306 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS—NO. II. 
always, by the way, in too great quantity,) is cov¬ 
ered by a triangular, wooden-toothed harrow, with 
a roller attached. This roller should be of cast 
iron, at least 12 or 14 inches in diameter, and some 
18 inches long, and will weigh perhaps 150 lbs. 
This may be considered by some as too heavy; but 
they must bear in mind that the greater the diam¬ 
eter, the greater the extent of surface upon which 
it rests, and therefore the weight must be increased 
proportionably. The advantages of increased di¬ 
ameter are the great lessening of draft to the 
horse, and the application of a more direct perpen¬ 
dicular pressure. The roller may be so cast as 
that its weight may be increased for light sandy 
land, and very dry weather, by being filled with 
sand or mortar. Few complain, even this year, of 
a poor stand, who have used such rollers or their 
equivalent. 
When the young plant bears from two to four 
leaves, it is cut out or scraped to a double stand, 
leaving plants at half the distance they are in¬ 
tended ultimately to stand, and scraping the sides 
of the ridge clear of the young weeds and grass. 
This is most commonly done with the hoe. Some 
use what they call scrapers, which I find greatly 
facilitate the work. Unfortunately I have not one 
at hand to copy from, and I am not artist enough 
to give you a sketch without. 
Previous to scraping, whether with the hoe or 
scraper, it is customary to bar-off with a plow, 
casting a furrow from the cotton on each side, and 
generally within four to six inches of the plants. 
When there has been much rain, or the ridge 
is very foul, this is indispensable ; but in such a 
season as this, I think it a ruinous practice. To 
enter upon this subject would lead me off too far 
from the one now in hand. I would just advise 
planters and overseers to examine the roots of a 
plant of cotton, at this age, and see what a small 
proportion the top roots bear to the horizontal ones, 
and to what a distance these last extend, and es¬ 
pecially in a dry season , and they will be very 
careful how they permit those roots to be laid bare. 
To dirt the cotton, as it is termed, after cutting 
out, a common turning plow is generally used. I 
am now using double half-shovel plows, warmly 
recommended to me by Dr. Phillips, and Mr. Ham¬ 
ilton, spoken of above. Dr. P. sent me one to 
work from, and with the aid of an ingenious me¬ 
chanic in my employment, Mr. Dubois, I have had 
a lot made, with cast shovels, of which I have 
tried to make you a sketch, but can not succeed to 
my mind. They consist simply of two cast mould- 
boards, with points, cast all in one, but no land- 
side, and are stocked like a shovel plow, the beam 
being made broad enough to have two chips or 
uprights attached, the one behind the other, to 
each of which is bolted, with a single bolt, one of 
the shovels spoken of. Each shovel cuts about 
seven inches, the plow thus clearing about sixteen 
inches, and throwing a little mellow dirt very 
nicely to the young cotton plant. During a wet 
season, when crab grass (or crop grass) grows with 
such rapidity as to form a pretty good sod between 
each tending of the crop, this implement does 
good work. I find, however, I am carrying this 
epistle to too great length, and will merely add, 
that I have succeeded in having the single shovel, 
or bull-tongue, made of cast iron ; the sweep and 
cultivator teeth all doing excellent work. My 
cultivator teeth I consider a decided improvement. 
Trial of Plows. —Since writing the preceding, 
I have had another trial of plows. I was break¬ 
ing up a piece of ground, part of an old field, which 
had lain some three years undisturbed, during 
which time it had been trodden by stock in all 
weathers. That ground I have just planted in 
corn and peas. My first planted corn having 
shown its silks the 21st of May, I had three plows 
running—Ruggles, Nourse, & Mason’s Eagle plow, 
with a pair of horses; Hall’s No. 2, and Sloop’s 
No. 2, each drawn by a pair of mules. I was 
with them three fourths of the time during three 
days, with foot-rule in hand, making frequent meas¬ 
urements and notes. I may rate the entire aver¬ 
age furrow of the Eagle at 12| by 6| inches ; the 
Hall and Sloop each at 8 by 6 inches—the Eagle 
running perfectly steady, and leaving the plowman 
nothing to do—the others jumping out and in, 
varying greatly in their work, and throwing out 
large chunks, as the plowman expressed it, every 
now and then. The Sloop plow required least 
draft, decidedly, next Hall’s, and last the Eagle. 
Hall’s is the best tending and ridging plow. I found 
the draft of the Eagle plow much increased and that 
of either of the others proportionably diminished, 
when I permitted one of them to follow the Eagle 
plow round, depriving it of the advantage it gains 
by cutting out some inch or two of earth from 
under the next furrow. I should say that the 
Eagle plow was made specially with an eye to being 
drawn by oxen, as the quick walk of my horses 
caused it to turn its furrow badly, now and then. 
I have broken up a piece of stiff Bermuda grass 
sod in fine style with this plow—a thing I could 
not have done with any other plow I have. 
I have said this much of Messrs. R., N., & M.’s 
Eagle plow, because it is the first really first-rate 
implement I have had in my hand in the south. 
That there are others equally good I think quite 
likely, but I must see them together to be satisfied 
of the fact. You speak of the subsoil plow of the 
same makers. I find that my cast bull-tongue, 
run after a good plow, and drawn by a good team, 
makes quite a good subsoil plow. Stir up your 
makers of plows and other implements, not for¬ 
getting Bachelder’s Planter, to send on specimens 
to our fall trial. Ship to Wm. J. Minor, Esq., the 
President of our Society, so as to reach here by the 
15th October, at latest. They will reach us, of 
course, free of charge, or at at all events with 
instructions to pay charges out of price of imple¬ 
ment, if sold. Full justice shall be done every¬ 
thing that is sent. I should like to have a good 
small woodcut, or cast of cut, with each imple¬ 
ment. You shall have a full report of the trial. 
Please let us know if a perfect, or good dynamome¬ 
ter is yet made, by whom, and the price.* 
Thomas Affleck. 
Jngleside, Miss., June, 1844. 
*We know of no really good dynamometer which can be 
depended upon, and shall be obliged if any of our readers 
can inform us.—[E d, 
