Daily national Democrat., 1861-04-06
g3ailp 4latlOnal Qem0trat
Ineuence of Wheels upon the Draft of
piOWS.

Various trials have from time TO time been
,oda in England, with view to determine
,ho influence of wheels upon the draft. Are
these wheels useful or not i?
In the Agricultural Report to the United
States Commissioner of Patents, we find the
following observations:
Mr. Handleys trials, reported in the Jour
nal of the Royal Agricultural Society, made
With four different plows, indicated an adj
vantage from the use OF wheels OF about ft-
teen ner cent Mr.. Pusey's experiments made
the difference still greater, amounting to
twantv,two per cent. in favor of the wheels
sSr Morton, in d series of carefully conducted
n.noriments. made with full knowledge of the
Trevious trials by the other gentlemen named,
prrr;yos at the conclusion, that when a plow
- nronerlv set, the addition or removal ola
-rLooi will make no material difference in the
S.aft There is a difficulty in determining
.h;, noint accurately. Mr.. Pussy, in his
tn;a1s took off the wheels from wheel-T-low
and made the comparison between that plow
tbns used as a swing-plow, and the same
,,low used with the two wheels which be-
tnnged to it. Now it is obvious that por-
tion of its weight uron them, might be in
creased very mucl in it's draft, by throwing
that weight upon the sole of the plow, or
otherwise gaugng its furrow by the mode of
holding. or of attaching the team to it, to
nrevent its burrowing too deep. On the
whole. it is believed that the draft Of the
plow can be very little effected by the use OF
wheels Most American sod-plows are used
with a single small wheel, or truck, to gauge
the burrows Sometimes this is directly un-
der the end of the beam, and sometimes by
its side, and, so far us gauging the furrow is
concerned, is almost indispensable, but it is
not apparent why the draft of plow should
be diminished by throwing weight on the
wheels, if the plow could be so constructed as
70 run at the desired depth uniformly with
out such wheels.
II is manifest that with the wheels, or
without. there is the same cutting process To
he nerformed, which. as has been seem causes
more than half the draft; there is the same
friction upon the mold-b board, which must
cause nearly if not quite the same pressure
and friction on the sole; there is the same
weight of the implement to be dragged, and,
certainly, it would move more easily on
wheels, If the plow were SO constructed as to
rest part of its weight on the beam, when not
at work, which is not ordinarily the case.
What gain that can be 10y SO arranging the
parts that the draft of the team shall bring a
weight down upon the wheels which support
the beam is not perceived, but it seems that
the force which thus bears down upon the
beam were better applied in overcoming the
legitimate and unavoidable resistance of the
soil to the plow in its proper work If the
wheels are useless, it is sufficient objection to
them that they increase the weight and cost
of the implement If they are useful merely
as a gauge of the depth OF furrow, the single
wheel, as being more simple and easily ad
justed, and as being a lesser obstacle in hand
ling the plow, especially in short work, seems
preferable.