146 



TVheel and Swing Plcmghs. 



was, in his hands^ increased six per cent., and I have no doubt, 

 had he continued to hold the plough for an entire day, it would 

 have been considerably more. This man, though inferior to the 

 other, possessed skill above the average of ploughmen usually 

 employed. ,Had he held a plough with wheels, there Avould, 

 probably, have been no difference in the draught between the 

 holding of the plough by himself and predecessor. 



In land rendered hard by draught, or stubborn from other 

 causes, I have found the bite of the wheel-plough effective, where 

 the swing-plough could not, without great difficulty, be held in its 

 work ; * but of course in the former case the share was set sharp 

 into the ground, and the draught-chain at the highest notch of the 

 hake, which made a heavy pressure upon the wheels. I simply 

 remark on this to show that the wheel-plough is sometimes appli- 

 cable to hard work, where the swing-plough will not do so 

 well. 



On the other hand, there are cases to which the swing-plough 

 is more applicable : I would instance an unequal surface, as on 

 the Wolds of Yorkshire, where the rock lies at varying depths, 

 sometimes within three or four inches of the surface, at others at 

 a greater depth, and where the swing-plough, in skilful hands, 

 may be more readily accommodated to the case. In cross-cutting 

 dead fallows, where the surface is rough and hard clods interrupt 

 the even action of the wheels, they would be better dispensed with. 

 In wet weather on strong land (though I conceive as a general 

 rule it would be better not to work it at all in that state) the 

 wheels are apt to clog, although that inconvenience is materially 

 diminished by the scraper attached to the best constructed ploughs. 



In crossing steep ridge and furrow the action of the ascending 

 wheels raises the share out of the furrow, while in descending it 

 plunges it deeper into the ridge. This, however, occurs only in 

 extreme cases, and, to a considerable degree, the same effect at- 

 tends the swing-plough, unless carefully managed. 



As the wheel-plough more particularly treated of in this Essay 

 is, with the exception of the wheels, the same in construction as 

 the swing-plough, it may be used either with or without wheels, 

 as circumstances require. 



The expense of the implement is undoubtedly in favour of the 

 swing-plough, but the prime cost is matter of comparatively little 

 moment when other circumstances are considered. My experi- 



* I have witnessed this upon some very stubborn clay, in which a Kentish 

 turn-wrist did its work well ; while a Scottish swing-plough, though held 

 by a very expert fellow, could not be made to keep a regular furrow. The 

 labour was also evidently greater to the ploughman who worked the latter ; 

 and the horses appeared to me more distressed than those in the turn- 

 wrist.— F. Burke. 



