PLOWS AND PLOWING. 
153 
PLOWS AND PLOWING. 
Within the past, ten years more has been 
done in the United States for the improvement 
of plows and plowing, than had been accom¬ 
plished since the settlement of the country. Up 
to the year 1850, there were probably at least, 
200 different, patterns of plows manufactured in 
this country, all of which have proved more or 
less useful for the particular purposes for which 
they were designed. A gradual change, how¬ 
ever, has latterly been taking place in plowing 
among our most enlightened and enterprising 
farmers; they have found it highly advantage¬ 
ous to deepen gradually the tilth of their soil. 
For this purpose, they not only require the fre¬ 
quent use of the subsoil plow, but a surface- 
soil plow, also, which can turn up and thor¬ 
oughly pulverise the earth deeper than any now 
in use. Two kinds of plows different from any 
“ About a year ago, I called upon Messrs. Rug- 
gles, Nourse, Mason & Co., and upon stating the 
difficulties I had experienced with my plows, 
they remarked that there was quite a growing 
demand for plows for deep work; and they at 
once evinced a most commendable readiness to 
undertake such a series of experiments, regard¬ 
less of expense, as should enable them to supply, 
in the best manner, this demand of an advanc¬ 
ing agriculture. They made a plow that gave 
me satisfaction, for it could turn a furrow a foot 
deep, and it did not choke under the beam. The 
making and trial of this plow suggested further 
improvements, and these in turn led to others. 
The various experimental trials may be sum¬ 
marily stated as follows :— 
1. To make a plow to turn furrows ten to 
twelve inches deep, and turn them without 
choking under the beam. 
yet manufactured, have been earnestly called 
for by the public for this purpose; one for 
turning a deep, flat furrow in a light soil, and 
another for turning a deep furrow in a stiff clay 
soil, at an angle of about 45°. To effect these 
purposes with any degree of perfection, the 
share, mould board, and wings of each required 
plow must differ materially from the other in 
width, rise, and turn. This great desideratum 
seems now to have been accomplished, as our 
readers will learn, by the following extracts 
which we make from an able article in the 
March number of that excellent periodical, the 
Albany Cultivator, written by Mr. F. Holbrook, 
an eminent practical and scientific farmer of 
Brattleborough, Vermont 
2. To make a plow to turn deep furrows, re¬ 
quiring the least practicable width in propor¬ 
tion to the depth of furrow. 
3. To make a plow to turn deep narrow fur¬ 
rows, and to turn them on so easy a line of 
transit as to prevent breaks on the furrow slice. 
5. To make a plow to turn deep, narrow fur¬ 
rows on the easiest practicable twist, and to 
lighten the draught of the plow whenever it 
could be done without detriment to the best 
work. 
5. To make a series of sizes of plows for 
turning flat furrrows, seven, nine, and twelve 
inches deep, each plow proportionately com¬ 
bining the above specifications. 
The experimental trials also led to the pro. 
