74 On the Reduction of Horse Labour I)y single Carts, 



other carriage for any kind of agricultural produce ; and never is 

 the addition of another horse on any occasion seen. The prac- 

 tice^ apparently originating in economy, has long since spread into 

 the neighbouring Scotch county of Dumfries ; and I have the 

 authority of Mr. Wilkie, the well-known implement maker of 

 Uddingston, near Glasgow, for sayiug that it is all but universal 

 at the present moment throughout the west of Scotland. 



Having had during visits to the above English counties good 

 opportunities of observing the apparent economy of the practice, 

 I determined, about the year 1 828, on endeavouring to economise 

 my horses, by trying the system on a farm of 370 acres in Burcott, 

 near Dorchester, Oxon, conceiving that what was practised on the 

 mountain sides of Cumberland, would not fail on the easy slopes 

 near my own residence, and I procured two improved carts 

 from the neighbourhood of Carlisle. In 1831 I sold the whole 

 of my Berkshire waggons and three-horse dung- carts, having in 

 the mean time had a set of carts made from the above pattern. 

 But while I conceived, and by long experience have proved it to 

 be a most complete implement for the carriage of heavy materials, 

 I was not satisfied with its native plan of a simple frame fitted 

 upon it when the hay and harvest-corn were required to be taken 

 home. It loaded high, was somewhat liable to upset, did not 

 take the utmost load that one horse might manage on a tolerably 

 level surface ; and, moreover, the tendency of its elevated load 

 was to incommode the horse up and down hill. To obviate these 

 disadvantages, I constructed a cart of the length and breadth of a 

 Berkshire waggon, and for the following objects: — 1. Lightness, 

 suited to one horse. 2. Capaciousness, to carry a full weight of 

 the lightest material, for instance, loose straw. 3. Lowness, for 

 expeditious loading. 4. Compactness and steadiness of load, 

 with little liability to overturn. 5. A long and consequently low- 

 seated load, to relieve any undue pressure on the horse's back or 

 breastbone in going down or up hill. 



1. To insure lightness, I dispensed with a body, which more- 

 over is perfectly unnecessary for harvest-work ; and discarded 

 every ounce-weight of material that could be spared consistently 

 with strength and durability. For lightness I chiefly used the 

 best thoroughly-seasoned ash, though for the two principal longi- 

 tudinal bearers (provincially beds ") my carpenter strongly 

 recommends oak as more trustworthy and lasting. These cut 

 2 J in. X ^} and a little more than 12 ft. long, were placed for their 

 greatest resistance edgeways, and the 5 inches at the centre 

 bevelled underneath to 3 inches at the extremities, and they were 

 strengthened on the axletree by a block of the same width, giving 

 a bearing of not less than 2 ft. 9 in., and the depth of which (about 

 6 in.) enables the cart to stand on a perfect level when the horse 



