Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/430

408] hooked; and which is called, in Staffordshire, the buck; in the county of Worcester, the ear.

B, B, B, B, B. The beam.

W, W, W, W, W, A strong piece of wood, denominated by the inventor a wing, that projects in the middle; and in which one of the coulters C, is fixed. This piece of timber is fastened, at a proper distance from the ear, to the side of the beam, by means of long screws passing throughout the latter; with the opposite side of which they connect another wing, containing a second coulter, likewise marked with the letter C.—These two coulters are placed in a parallel direction, and are both strengthened with a piece of iron, called the stay; one end of which is fixed about two inches beneath the wing, and the other is inserted in the wing itself.

F, represents the whole stay of the coulter C; and f delineates part of the other coulter C.

T, denotes part of the drock, a piece of wood, that forms the lower extremity of the plough; and which is about six inches in width, three in depth, and rather more than two feet in length.—To the top of the drock is fastened an erect piece of timber, known by the name of spindle, M, M; and behind which are two tails, D d.—To the upper end of the spindle M, is fixed the beam B, the end of which is fastened between the tails, by means of an iron pin.

P, I, and P, R, are two shelve-boards, combined with the drock and spindle; and which meet at the angular point P. The ends of both these boards are strengthened by means of a short wooden stay, that is fixed in them, as well as in the tails: g, represents this stay.

K, a coulter fastened to the plough-share S, and which is bent at the end, in order that it may be more easily admitted through a hole in the beam, behind the two coulters C, C, when the share is put on the end of the drock.

The object of this contrivance is the formation of small drains or gutters in meadows, and pasture-land, with a view to carry off stagnant waters; which, by remaining on the surface, materially injure the soil.—To adjust the plough for work, a mark is first made in the middle of that end of the drock, which is contiguous to the tails; when a straight line is traced on a level spot of ground, on which such mark and the point of the share are put, and made to coincide. Next, the fore-coulters must be equi-distant from the line; then let the dotted line b, y, p, n, represent a straight line made on level ground; p, the point of the share S; m, the middle point of the end of the drock T; and, if m and p correspond with the line b, y, p, n, xy, and dt, will describe the distance from each of the fore-coulters.

The most effectual method of working this plough is, in the opinion of its inventor, to fasten a chain round the axle-tree of a pair of cart-wheels (the body of which has been taken off); to hook such chain to the ear A, at the end of the beam; and, by lengthening or shortening the chain, this machine may be so regulated as to penetrate the soil to a greater or less depth, according to the nature of the ground.—When the plough is at work, the fore-coulters C, C, cut the outside of the gutter.—K, the coulter, divides the ground exactly in the middle; the farther board