SLOW IMPROVEMENT OF THE PLOUGH.

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harrowing, drawing, and working with horses, mares, geldings, garrans, and coltes by the taile, whereby, (besides the cruelty used to the beasts,) the breed of horses is much impaired in this kingdome." This practice, and also that of pulling off the wool yearly from living sheep, instead of "clipping or shearing of them," were condemned as illegal, and punished with fine and imprisonment.

The cultivation of the land in this country was much improved after the arrival of the Romans. They taxed every part of the country as it fell into their power to supply them with a certain quantity of corn and this, instead of being a hardship to the inhabitants, was really a great benefit. They were obliged to exert themselves to plough and sow more diligently than heretofore, and in doing this, they soon found that their fertile soil would produce enough to supply not only their own wants, together with the amount demanded by their conquerors, but also a large surplus for exportation.

But the improvement of the plough itself went on very slowly. For ages, this invaluable implement was more like a clumsy rake for scratching the surface than a plough for turning over the soil. Yet in the time of Fitzherbert (1532,) several varieties of ploughs were in use in different parts of England. He says, "One plough will not serve in all places, therefore it is necessary to have divers sorts. In Somerset-shiere, Dawsetshiere, and Gloster-shiere, the share beame, that in many places is called the plow-head, is foure or five foote long, made very broade and thinne, and that is because the land is very tough, and would sucke the plough into the earth, if the share-beame were not long, broade, and thin. In Kent they alter much in fashion, for there they goe uppon wheeles, as they doe in some part of Hartfordshire, Sussex, and Cornewall. In some countries they will turne the shelboord at every landsend, and plowe all one way. In Buckinghamshiere, are ploughs of another fashion, and plow-yrons of

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accomplish it. So anxious was he on this point, that when he had reason to doubt the quality of an article produced at his manufactory, he would break it to pieces and suffer the loss, rather than send out a plough or other implement which was not likely to give perfect

satisfaction.

So great was the zeal of this ingenious man to promote improvements in agriculture, that he is said to have sacrificed his ease, his health, and his worldly interests, to the cause. He died in the year 1793, in the fifty-third year of his age. The value of his improvements will best appear as we consider the different parts of the plough.

Since Small's time a great number of valuable improvements have been made in the plough, and these are constantly going on, so that we may expect a high degree of excellence to be at last attained.

The essential parts of a plough are as follow:— The body of the plough consists of a frame, to which all the parts of a plough must be attached.

it was then covered in the parts, subject to the greatest This part of the plough was formerly made of wood:

ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A PLOUGH.

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other parts of the plough could be screwed to it, or unscrewed, and the certainty that the frame could always be procured of exactly the same size and shape. This last particular is of much consequence, for with wooden ploughs it is very difficult to get two that will work exactly alike, even if made by the same person. One may work easily and well, and the other be very inferior, although to the eye there appear no difference between the two. The old wooden plough, however, is still in use in many parts of the country.

The lower part of this frame is called the sole of the plough, and to the front part of it is attached the share, which is a sharp instrument cutting in a horizontal direction the slice of earth which is to be turned over. The share gradually widens from the point to what is called the fin. It was formerly made of wrought iron, but cast-iron shares are now generally employed. At first these were found to wear away too fast on the under side, thus becoming blunt and inefficient. This was remedied in a very ingenious way: the under part of the share was case-hardened to the thickness of onesixteenth, or one-eighth of an inch; this hardened surface would not, of course, wear away so quickly as the rest, and thus by the natural wear of the upper part of

PLOUGH-SHARES.

the share constantly going on, a sharp edge was always produced on the under side. The ploughman using this share is not, therefore, hindered with the frequent sharpenings necessary for wrought-iron shares.

Another important part of the plough is the mouldboard. This rises very gradually from the fin in an oblique position, either to the right or left: its use is to push aside and turn over the slice of earth just cut, so as to leave a regular furrow wherever the plough has passed. Originally this part of the plough was, agreeably to its name, a mould-board, defended with plates of iron, but it is now made wholly of cast-iron. Small was a great improver of this part of the plough, and constructed it on true mechanical principles. He invented a plan for discovering the true shape which ought to be given to the mould-board by making it of soft wood, and then carefully observing, during many trials, the parts most liable to pressure or to friction; this gave him hints for the construction of his cast-iron mould-board, which has a regular curve or twist, well adapting it for turning over and placing the furrowslice exactly in the right position, while it also lessens friction in the work. It was a happy circumstance that just at that time the founding of cast-iron was getting very general; Small took advantage of it, and framing

a mould-board, &c., of cast-iron, he thus obtained patterns, according to which any number of similar forms might be constructed.

ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A PLOUGH.

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It is necessary, however, to vary this part of the plough, according to the nature of the soil it is intended for, so that no general rule can be laid down for its formation. In some countries, a-short mould-board with a concave surface is the most useful; in others, a long and convex form is preferred. A mould-board which in one description of soil will slide along with an equal pressure, and without getting clogged with earth, in another will work much less freely, and will soon show by the adhesion of the soil that it is unfit for that particular description of land; therefore, every farmer has to act upon his own experience in the matter, and to suit the mould-board to the work he has for it to do.

When the share and the mould-board are fixed in their places on the frame, the plough-body is complete, and has the following appearance :

To the fore part of this plough-body is attached the beam, generally made of wood, which extends in a forward direction, and is finished at the end by what is called the plough-head, a contrivance for regulating the depth of the plough, and the line of draught. The beam may differ in strength according to the quality of the work to be performed, but it need never greatly vary in length; about three feet is considered a good

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