164 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



side, and the whole turning would be done by 

 the other mouldboard. This is exactly what 

 Barnaby & Moers have done : their beam shifts 

 from side to side, converting the old trench 

 plough, at pleasure, into a right or left hand 

 plough. And this is exactly what M'Cormick, 

 and others, we believe, before him, had done 

 before them ; but the peculiarity of M'Cormick's 

 plough consists in this, that, instead of having 

 a double point, he has a single point, which re- 

 volves from side to side as either mouldboard is, 

 by the shifting of the beam, converted into a 

 landside. Mr. M'Cormick contends, that, by 

 this arrangement, at the expense of a little trou- 

 ble, which practice soon reduces to nothing, he 

 procures the only self-sharpening point that can 

 be devised. The point being turned over at the 

 end of every row, is, of course, worn equally 

 from the top and bottom, so that the original 

 form is always preserved. By this means, also, 

 the wing is entirely removed to the turning side, 

 and, as it is contended, a more perfect landside 

 is formed. On the other hand, it is claimed that 

 in Barnaby & Moers' plough, the half of the 

 double wing that remains on the landside, by 

 cutting under, as it does, prepares the next slice 

 for the cutting and turning, which is done with 

 the greater facility. The apparatus by which 

 the beam is shifted from side to side, is simpler 

 and stronger, we think, in M'Cormick's plough 

 than in the other. Our own opinion is, that 

 there are points in each better than in the other, 

 and that from the two a plough might be made, 

 combining the advantages of both, that would 

 be better than either. 



We do not see that this principle of the dou- 

 ble mouldboard plough with the shifting beam, 

 is ever likely, as its sanguine advocates expect, 

 to supersede the common plough on level land ; 

 but if it can be made sufficiently cheap and 

 simple, the various purposes to which it can 

 be adapted, will render two or three of them 

 very desirable upon any farm of considerable 

 extent. 



With respect to Barnaby & Moers' plough 

 we have long suspected that they used one of 

 the most perfect shaped mouldboards known in 

 this country. It was to this circumstance, rather 

 than to any other peculiarity of construction, 

 that we have been inclined to credit the ease of 

 draught for which they have obtained much ce- 

 lebrity. Their standing in this respect will be 

 considerably elevated by the following certificate, 



which some friend from Loudoun has been kind 

 enough to forward us : 



TRIAL OF PLOUGHS. LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA. 



We, the undersigned, were present at the trial 

 of the ploughs mentioned below, at the farm of 

 Joshua Nichols, in the Goose-Creek neighbor- 

 hood, report as follows: — The ground was a 

 stiff sod, the ploughs in competition were Ta- 

 vener's coulter plough, the M'Cormick plough, 

 and Barnaby & Moers' double mouldboard. 

 Tavener's plough averaged in depth 6| inches. 

 Breadth of furrow 14^ inches. 



The draft by the dynamometer 725 lbs. 

 The M'Cormick averaged in depth 6^ inches. 

 Breadth of furrow 13 inches. 



The draft by the dynamometer 650 lbs. 

 Barnaby & Moers' plough, depth, 6-| inches. 

 Breadth of furrow 14 inches. 



The draft by the dj^namometer 450 lbs. 



The work done by Tavener's and Barnaby 

 & Moers' ploughs were equally good ; that by 

 the M'Cormick plough not quite so well. 



Thos. Nichols, Esq. 



Eli Janney. 



Joseph Gore. 



John Smith. 



Timothy Taylor. 



June 2, 1843. 



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