538 Report of the Trials of Ploughs, Ilarroics, ^-c, at Ilidl. 
Class IV. — Swing Ploughs. For the best Ploughs not 
exceeding 2^ cwt. 
1179.— First Prize of 10/. to J. D. Snowden, Doncaster. 
1464.— Second Prize of hi. to William Ball and Son, Rotli- 
well, Kettering, Northamptonshire. 
DOUBLE-FUEROW PlOTJGHS. 
At the Leicester trials in 1868, three double-furrow ploughs 
were exhibited, but did not come into competition, as there was 
no class for them, or for miscellaneous entries in which they 
might have appeared. We quote from the Judges' Report. " Two 
Double-furrow Ploughs were put to work by Messrs. Howard 
and Ransome. Each had two horses attached, and the soil 
being extremely light (a vetch stubble), they both did their 
work beautifully, and with perfect ease to the horses ; in an 
ordinary texture of soil we believe the same work could be 
accomplished by three horses with similar ease, thereby saving 
one horse and one man. A like attempt was made with a 
double-furrow plough of very peculiar mechanism, invented by 
Mr. Pirie, of Scotland, and manufactured by Messrs. Fowler 
and Co." It is thus evident that attention was at that time 
being drawn to the manufacture of these ploughs, although they 
could not be considered as novelties even then. I remember a 
primitive form of double-furrow plough, entirely of wood, save the 
share, on the Cotswold hills twenty-five years ago, drawn by 
oxen, and principally used for light work, such as ploughing for 
barley after turnips.* The increasing scarcity of labour, and' 
especially the difficulty of finding skilled ploughmen, together 
with the rise in the price of horseflesh, gave a great stimulus to the 
manufacture of double ploughs. The dynamometer, confirming 
practical experience, showed an average saving of twenty-five 
per cent, in draught over the single-furrow plough. It is an in- 
teresting question, which was not solved at Hull, as to how this 
economy is effected. There is a slight saving in actual weight ; 
thus a single-furrow light-land plougli weighs about 2 cwt., 
whereas the double-furrow implement for the same description 
of work seldom exceeds 3 j to 3^ cwt. ; but mere weight has little 
to do with draught. The removal of the sole and the slade from 
one if not both ploughs, and the substitution of a frictional 
wheel supporting the back part of the frame, is generally sup- 
posed to have much to do with the advantage. We regret that 
time did not allow of some experiments being made to settle 
these interesting questions. It is probable that some of the 
* Orifi of the Judges says, " I made good work witli a double-furrow plougli 
made fif wood t\vent_y -seven years ago, an excellent implement, made in Notting- 
hamshire, but, of coiu'sc, without any ai)pliances for turning or transit." 
