Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/337

Rh MACHINES. AGRICULTURE 311 raising a low mound of turf, running the wire-fence along the top of this mound, and sowing on it the seeds of the common whin. ilaintcn- We have already noticed that the fences of a farm are .ncc. usually erected by the landlord and kept in repair by the tenant. The latter is at least usually taken bound in his lease to keep and leave them in good order ; but as this obligation is often very indifferently performed, and much damage and vexation occasioned in consequence, it is always expedient that a person should be appointed by the landlord to attend to the fences, and the half of his wages charged against the tenant. By such a course, dilapidation and dis putes are effectually guarded against, and the eyesore of defective, ill-kept fences is wholly removed. CHAPTER VI. MACHINES AND IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY. Section 1. liecent Improvements. That the cultivation of the soil may be carried on to the best advantage, it is necessary that the farmer be provided with a sufficient stock of machines and implements of the best construction. Very great improvement has of late years taken place in this department of mechanics. The great agricultural societies of the kingdom have devoted much of their attention to it ; and under their auspices, and stimulated by their premiums, exhibitions, and competitive trials, manu facturers of skill and capital have embarked largely i)i the business. In many instances the quality of the article has been improved and its cost reduced. There has hitherto been a tendency to produce imple ments needlessly cumbrous and elaborate, and to in troduce variations in form which are not improvements. The inventors of several valuable implements, the exclusive manufacture of which they have secured to themselves by patent, appear to have retarded their sale, and marred their own profits by the exorbitant prices which they have put upon them. Some, however, have become alive to the advan tages of looking rather to large sales with a moderate profit on each article, and of lowering prices to secure this. A most salutary practice has now become common of inventors of implements of ascertained usefulness granting licence to other parties to use their patent-right on reasonable terms, and thus removing the temptation to evade it by introducing some alteration which is trumpeted as an improvement, although really the reverse. The extended use of iron and steel in the construction of agricultural implements is materially adding to their durability, and generally to their efficiency, and is thus a source of considerable saving. While great improvement has taken place in this department, it too commonly happens that the village mechanics, by whom a large portion of this class of implements is made and repaired, are exceedingly unskilled, and lamentably ignorant of the principles of their art. They usually furnish good materials and substantial workmanship, but by their unconscious violation of mecha nical laws, enormous waste of motive power is continually incurred, and poor results are attained. This can probably be remedied only by the construction of the more costly and complex machines being carried on in extensive factories, where, under the combined operation of scientific superin tendence, ample capital, and skilled labour, aided by steam- power, the work can be so performed as to combine the maximum of excellence with the minimum of cost. Section 2. Plough?. We begin our brief notice of the implements of the farm with those used for the tillage of the soil. Of these the first place is unquestionably due to the plough. A history of this implement, tracing its gradual progress from the ancient Sarcle to its most improved form at the present day, is necessarily a history of agriculture. So much is this the case, that a tolerably correct estimate of the progress of the art in any country, whether in ancient or modern times, may be formed by ascertaining the structure of the plough. Much attention has been paid to its construction in Britain for the last hundred years, and never more than at the present day. After all that has been done, it is still, however, an unsettled point which is the best plough for different soils and kinds of work ; and accordingly, many varying forms of it are in use in those parts of the kingdom which have the reputation of being most skilfully cultivated. Eversince the introduction of Small s improved swing-plough, the universal belief in Scotland, and to a considerable extent in England, has been that this is the best form of the imple ment. Wheel-ploughs have accordingly been spoken of by Scottish agriculturists in the most depreciatory terms, and yet it turns out that this has been nothing better than an unfounded prejudice ; for when subjected to careful com parative trial, as has been frequently done of late, tho Howard s Champion Plough. balance of excellence is undoubtedly in favour of the plough with wheels. Its advantages are, that it is easier of draught ; that the quality of its work is better and greatly mere uniform than can be produced by a swing plough ; that in land rendered hard by drought, or other causes, it will enter and turn over even furrows where its rival either cannot work at all, or at bast with great irregularity and severe exertion to the ploughman; and, lastly, that its efficiency is independent of skill in the ploughman. This last quality has indeed been usually iirged as an objection to wheel-ploughs, as their tendency is said to be to produc an inferior class of workmen. Those who know the diil - cultyof getting afield ploughed uniformly, and especially of getting the depth of furrow specified by the master adhered to over a field, and by all the ploughmen, can best appreciate the value of an implement that, when once properly adjusted, will cut every furrow of an equal width and depth, and lay them all over at exactly the same angle. The diversity in the quality of the work at those ploughing competitions, to which only the picked men of a neighbourhood are sent, and where each may be supposed to do his very best, shows conclusively how much greater it must be on individual farms, even under the most vigilant superintendence. In every other art the effect of improved machinery is to supersede manual dexterity ; and it does seem absurd to count that an objection in agriculture Avhich is an advantage in everything else. There is more force in the objection that wheel-ploughs are inferior to swing ones in ploughing cloddy ground, or in crossing steep ridges, and that the} cannot be used for forming drills for turnip or other crops. This objection vanishes when it is known that in the mosf improved wheel-ploughs, the wheels can be laid aside at pleasure, and that they can then be used in all respects as swing-ploughs. A mould-board, somewhat higher and wider behind than that best adapted for ordinary work, is required for forming turnip-drills. This, however, is easily managed by having two distinct mould-boards for each plough, or, better still, by itsing only the double mould -board