TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
New Series. 
ALBANY, .JANUARY, 1851. 
Vol. VIII. 
I'rngras nf 5lgunilfnrr. 
Improvement in Agricultural Implements. 
In view of the great attention which has of late 
years been devoted to agriculture, the question is 
sometimes asked—What have we gained? The in¬ 
quiry is a proper one, and deserves serious considera¬ 
tion; for if all the expense of labor, time and money, 
which has been spent in attempting improvement 
has failed, in reference to that end, it is time to pause 
in our career, and either abandon the object of pur¬ 
suit, or seek to obtain it by some more practicable 
means. If, on the other hand, our efforts have been 
in any degree successful, it is important to know 
wherein, and at what cost. We should take a care¬ 
ful retrospect of our journey, endeavor to measure 
our progress with accuracy, and place such land¬ 
marks at the different stages, as will serve as guides 
to those who may come after us. 
We propose to notice in this and succeeding num¬ 
bers, some of the improvements in agriculture which 
have been introduced in this country within the ob¬ 
servation of many who are still engaged in that 
branch of industry. We here use the term improve¬ 
ment in an economical sense, our design being chiefly 
to show wherein ingenuitj- and skill, as apjflied to 
the cultivation of the earth, have been made con¬ 
ducive to a better return for labor. 
Various important points have been gained in the 
different branches of husbandry, though it is in the 
implement department that improvement has been 
most conspicuous, and it is to this source that we are 
in a great measure indebted for our improved modes 
of tillage. 
The Plow may be regarded as forming in part, 
the basis of agriculture, and for this reason it is pro¬ 
per to consider, in the first place, the improvements 
of this implement. We cannot here specify all the 
changes which the plow has undergone from the 
earliest ages. A comparison of the figures repre¬ 
senting the plow used by the ancient Egyptains, or 
Romans, with those in use among the most civilised 
nations at the present day, shows a striking con¬ 
trast; though there are instances, as with the Moors 
of Africa, and the Spanish settlements of America, 
in which but little advance has been made from the 
most primitive rudeness of the implement. It is, 
however, chiefly within the present century, that the 
most important improvements in the plow have been 
made. The substitution of cast-iron for the wooden 
mould-board was made in Scotland towards the close 
of the last century, and about that time considerable 
discussion began in Great Britain in regard to the 
proper construction of the plow. This discussion 
was subsequently extended to this country, and the 
improvement of the plow became a prominent object 
with our agricultural societies. Still it was several 
years before any material advance became percepti¬ 
ble, and it may be safely assumed that the most 
valuable improvements have been added to the im¬ 
plement within the last forty years, and the greater 
portion of them within much less time. 
The results of the modern improvements in the 
plow, may be comprised under the following heads: 
1. Greater ease of draft. This item alone has 
lessened the expense of plowing in many instances 
fully one half. Formerly, it was common in cc break 
ing up” or plowing sward, to use four oxen or horses, 
with sometimes an extra horse as a leader; the man¬ 
ual force being a plowman, a driver, and, if the land 
was at all stony or hard, a hand to bear on the plow 
in particular places. Lands in the same condition 
are now plowed with two oxen or horses, with only 
one man, who is both plowman and driver, more 
land being plowed in a day, and at a greater average 
depth, than before. This ease of draft is owing 
par tty to the wearing surfaces of the plow being 
hard and entirely smooth, and partly to the form 
being more nearly that which is calculated to ac¬ 
complish the work with the least resistance. 
2. Superior execution of the work. A great gain 
has been effected in this respect. The better con¬ 
dition in which the soil is left by the improved plow, 
saves much of the expense of after cultivation, and 
insures a much larger return in the crop. In the 
culture of Indian corn and other hoed crops, the 
amount of hand labor is reduced at least twenty per 
cent. There is less grass to be subdued by the hoe, 
while at the same time the vegetable and earthy 
matters of the soil are brought into the state from 
which the crop derives the most support. 
