Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-03-28


making box traps, and boring his old pod
auger through calves yokes into the ground.
When the old geutleman's working days
were over, my father carried on the busi-
ness.
l recollect the first attempt made in our
town to turn the burrows all one way. 1t
was made by well-to-do farmer, at that
time congressman. He conceived the idea
Of making two plows, right and left handed,
so that when he got TO the end Of the fur
row he would hitch to the other aud go back
again, and rice versa; so he got the black
smith to make the shares; on nearing his
home he saw one Of his pigs, which ran in
the read for pasture, come out of the field
through hole in the fence, so he got down
and put one of his shares i'll the hole to stop
the pig out The was always little absent
minded). Then he came to my father and
revealed his invention for plowing all one
way, aud wanted him to come over and make
the plows and witness the triumph Of the
invention, so the next day my father took
his tools and went over. The farmer brought
forward one of his shares and said the other
had mysteriously disappeared during the
night, so he got the blacksmith to make an
other, and had the plows made and strapped
nicely, and the trial came of. A plow wns
placed at each end of the piece; then they
hitched to one and went across the piece
then laid that one side, hitched to the other,
and started back. Said the farmer, You
can see the improvement at once; it is not
much work to handle the chain to shift
plows." They drove to the other end Of the
piece and promptly unhitched, but 10 the
plow they wanted was at the other end OF
the piece The old farmer looked surprised
" Pshaw!" says he, ave began at the
wrong end" So the plows were suitably
placed again, and they drove across empty
to the other end, hitched on, and drove out
then shifted TO the other pow and started
ave are all right now" says the farmer, 50
they drove through and unhitched, aud be.
hold the plow was at the other end again
"Well, WE'LL" says.he, " know one way
can do. Boys, you run and catch the horse
and put on the breastpate, get whiffletre,
aud chain, and one of you may ride aud the
other handle the chain aud pillow, and draw
them back to the other end of every furrow
knew this thing would work some way"
About this time or few years later cast
iron plows began to make their appearance
They we're introduced by the Fairbankses, o.
st. Johnsbury. Most people at first could
not be induced to purchase one for fear they
would break before they could get home
with them. The farmer, when he made NJ
his mind to try one, would fill his cart-bojy
with straw to lay the plow on, so that il
would not break on his way home. After 1
few trials Of this kind, they began to sell
and the old Dutch pillow became extinct.
The business was vigorously prosecuted by
that enterprising firm. For many year
their plows were fully up to the times
though they would bear poor comparison
to the pIows Of the present day. Som
years after they commenced the manufac
ture the first side.hill pillow was in
vented, and they bought the right to manu-
facture aud sell them in this section OF coun
try. They we're rude thing for a pillow
and the hill had to be quite steep to hav
the pillow work passably we'll.
About this time, or as early as 1880, manu-
facturers of plows in Massachusetts began t,
send plows TO Vermont. Some of then
proved to possess real advantages, and wer,
considered little ahead OF the Fairbank
plows,-so much so that it became necessar,
for them to revise their patterns. Abou
the same time they commenced the seal
works, and went into their employment
They wished me to revise aud improve thei
plow patterns for them, and accordingly
went to work and made twenty eight ney
patterns, which they put into the marke
with good success, and was delegated to at
tend all the blowing matches at the fairs fc
} some years, and never lost premium in tn
time. The side-hill pillow still remained III
improved, so proposed to revise that alsC
At first they thought that hard subject t
begin on, but on second thought they told IN
| I u,i,ht Ia ha fr;al an I IL i.
3 the patterns aud made two sizes, making
. decided Improvement. When done | pr
! posed to put a sol cutter in the beam oh
\ old pows did not have the cutter
They said that it was impossible to use a SO
cutter, but l insisted on trying it. The
said, "DOn't you see at once that the cutie
must set in the center Of the beam, thre,
fourths of an inch inside of the share,
that you will cut the sod twice2" 1 sti
insisted, and, to crafty my curiosity, the
consented to my putting it on one plow
did SO, and found on trial that it did mal
better work, for the reason that the turf b
ing liberated, would begin to rise furth
ahead and did not have TO turn 80 abrupt
After that it came into general use. BostC
manufacturers copied it, and all my 9TH
improvements on side-hill plows, and rush,
them into our market most unmercifull
About this time the scale business ha
grown up so rapidly that it was thought be
to dispose of the pillow business to make roo
for it, as it increased faster than shops cou
: be built.
Since that time have occasionally mat
r improvements on swivel plows las ca
: them now, for the reason that up to abo
) this time it was not claimed that they we
y fiat land ploWs). | have perseyered uni