228 Experimental Inquiry on Draught in Ploughing. 



in order to give the Scotch ploughs their fair advantage, to try 

 them on the most sanely land that could be found ; and we selected 

 a very free brown loamy sand of good quality^ without stone, gravely 

 or clod, resting on a pure yellow sand (it was then a clean wheat- 

 stubble), in the parish of Hatforcl, on the coral rag formation. 

 As in consequence of bad weather we were unable to make more 

 than one trial, we enlarged that one by making each plough turn 

 four furrows, at the depth of 4, 5, 6, and 7 inches respectively. 

 The following Table gives the numbers shown by the draught- 



gauge :— 



Inch. Inch. Inch. Inch. 

 Furrow 4x95x96x97x 9. 



1 . Ferguson's improved Scotch plough. 



swing 



18 



19 



19 



22 



2. Clark's ditto . . . . 





17 



17 



18 



21 



3. Hart's improved Berks one-wheeled 



4. FF, Ransome's two-wheeled 





11 



12 



16 



18 





12 



13 



18 



21 



.5. FF, Ransome's swing 





16 



16 



18 



21 



6. King's swing .... 



• 



15 



15 



18 



20 



*7. King's one-wheel 





16 



17 



21 



23 



8. Rutland NL, two- wheel 





16 



16 



18 



20 



9. Old Berks . . . . 





21 



21 



24 



31 



Average . . 15|- 16| 18f 21f 



The Scotch ploughs, notwithstanding their hollow breast, appear 

 still to great disadvantage in the 4-inch furrow, and also in the 

 5-inch one, (the usual depth of ploughing upon this ground,) 

 whether compared with King's swing-plough or with Hart's 

 wheeled one. The latter plough on this land might be drawn by 

 one strong horse ; it still maintains a slight superiority over its com- 

 petitor, FF, with wheels, and the latter again a considerable one, 

 25 per cent.j over its duplicate as a swing-plough, excepting at 

 the lower depths, where the wheels, from the lowness of the beam, 

 had not room to turn. At the greater depths, however, of 6 and 

 7 inches, all the ploughs, excepting the old Berkshire, approach 

 each other more nearly, which agrees with what we found yesterday 

 on the heavy ground, that, where the resistance of the soil is much 

 increased, the qualities of the plough benefit the horses in a slighter 

 degree. It will be observed that the same numbers sometimes 

 appear in two columns for the same plough, though the furrows 

 are of different depths. This must arise from some inequality in 

 the firmness of the land, which it is very difficult to avoid in se- 

 lecting the ground. It should be remarked that the Scotch ploughs 

 increase very little in draught as they go deeper ; indeed, these 

 ploughs appeared throughout to most advantage when they were 

 low in the ground. The Rutland alone resembles them in this 

 respect on the present trial. The old Berkshire shows, on the 



