Methods of Economizing Labour. 
121 
ring like a tuning-fork : lightness and handiness are particularly 
attended to in these ; whereas here it seems to be forgotten that 
half a pound of superfluous weight lifted only earh quarter of a 
minute makes a difference of at least half a ton in the working 
day, and lessens thus much the quantitv of work that the ]al)ourer 
can perform in the day. It is to be feared, that unless our 
manufacturers vie with these models thev will lose the colonial 
and foreign markets. There is an implement much used in 
America, instead of the dung-fork, in mixing manure heaps, 
removing rubbish, &c., called an ox-shovel. It is a cast-iron 
scraper with handles to guide it from behind : when these handles 
are pressed down the shovel glides over the ground, and when 
they are raised the edge catches the ground, and, as the horse or 
ox continues to draw, turns it over. The price is about five 
dollars (1/.). 
It requires some hardihood to sav a word in commendation of 
American ploughs, when one remembers the derision with which 
they were greeted in England at the time of the Great Exhibition. 
Strange to say, however, the ridicule they excited here has not 
led to their abandonment in America, or the substitution of 
English models in their stead — and yet the Americans are a 
shrewd people. Certainlv the plough is an implement that has 
not suffered from want of attention in America ; indeed, the 
true principle of the mouldboard is believed to have been first 
thought out and made known to the world bv a distinguished 
American, their great President Jefferson, in a letter to Sir John 
Sinclair; and a brass model of a plough, designed by him, is in 
the possession of the American Institute at Xew York. The 
general shape and proportions of this plough mav be recognised 
in those ot the present dav, which are altogether shorter and 
more compact than ours — shorter in the proportion of 2 to 3. 
This difference is caused by the beam being shorter, and the 
stilts (which as well as the beam are usually of wood) being more 
curved and set more upright than ours, so that the ploughman is 
more over his work. This form is, perhaps, not so well adapted 
as the English ior running a straight furrow, but then they 
maintain that it is lietter adapted for leaving an even trench. 
Certain it is, that the best English ploughs in English hands 
have failed in competition with American ploughs on American 
soil in the opinion of American judges ; perhaps, if the conditions 
were reversed, the results would also be reversed. The share of 
an American plough is usually wider than the English, taking in 
commonly from. 10 to 12 inches, and in the Prairie ploughs 
frequently 18 inches; this great width, with a team of adequate 
strengtii, makes short work of an acre. The mouldboard is of 
corresponding height, to turn over this great width. The short 
