Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 14).djvu/131

 is complete, the braces are taken from the large wheels, which then afford the means of removing that stump out of the way, as well as of transporting the apparatus where it may be made to bear on another."

A plough was invented for cutting the tangled meshes of roots below the turf "greatly superior to the one in common use. It is very narrow or thin, and consists of a piece of iron much heavier than a common plough, strongly connected, at its upper edge, with the beam, and in the rear, with the handle, both of which are of the usual construction. The front edge of the iron, where the cutting is to be done, is covered with steel, well sharpened and shaped like the front of a coulter, except that it retreats more as it rises to the beam. The lower edge is made smooth and gradually thickens as it extends back towards the handle, to about four inches. Two yoke of oxen will draw this utensile through any roots not exceeding two inches in diameter; and by moving it, at short intervals, through the surface of the ground to be excavated, the small roots and fibres are so cut up as to be easily picked and