. The book of the farm : detailing the labors of the farmer, steward, plowman, hedger, cattle-man, shepherd, field-worker, and dairymaid. Agriculture. TRENCH AND SUBSOIL PLOWING. 419 alike; yet the one has been lost sight of, while the other has come into all that notice which it deserves. The reason is now^ obvious: Without the necessary improvement of thorough-drain- ing, subsoil-plowing is thrown away ; and though thorough, or at least furrow draining, has been practiced in England for a long period,* the idea of combining the two seems not to have oc- curred to the agriculturists of that d
. The book of the farm : detailing the labors of the farmer, steward, plowman, hedger, cattle-man, shepherd, field-worker, and dairymaid. Agriculture. TRENCH AND SUBSOIL PLOWING. 419 alike; yet the one has been lost sight of, while the other has come into all that notice which it deserves. The reason is now^ obvious: Without the necessary improvement of thorough-drain- ing, subsoil-plowing is thrown away ; and though thorough, or at least furrow draining, has been practiced in England for a long period,* the idea of combining the two seems not to have oc- curred to the agriculturists of that day. To Mr. Smith, therefore, is still due the merit of having brought these two powerful auxiliaries of Agriculture into effective cooperation. (996.) Since its first appearance in 1829, Mr. Smith's plow has undergone various slight altera- tions, not affecting, however, its essential character, but chiefly in lightening its construction. The imploment at first was made of enormous weight, sometimes so much as 5 cwt., but a few years' experience served to show that all its objects could be achieved with a plow of little more than lialf that weight; they are accordingly now generally made from 2 to 3 cwt. Fig. 207 represents Fig. THE DEANSTON SUBSOIL-PLOW. one of the modifications of the subsoil plow as now manufactured by James Slight & Co., Edin- burgh. It retains all the acting parts of Mr. Smith's without material change, except in weight, thouijh ill other respects it deviates slightly from the original. The beam, which is from 3 to 3 J inches deep at the fore sheath or slot, a, and 1 to I3 inches thick, extends from b to c, a length of 7 feet 4 inches; at c, the point, it is diminished to 2^ by J inches, and at b to about the same dimensions. The two handles, extending from d to c, are 6 feet 9 inches in length. They are thinned off at e, and bolted, one on each side, to the beam ; the depth of the handles is 2 to 2^ inches, and aro ^ to | inch thick, worked into
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
