The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-24
The Faults OF the Plow.

In recent editorial we quoted the
following remark made by one thor.
oughly familiar with the subject: 1T is
strange in view Of the antiquity, and Of
the importance of the plow, that its
proper construction has been studied
SO little by scientific men, or by those
who manufacture it, or by those who
use it,
In defence of this opinion we will
briefly notice the improvements which
have been made in the plow since its
primitive forms, and will consider its
present faults Of construction. 1t is
sometimes Of service to sec clearly inn
provcments which have been made, and
bettcrmcnts which arc still needed, even
though no suggestions Of ways in which
further improvements may be made arc
offered.
The primitive Egyptian and Assyrian
piow consisted Of forkcd branch Of q
tree, one arm of which served us Il
share, loosening the soil, the other as a
beam, drawn by human or animal power.
This was the original double mouldboard
or lister plow, throwing the soil both
ways. An improvement was made by
SO s'Sping the wooden moudboard as
to form a twisted wedge, which clc-
waited, inverted, and carried the soil to
one side only of the plow. A further
improvement was made by making the
point Of the share Of iron. Simple us it
seems, it was not until April, 1891, that
centre draft was given to the plow by
Mcars, who inclined the beam forward.
In 1871, Newbold patented cast-iron
plow, and commenced its manufacture,
but sbandoncd it, for the farmers said
the iron poisoned the land. The steel
and wrought-iron plow was not invented
until 1903. in l7SS, Thomas Jefferson
improved the plow by showing its
proper principles and construction, and
in 1896 and 1897 Daniel Webster cxpc-
rimcntcd in plow manufacture, and
said that none Of his SUCCESS in public
life had given him so much pleasure as
seeing the improved plow of his own
construction, drawn by six yoke of oxen
of his own raising, cut broad and deep
furrows through brush and saplings. In
JS45, Governor IIolbrook invented Il
method Of shaping plow mouldbourds
symmctrically, either convex or con-
cave.
All Of the improvements which have
been made in the plow, from the earl-
est agriculture until now, are simply
notifications Of the original idcn--a
wedge drawn through the soil, pulvcriz-
ing and displacing it; no better method
has been found.
The faults of the plow arc serious
ones. The bicycle may be credited with
having brought ball bearings into gen
cral notice and showing the striking de-
crease Of friction when sliding friction
is converted into rolling friction. All
Of the wearing surfaces Of the plow are
sliding trictional surfaces, and II loss
of power occasioncd by friction of
sticky earth upon the plows of this
broad domain Of ours is past computa-
ton. The plows Of the day arc rigid
and inadjustablc in form. In sandy, or
in light and loose soils, and in lumpy or
claycy soils, in shallow or in deep
ploughing, in ploughing at slow or at
fast speed, no adjustment or change Of
form can be made to suit the special
conditions Of the work, yet these differ
cnt conditions arc often found in one
plantation, and the plow should be capa-