282 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept. 
THE FAK1E1’§ MOTE BOOM, 
Scotch and American Plows. 
In the Cultivator for April, page 108, your corres¬ 
pondent, W. of Lenox, Mass., delineated both the 
Scotch and American plows, and attempted to show 
the superiority of the former over the best specimens 
of the latter, and he arrives at the conclusion, that 
wherever first rate plowing or thorough tillage is re¬ 
quired, “ the Scottish plow or some analogous instru¬ 
ment must be used.” But I am not quite prepared to 
see so much skill and labor as has been expended on 
the American plow, consigned so suddenly to oblivion, 
believing as I do that our best plows are not excelled 
by any other whatever. Before we can determine what 
constitutes a good plow, we must know what work the 
plow is to perform-—the dimensions the furrow-slice 
should possess. And here it may be well to remark, 
that the same plow may be so adjusted, as to plow deep 
or shallow and make work equally good, but cannot be 
made to turn furrows of widths materially different 
and do each in the same perfection. And when we see 
contrivances for turning the plow to the right or left, 
it reminds one of an almanac published not long since, 
and calculated for a certain meridian, but would u an¬ 
swer for all places adjoining.” 
Every plowman knows, that a plow will do the best 
work in turning a furrow about as wide as the extremi¬ 
ty of the wing of the share. ’The question now arises, 
what width of furrow is it most profitable to plow at 
present in this country ?* 
We are in the habit of frequently referring to the 
European modes of farming, and some are ready to 
adopt many of the practices of that country, without 
considering whether they are adapted to our cireum- 
■ stances. Owing to the difference in the prices of land 
and labor, a system of farming that is profitable in one 
country would be ruinous in—the other. Thus spade 
husbandry in some parts of Europe is extensively prac¬ 
ticed, but for reasons already stated, would not answer 
here. On the same principle, the furrow slice may be 
so narrow that the extra product, if any, would not 
pay for the extra amount of labor expended. Some 
writers in this country have recommended that the fur¬ 
row-slice be not more than six inches wide, but in prac¬ 
tice it is believed that not one farmer in a hundred 
plows less than 9 or 10 inches wide, and in light soils, 
some still wider. And it is inferred that ten inches is 
the width that u W.” plows, for he says, speaking of 
his Scotch plow with a wing six inches wide, that it 
does not cut the furrow much more than half off on the 
under side.” This being the case, it is no wonder that 
his u plowman received no premium,” for however 
fair the work might appear on the surface, it is proba¬ 
ble the committee examined the under side of the fur¬ 
row as well as the upper, and could not conscientious¬ 
ly award a premium where so much imperfection was 
found. But let us for a moment examine the merits of 
the Scotch Plow, when moving in its appropriate sphere, 
that is, when turning a furrow only six or seven inches 
wide. W. says, “ its long and twisted mould board 
raises the slice, pulverises it completely, and leaves it 
in i.s place with absolute regularity;” and quoting 
* This question seems to imply that some special width of furrow 
would be proper for “this country.” We do not think the case ad¬ 
mits of any specific rule. The width of furrow should be varied 
with the nature of the soil and the purpose to be accomplished. 
On some soils, already too light, it might be expedient to make fur¬ 
rows twelve to fourteen inches wide; while to render others df a 
compact nature, sufficiently open and pliable, it would be best to 
plow not more than half that width.— Eds. 
Colman he says, the “work when done resembles a ruf¬ 
fle just come from a crimping iron.’’ That the work 
of the Scotch plow when guided by an experienced 
plowman, appears quite uniform, is not denied. But 
because a furrow resembles a ruffle just come from a 
crimping iron, or a brick just come from the mould, 
does that prove that it is finely pulverized ? Certainly 
not; on the contrary such appearance would indicate 
that it had not been broken at all. 
Let it not be said that I would advocate a retrograde 
movement, that I would have a furrow less perfect, but 
the perfection to be preferred is not the perfection of 
appearance merely, but that of utility. The furrow 
should be drawn in a straight line, should be of uniform 
width and thickness, but when inverted, the surface 
should be somewhat convex, and be full of crevices, 
some of them perhaps, half an inch in width; this 
would indicate that it had been finely pulverised. And 
this is precisely the situation in which some of our best 
American plows leave it, and when left in this way, the 
land remains light and lively a much longer time than 
it otherwise would. 
It is admitted that in very strong ground, the Scotch 
plow, on account of its great weight, is less liable to 
be thrown out than the American, but there are com¬ 
paratively but few sections of country where it will be 
necessary to use them on that account. Do not those 
figures on the page referred to, need to be explained? 
They were made it is said, “ in order to give at a glance, 
the comparative proportions and size of each kind of 
plow.” 
It will be seen that the distance, as there represent¬ 
ed, from the point of the share up to the under side of 
the beam, in the Scotch plow, is about double to that 
of the American. By measurement, I find the distance 
in the American plow that I use, to be fifteen inches, 
and I have never seen a Scotch plow, (and I have seen 
several,) in which the distance was 30 inches. Besides, 
there is usually in the Scotch plow, a draught-rod* 
some 3 or 4 inches below the beam, which has the same 
tendency to cause the plow to clog, as if the beam it¬ 
self were in that place. W. says, truly, that the wing 
of the share is usually 10 inches wide in the American 
plow, and not over 6 inches in the iron one. But in 
the figures there given of the underside of each, the 
wing of the Scotch plow is £ of an inch in width, and 
of the American f. By what rule in arithmetic he 
can make this the same proportion as six to ten, I con¬ 
fess I am not able to discover.f Your correspondent, 
thinks, that in order to move the Scotch plow, our far¬ 
mers must procure much more powerful animals than 
they at present employ. It is quite probable that some 
who use the American plow, have as good teams as 
those who use the other kind,—but they may not care 
to tax them to the full extent of their ability in the dai¬ 
ly operations of the farm, and this, where considerable 
plowing is to be done, is an important consideration. 
It is not surprising that among the almost endless 
variety of American plows, there should be some com¬ 
paratively worthless; but there exists no necessity for 
so many kinds, for a plow that will turn a furrow of 
given dimensions with the greatest ease to the team 
* Scotch plows are sometimes used with draft-rods, but in those 
we have seen, the rod is by no means “usual.”—E ds. 
t The figures given by our correspondent W., we do not under¬ 
stand to have been drawn with mathematical accuracy, or to cor¬ 
respond precisely to the relative prof ortions of the plows represent¬ 
ed; but were designed to give a general idea of their form—E ds. 
