SOUTHERN PLOWS AND PLOWING. 
49 
I now own a terrier that I have had for five 
years past, raised him from a puppy, not cropped 
either in the ears or tail, for this I detest, and it 
greatly retards their activity for a farm-dog, and I 
have never yet seen his equal. In his labors of 
watchfulness, he is now attended by two of his 
sons of the same stock, and all vermin and mischie¬ 
vous animals are effectually kept at a distance. 
Hundreds of racoons, foxes, and minks, have they 
destroyed, besides whole hecatombs of field mice, 
rats, and squirrels. They eat little, are out of the 
way, light, agile, and altogether are the best dogs 
I know. They are to be found in almost every 
village and principal town in the country; but care 
should be taken to get those of true breed, or as 
near to it as may be. There are many varieties, 
but the rough-haired, medium sized are the kind I 
prefer. Those who are curious and particular in 
their dogs, need but to try the Terrier, to be con¬ 
vinced of their value. My old dog, Peterkin, has 
caught many a wounded duck in the broad river in 
fair diving, and swimming with heavy ice running 
in the current, he has nosed out and killed several 
minks under water, has swam across the Niagara 
where it is half a mile Avide, Avith a strong current, 
time and again, and was never whipped by another 
dog in his life. 
L. F. Allen. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
SOUTHERN PLOWS AND PLOWING. 
Mr. A. B. Allen : As good ploAving is the found¬ 
ation of good husbandry, and as it is necessary to 
have good ploAvs to be enabled to do good ploAving, 
I propose to describe a feAV of those that I have 
met with in North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia, that you may see hoAv they Aviil compare 
with northern ploAvs, and Avhether they are the 
best that could be adopted for southern culture. 
The first is the shovel-plow. I refer you to the 
pencil sketch for a view. The figure at A gives 
(Fig. 11.) 
you the ploAV entire, ready for use; B gives a front 
view of the iron that occupies the place of a mold- 
board in the northern plow. It is made out of 
Avrought-iron, in the shape of the blade of an Irish 
shovel, Avith a loop on the back side for the stock 
to enter. They are generally made by the black¬ 
smith on the plantation where they are used. The 
operation is to draw them through the ground with 
one horse or mule, the ploAvman holding them in 
an upright position, throwing the dirt both ways, 
mostly to the right hand, or furrow-side of the 
Avork. It is pretty much like dragging a cat by 
the tail. Then comes the bull-tongue, made much 
like the shovel-plow, except the iron part, which 
is narrower and thicker. I have seen them from 
4 to G inches wide in the widest place, and 1 to 
1 1-2 inches thick, tapering to a point both Avays, 
looped on the backside to fasten it to the stock as 
above. It takes its name from its resemblance to 
the tongue of the animal. To plow with it, is a 
cat-pulling operation. 
The next that I Aviil notice, and perhaps the best 
in use of those manufactured on the plantation, is 
the “ Allen plow.” This is a wrought-iron ploAV, 
Avith mold-board, land-side, and standard and point, 
all connected, and forming but one piece. The 
mold-board forms an angle of about 40 degrees, 
with a line of the beam, and, in operation, will 
throw the dirt from one to three feet, according to 
the speed of the team. In figure 12 you have a 
(Fig. 12.) 
sketch of one as it stands ready for use. The land- 
side is a bar of iron, about 1 to 1 1-2 inches wide, 
and from 1-2 to 3-4 of an inch thick; standard, 
about 1-2 inch by 1 1-4 inches. The mold-board 
is a piece about 1-4 inch in thickness, welded on 
to the standard, Avithout braces, or any other sup¬ 
port. They are from 6 to 10 inches wide, furrow- 
wise, and are used Avith one or two horses or 
mules, as the stiffness of the soil may require— 
usually with one mule on sandy lands. It costs 
from three to five dollars, and will last one season. 
This ploAV, on a sandy soil that is perfectly clean 
and free fromAveeds or grass roots, does very well, 
where it is desirable to throw and scatter the 
ground or furrow; but in a sandy or loamy soil 
that has a coat of vegetable matter to turn under, 
of either grass or Aveeds; or for plowing in manure, 
it Avould be useless for a person who desired the 
work Avell done. The dagon plow is the same as 
the Dutch bull-plow of the north, with Avooden 
mold-board, and wrought-iron share. I have seen 
but a few of them in use. The Scooter ploAV, I 
believe, is of the bull-tongue variety. 
Of the cast-iron ploAvs, I find more of Freeborn’s 
in use than any other kind ; and although they are 
inferior in form to all of the improved northern 
plows, they do fair work on the naked sandy lands 
of the south. They are made in a cheap, rough 
manner, and sold at a low price, which is the best 
recommendation they could have. 
I have met with very few of the improved north¬ 
ern ploAvs. Those that I have seen are Ruggles, 
Nourse, & Mason’s, of Worcester; and D. Prouty 
& Co.’s, Boston. They are denominated here the 
turning plow, and have earned the same high rep¬ 
utation that they have at home; but they are by 
no means in general use. They are, in fact, 
scarcely known. They are only now and then to 
be found in the hands of a planter of enterprise, 
who has made up his mind to break through pop¬ 
ular prejudices, discard the exhausting system, 
and bring science in aid of labor, in his agricultu¬ 
ral pursuits. 
Barnaby & Mooers’s plow is unknown here, ex¬ 
cept to such as have been in the habit of reading 
