Jt Jrt;„n nf the " land-side^ ^ 



runs &<>* 



absolute iramovabilitv of a coulter .« «•« o^ . j 

 worse fault than its £~JS*ZZ&X$&& 

 only good one m this respect, as the coulters mav be et 

 just as the workman finds needful and „•<■ w f- 

 turbed at each end of tho fiSKfi wSlSl?** 



He.may The. is one ^ SS^S? 2TS ESfffS 



box, which also covers up the 



and there is a scraper on the — , 



whole contrivance is as simple as poi ^ 



iog remarkably sheltered from dirt ; :l1 ^, .vi^ 



ing welt crl-aiated for saving tor ^ j la . 



impairing the efficiency of the implement 



