Sub-Soil and Side-hill Plows, 
any with which I am acquainted. It consists of three 
coulters set in a beam, one 12 inches in advance of the 
other, and varying 4 inches from a right line, as is seen 
by the mortices in the top view of the beam, in the sketch. 
Sub-soil Plow.—(Fig. 42.) 
It will work best to follow in the furrow of the com¬ 
mon plow, cutting a 12 inch furrow. It may be guag- 
ed to a suitable depth by raising or lowering the wheel. 
The clevis should be so arranged that the line of 
draught will be in line with the left side of the beam, 
which will allow the plow to keep its place in the fur¬ 
row, when the team follows the furrow of the surface 
soil plow. The manner in which the coulters are set, 
will prevent clogging, and assist in the performance of 
the work, as each coulter has a slice of 4 inches only 
to pare off or loosen, in most soils. One pair of horses 
would be team enough to plow 6 or 8 inches deep, with 
the above plow. If you have one team with the sur¬ 
face soil plow working 7 inches deep, and one on the 
sub-soil plow working 8 inches, this would stir the 
ground to the depth of 15 inches. Where it is desira¬ 
ble to go deeper, I would plow 8, 9, or 10 inches deep 
with the surface soil plow, and the same depth with 
the sub-soil plow. 
The coulters are made of wrought iron, with steel 
points, and when they become dull they can be taken 
out and sharpened by any blacksmith that can shoe a 
horse. The price of a sub-soil plow, with three teeth, 
as above, would be about $10, one with four teeth, 
$12. While on the subject of Plows, permit me to de¬ 
scribe some of the peculiarities of Barnaby and Mooers 
I Plow, and explain the difficulties that attend its intro- 
Barnaby and Mooer’s Side Hill Plow.—(Fig. 43.) 
duction among the farmers as a level land plow; it is 
conceded by all to be the best side hill plow ever in¬ 
vented, they are as follows : 
The plow having two mould, boards, so arranged as 
to act as a right or left hand plow, it necessarily fol¬ 
lows, that one mould board must perform the office of 
a land side, while the other acts as a mould board. 
Either mouldboard is so constructed that a line drawn 
through any part of it, parallel to the surface of the 
earth, is straight; when the beam, therefore, is thrown 
over to the left hand side of the plow, it forms a land 
side of the left hand mould board, and a line drawn 
parallel to the earth through the said land side, at any 
point as deep as it goes in the ground, say from one to 
two inches is a straight line, and parallel with the 
beam of the plow, and in line with the furrow. But a 
line drawn at right angles with the above line, or per¬ 
pendicular with the earth through the mould board 
would be a curved line; consequently the land side of 
this plow is left round on the land edge of the furrow, 
instead of square and perpendicular, as is the case on the 
land side of the common plow, and hence arises the 
difficulty that some have complained of in holding this 
plow on level land. The difficulty is in the plowman, 
and not in the plow. The plowman strives to hold the 
plow upright, as he is used to do with the common 
plow, whereas, its peculiar shape inclines to cant a lit¬ 
tle to the left hand, when it throws the furrow to the 
right hand, and to the right hand when it throws the 
furrow to the left hand. If the plow is suffered to run 
in a natural position, it will be found to be an easy 
plow to manage. In fact I have known it to run 40 
rods without holding or touching, turning a handsome 
furrow the whole distance. On a side hill there is less 
inclination to cant over, as the land side of the field 
is the highest, and the furrow rolls from the plow with 
less resistance. Another difficulty has been in put¬ 
ting the plow in the hands of the farmer without being 
scoured, in which case it is not surprising that, after 
trying the plow, he should condemn it, and throw it 
aside before the sand coat is worn off the castings. 
That difficulty should be removed by the manufacturer 
in grinding the castings before they leave the shop. 
The above difficulties have essentially retarded the in¬ 
troduction of the plow, but I am satisfied, from a prac¬ 
tical acquaintance with the best plows in use, that no 
plow has yet been invented that can compete with this 
for any length of time, as a plow for general use. Its 
ease of draught and its adaptation to every kind and 
shape of plowing, and the perfect manner in which it 
performs its work, are advantages that cannot be com¬ 
bined in any other plow. 
Yours, &c. 
E. Cornell. 
