_Of the_ HOE-PLOUGH, _&c._
_Plate_ 6. _Fig._ 1. is the Hoe-Plough in a side View. A is the Beam
and Plough-tail, being much the same with that of the common Plough
described in _Fig._ 1. of _Plate_ 1. The Beam of such a common Plough,
being cut off, and screwed up to this Plank, and its Limbers, might
make a Hoe-Plough. The Share of this, from its Tail to the fore Part
of its Socket, is Two Feet One Inch long, and from thence to the End
of the Point, Ten Inches and an half: This is the Measure of the under
Side of the Share. B is the Plank, Two Feet Seven Inches and an half
long, Two Inches and an half thick, and Nine Inches broad. C, D, are
the Nuts of the Two Screw-pins, which hold up the Beam to the Plank. E
is the Nut of the Draw-pin, which Pin has a Crook underneath, whereto
one of the Links of the short Chain of the Whipper is fastened for
drawing the Plough; the only Use of this Nut is, to hold the Pin from
dropping out by its own Weight, and that of the Chain and Whipper; but
often, to avoid the Trouble of screwing and unscrewing the Nut, we
supply its Use by a square Pin a little bigger than the Hole, which we
drive up by an Hammer, so tight, that it may not drop out of itself;
but can easily be driven out by a few Blows of the Hammer, as often
as it is necessary to remove it into another Hole. F, G, are the Two
Limbers; they are screwed on to the Plank by Four Screws and Nuts: The
under Surface of the Limbers by their whole Length are parallel to the
Plank, and to the upper Surface of the fore End of the Beam, contrary
to the manner of placing the Limbers of the Drill Ploughs; because
their Planks being always parallel to the Bottom of their Shares, if
their Limbers were parallel to their Beams, as these are, the fore Ends
of their Limbers would not be elevated higher than the Plank, but would
go within a Foot of the Ground, instead of being elevated almost as
high as the Horses that draw them; and the upper and under Surfaces of
this Plank must not be parallel to the Share, but must make the same
Angle with it as its Limbers and Beam do.
These Limbers ought to crook outwards from each other all the Way,
till they come within about a Foot of the Chain, much more than the
Drill-Limbers need to do; because the Middle of the Plank of the Drill
follows directly after the Horse, but the Middle of the Plank of the
Hoe-Plough very seldom does; and therefore there must be the more room
betwixt these Limbers. Likewise there must be the more room betwixt the
fore Part of the Limbers, because oftentimes the right Limber must be
raised, and the left depressed, in holding the Plough towards the left
Side (for if it should be held towards the right Side, the Share would
go upon the Fin, and its Point be raised out of the Ground, unless it
were on a Surface that had a Declivity towards the Right). The Distance
between the fore Ends of these Limbers is Two Feet Eight Inches.
The Strength and Stiffness of these Limbers must be such, that there
may be no Bending betwixt their fore Ends and the Tail of the Beam;
for if they be too weak, so as to yield to the Weight of the Furrow,
the Point of the Share will descend into the Ground, and its Tail will
rise up, and then the Plough cannot go well. The shorter they are, the
stronger and stiffer will they be, of the same Thickness. We may make
them just of such a Length, that there may be room for the Horse before
the Bar H (which holds the Limbers at their due Distance). These are
from their Ends to the Bar, Four Feet Ten Inches long and from thence
to the Plank Ten Inches, and Three Inches and an half square at the Bar.
I is the Whipper. K, L, are its Notches, whereunto the Traces both
of the Thiller, and of the Horse next before him, are fastened. The
Length of the Whipper is uncertain; but when we hoe betwixt Rows, when
the Plants are grown high, we make it as short as it can be, without
galling the Horse’s Legs by the Traces.
We set this Plough to go deeper or shallower by the Chain of the
Limbers; the changing of whose Links to the Crook M has the same Effect
as changeing the Pins to different Holes of the Crow-staves of a common
Plough.
_Fig._ 2. is the Beam with its Mortise and Holes; its Crooking down at
the Tail is not very material; but it causes the hinder Sheat to be
a little the shorter below the Beam, whereby it may be something the
lighter, and yet of the same Strength as if it were longer. Its whole
Length is Four Feet Ten Inches: We make its Breadth and Thickness such,
that it may be as light as it can be without Bending. A is the Mortise
thro’ which the hinder Sheat passes. B is the Mortise for the fore
Sheat, upon which it is pinned up. C is a Hole in the Beam, into which
the End of the left Handle being driven, holds it from moving, and is
the best Manner of fastening this Handle of a Plough. D, E, are the
Holes, thro’ which the Two Legs of the double Retch pass, and are there
held up by their Nuts. F is the Coulter-hole. G is the hinder Hole, by
which the Plough is held up to the Plank. H and I are the Two foremost
Holes of the Beam, thro’ one or the other of which passes the Pin which
holds the Beam to the fore Part of the Plank. These Holes must be made
as near together as they can be, without Danger of splitting them one
into another; to prevent which there are several Ways: The one is by
driving in Two square Pins cross the Beam, under the pricked Line _a
b_, before the Holes are bored, which will prevent the Grain of the
Wood from being forced out of one Hole into the other; or these Holes
may be plated with Iron above and below, which will have the same
Effect, and then there need not be more than One Inch between Hole and
Hole.
_Fig._ 3. is the Plank apart, which by its Holes, and pricked Lines,
shews the different Manner of placing the Beam. _a_, _a_, _a_, _a_, are
the Four Holes for screwing down the Limbers to the Plank.
Supposing the Path of the Horse to be a strait Line, and the pricked
Line _h i_ (which is at right Angles with the Plank, and equidistant
from each Limber) to go exactly over it, without making any Angle on
either Side of it; then the Beam must be placed at right Angles with
the Plank, to the End that the Share may go parallel to the Horse-path,
excepting that very small Inclination that its Point has to the left,
shewn by the pricked Lines in _Fig._ 1. of _Plate_ 1. But this Plough
seldom follows the Horse in that manner. The said pricked Line _h i_
generally makes Angles with the Horse-path; else when the Beam stood
near the left Limber, and the Draw-pin near the right Limber in the
Hole 9. (which it must do to keep the Share parallel to the Horse-path)
the Weight of the right End of the Plank and its Limber would be too
heavy for the right Hand of the Holder to manage; and if the Draw-pin
be removed (suppose) to Hole 7. the Parallelism of the Share with the
Horse-path will be lost, and the Point of the Share may be inclined too
much towards the Left; and when a Furrow is to be plowed on the right
Side of the Horse-path, the Beam must be removed nearer to the Middle
of the Plank, and the Draw-pin must be placed on the left Side of the
Beam, suppose to the Hole 2. This will bring the greatest Part of the
Plank to the right Side of the Horse-path; and then the Share, standing
at right Angles with the Plank, will make a very large Angle with the
Horse-path, and then the Plough will not perform at all. Therefore it
being necessary, that the Share always go parallel to the Horse-path,
and often as necessary that the Plank go at oblique Angles to the
Horse-path; it follows then that the Beam stand at oblique Angles with
the Plank, to preserve the Parallelism to the Horse-path; and this
cannot be done but by the Holes which are shewn under the pricked Lines
which cross the Plank.
The Holes A, B, C, are those to one of which the Beam is screwed up by
its Hole G, in _Fig._ 2. These Holes are made as near to the hinder
Edge of the Plank, as they can safely be, without Danger of tearing
out; which is generally about an Inch distant from the said Edge.
Every one of these Holes are answered by Three others, near the fore
Edge of the Plank, as the Hole B has, at the fore Edge of the Plank,
the Holes D, E, F, D, E belong to the Hole I of the Beam _Fig._ 2.
These Two Holes are made as near together as they can be without
breaking into one another. F answers the Hole H in _Fig._ 2. and is
made between D and E, as near them as safely it can.
When the Beam is screwed up at B and F, and makes the same Angles with
the Plank, as the pricked Line _b c_ doth; then the Draw-pin standing
in the Hole 8 or 9, will bring the Plough so much to the Left, that the
Share will point too much towards the Right; then remove the fore End
of the Beam to the Hole D, and then the Beam will make the same Angle
with the Plank as the pricked Line _c d_, which may bring the Share to
be parallel to the Horse-path nearly enough: But if the Draw-pin should
be placed in the Hole 1. then the Plank would go so much on the Right
of the Horse-path, that the Share would point vastly too much towards
the Left, standing in either of these Two Positions: Therefore the
foremost Pin must be removed to the Hole E, and then the Beam being
at the same Angles with the Plank as the pricked Line _f g_, it may be
parallel to the Horse-path, or so nearly, that by removing the Draw-pin
one Hole, it may be made perfectly so.
_Note_, That tho’ here are but Nine Holes for the Draw-pin; yet we
usually make many more in our Planks: And sometimes by changing the
Draw-pin either Way into another Hole, tho’ that Hole be but an Inch
distant from the former, the Share is brought right without any
Inconvenience.
The Holes A and C have each of them their opposite Holes, which (when
the Beam is placed into either of the Two) have the same Effect, for
keeping the Share parallel to the Horse-path, as the Hole B and its
Three opposite Holes have; and if either of the Holes belonging to A,
B, or C, should not bring the Beam sufficiently oblique to the Plank,
for the Share to be parallel to the Horse-path, when the Draw-pin is
in some one particular Hole, then there may be another Hole bored
before, on the Right or Left, for the fore Pin to pass thro’ by the
Hole H of the Beam _Fig._ 2. which will incline the Beam a little
more to the Right or Left, as occasion requires; and if none of all
these be sufficient, the Plank may be turned the other Side upwards;
and the Beam being fastened there by the hinder Screw into any one of
those Holes, which were next to the fore Edge of the Plank before it
was reversed, there may be a new Set of Holes to answer the fore Pin,
of which that which was an hinder Hole before the Plank was reversed,
may be one. These may set the Beam at different Angles from any of the
first Holes; so that there may be at one End of the Plank Six Systems
of Holes, Three on the one Side, and Three on the other; and if we have
a mind to make yet more various Positions of the Plough, we may turn
the Plank, End for End, and there make Six different Systems of Holes.
But, instead of turning the Plank, it would be better to have a Fourth
Hole in the Beam, standing as near to the hinder Hole as H doth to the
fore Hole; to answer which Fourth Hole, there may be Two Holes in the
Plank, one at each Side of the hinder Hole of every System at proper
Distances, to set the Plough still at more different Angles with the
Plank; and these, I believe, will be more convenient for the Purpose
than the different Holes in the fore Part of the Plank, it being easier
to remove the hinder Screw than the fore Screw; because if the Plank
and Limbers are not held up by somebody, whilst the fore Pin is out,
their Weight will wrench out the hinder Hole of the Plank by that
Screw; but whilst the hinder Screw is out, there is no need of holding
up the Plank, because its Weight, bearing upon the Beam, cannot injure
the foremost Hole, whilst the Limbers bear upon the Horse. Upon this
account, I wonder we had not made the Holes, for changing the Position
of the Beam, at the hinder Part of the Plank rather than the fore Part;
which convinces me, that new Instruments are seldom perfect in the
Beginning.
We can also alter the Standing of the Beam, by cutting away the Wood on
one Side of an Hole, and placing a Wedge on the opposite Side of the
Pin.
The Holder may make some Alteration in the Going of the Plough by the
Handles.
The Reason we never set the Beam on the right Half of the Plank is,
that the Plough always turns its Furrow towards the Right-hand; and the
strait Side of the Share and the Coulter never go so near to a Row on
the Right-hand, by the Breadth of Two Furrows, as it does to a Row on
the Left-hand.
If by the Drawing of the fore Horse or Horses, the Plough should bear
too hard upon the Thiller, it may be helped by making a Row of Holes
near the hinder Side of the Plank, for the Draw-pin, instead of those
in the Middle; for the farther backwards the Draw-pin is plac’d, the
less will the Limbers bear on the Thiller, especially when drawn by
more Horses than one; because the fore Horses draw the Limbers more
downwards than the Thiller doth, as may be seen in _Fig._ 4.
_Fig._ 4. shews the manner how the Hoe-plough is drawn, and how the
Traces are fix’d to it. The Traces of both Horses are fastened to the
Notches of the Ends of the Whipper at _a_ and _b_. The Traces of the
Thiller by their fore Part are fastened to an Hook, or Ring, on the
Wood of the Collar, as is usual for other Thillers; and the fore Part
of the next Horse’s Traces is fastened to his Collar in like manner;
but these Traces, being twice as long as those of the Thiller, must be
held up in the Middle by a Piece of Cord or Chain, as at _c_, where
one End of it is fastened to the Trace, and passes over the Top of
the Collar, behind one of the Hames, and before the other to keep it
from slipping backwards or forwards; its other End is fastened to the
opposite Trace on the other Side, as this End is at _c_. This prevents
the Chain from falling down, and getting under the Horse’s Legs in
turning; but beware that this String or Chain be not so short as to
hold up the Traces higher than their strait Line; for that would press
upon the Collar, and gall the Thiller, besides occasioning the Plough
to be drawn too much upwards; for this drawing of the fore Horse by
a different Line from that of the Thiller, is a great Advantage for
keeping the Plough the firmer into the Ground.
If there is another Horse, his Traces are fastened at the Collar of the
Second, in the same manner as in drawing of a Waggon.
When we hoe betwixt Rows, where the Plants are very high, as those
of Turnep-seed, which are much higher than the Horses, to turn a new
Furrow up to the Row, when there is a Trench in the Middle of the
Interval, where the Horses must go, we find it best to place the Beam
by the Holes B and E, in _Fig._ 3. and the Draw-pin near the left
Limber, which brings the Tail of the Plough to the Right-hand, and the
fore Ends of the Limbers being towards the Left, the End of the right
Limber (by turning the Handles a little to the Left) bears against the
wooden Saddle at _d_, and cannot hitch into or take hold of any of the
Plants to tear them. And that no Part of the Limber may take hold of
any Plant, we make it very smooth from one End to the other; and cut
off the Corner of the Plank equal with the Limber, that the Plants may
slip by it without hanging in it, or being broken by it. The Whipper
standing towards the left End of the Plank, its End _b_ does not reach
so far towards the right as to take hold of the Plants, its End _a_
being over the Interval, where no Plants are; and to keep its right End
the more out of Danger of hurting the Plants, we place the Hook of its
Chain nearer towards this End, by which means the left End, becoming
heavier, sinks lower, and raises the right End higher; and the higher
it is, the more secure the Plants will be from it; because they are
held off by the Limber above.
This way my Turnep-seed has been ho’d, when one would have thought
it impossible for a Plough and Horses to go betwixt the Rows without
destroying the Crop. Almost in this manner we give our Wheat the
last Hoeing, to turn the Furrow a Second time towards the Row. When
the Plants of the Rows are very high, the Driver must go in the next
Interval, on the Left of the Plough; and the Holder has a Cord, like
the Reins of a Bridle, which he lays over the End of the Draw-pin,
which keeps it from falling down, until he has occasion to use it for
guiding or turning the Thiller.
When we turn the Furrow from the Row (which will then be ever on the
left Side of the Plough), the Plough must be set in a very different
and contrary Posture; but then the Plants commonly being low, there is
no Danger of the Whipper’s or Limber’s hitching or taking hold of them;
but the Driver must take care, that he does not tread on them, nor
suffer any of the Horses to do so; and they of themselves, when they
are not blind, take all the Care they can to avoid it; and I observe,
that the Plants are oftener injured by the Driver, than by the Horses.
’Tis in this last-mentioned manner of Hoeing, when we go very near to
the young Plants, the First or Second time, that we must take care of
burying them with the Earth, which (especially when dry and fine) is
apt to run over to the left Side of the Plough; this we can in great
measure prevent, when the Ground is clean, by nailing with Three or
Four Nails a very thin square Piece of Board to the Sheat, with one
Corner bearing at, or below, _a_, in _Fig._ 1. and its other lower
Corner bearing on the Back of the Coulter on its left Side at _b_, its
upper Corner reaching to _c_ or higher; its fore End is ty’d on to the
Coulter by a leathern Thong passing thro’ an Hole very near the End
of the Board. The lower Edge of the Board must come no lower than the
prick’d Line _a_, _b_, which, at _b_, is just even with the Surface
of the Ground, before it is rais’d by the Share; for if this Board
should be set down too near the Share, the Plough would not go; but,
being set in this manner, it prevents the Earth (when never so much
pulveriz’d in the driest Weather) from running over upon the Plants to
bury them, tho’ the Plough go very near them; except in this case, we
never use a Board, the Earth running over to the left Side, being often
advantageous in Hoeing; for it changes more Surface of the Ground,
than if it went all to the right; and when in Summer we hoe from the
Wheat-rows, not going very near to the grown Plants, this Earth that
runs over the Share to the Left, helps to mend such Places where the
Furrow was not thrown up close enough to the Row by the precedent
Hoeing.
The first time we turn a Furrow towards the Row, the Horses go in
the Trench near to it, and the Plough stands on the left Side of the
Horse-path, almost in the same manner as when the Furrow is turn’d from
the Row; but we very often make use of a common Plough, for throwing
down the Ridge, which has lain all the Winter in the Middle of the
Interval. One Wheel, going on each Side of that Ridge, holds that
Plough to a great Exactness for splitting this Ridge into Halves, which
the Earth-board, being set out for that Purpose, throws up to the Row
on each Side of the Interval.
We also very often make use of the Two-wheel’d Plough, for raising up
the Ridges, whereon we drill the Rows; not but that the Hoe-Plough
will do every thing that is necessary to our Husbandry: Yet the common
Ploughs being heavier than we usually make our Hoe-Ploughs, they by
their Weight, and Help of their Wheels go a little steadier: and
besides the Ploughmen, being more accustom’d to them, prefer them
before all other, where their Wheels are of no Prejudice.
I never saw neater Ridges rais’d by any Plough, than by the Hoe-Plough,
nor finer Plowing; and I believe that were it made as heavy, and as
strong, it would outdo the Swing-Plough, in plowing miry Clays, where
Plough-wheels cannot go; but I, haveing no such Land, have never
made any Hoe-Plough heavy enough for it. However, I am convinc’d, by
the many Trials which I have seen, that no other Plough can be used
for every Horse-hoeing Operation, so effectually as this I have now
describ’d.
The making the Hoe-plough is not difficult for a good Workman; and
a few of the Holes for setting the Beam are sufficient, provided
they are made in their proper Places, which is impossible for me to
describe exactly in a Number that is no more than necessary; because
the Distance the Plough must go from the Horse-path on either Side,
is uncertain, as the Largeness or the Depth of the Furrow is; and for
that Reason, it is as impossible for me direct the Ploughman to the
particular Angles, at which his Beam must be set with the Plank, to
keep the Share parallel to the Horse-path, as it is to direct a Fidler,
how far he must turn his Pegs to give his Strings their due Tension
for bringing them all in Tune, which without a Peg to each String
could never be done; but when he has his just Number of Pegs, his Ear
will direct him in turning them, till his Fiddle is in Tune; so the
Ploughman by his Eyes, his Feeling, and his Reason, must be directed
in the setting his Plough; but without a competent Number of Holes, he
can no more do it than a Musician can tune Four Strings upon one Peg.
And I am told, that some Pretenders to making the Hoe-Plough have fix’d
its Beam to the Plank immoveable, which makes it as useless for hoeing
betwixt Rows, as a Violin with but one Peg to its Four Strings would be
for playing a _Sonata_.
_Fig._ 5. shews the Sort of Yoke, that is us’d on every Ox that
draws in a single File, as they always must when they work with the
Hoe-plough; but after they have been accustom’d to draw double (_i. e._
Two abreast) they must be practis’d for about a Week to draw single,
before they are set to Hoeing; for otherwise they will be apt to
demolish the Rows, one running off to the right-hand, expecting his
Fellow to come up with him on the Left, and another will run off on
the Left to make room for his Companion to go abreast with him on the
Right, endeavouring to go in the manner in which they us’d to be placed
for drawing in Pairs.
I suppose I need not give any Caution about muzling the Oxen when they
hoe; because they will eat the Plants as soon as they come an Inch
above the Ground, and that will shew the Necessity of it; but there is
no occasion to muzzle the Horses until the Plants are grown as high as
their Noses, when rein’d up, as in _Fig._ 4.
_Fig._ 6. is an Instrument of Pulveration, which might have been
sufficiently describ’d by its Matter, Weight and Dimensions, without
any Portrait, were it not to shew the particular Manner of drawing
it, being very different from that of a common Roller, whose Frame is
difficult to make, and costly; but this, being only Three Feet long, is
drawn by a simple Pair of Limbers, held together, by the Two Bars A and
B, firmly pinn’d in at their Ends.
Its Gudgeons must not come out beyond the outer Surface of the Limbers,
lest they should take hold of the Plants, when drawn in the Intervals;
also the hinder Ends of the Limbers, behind the Gudgeon, should crook a
little upwards, for the same Reason.
This Stone Cylinder is Two Feet and an half Diameter, and weighs Eleven
hundred Weight besides the Limbers. It must never be us’d but in the
driest Weather, when neither the Plough nor Harrow can break the Clods;
and then being so very ponderous and short, it crushes them to Powder,
or into such very small Pieces, that a very little Rain, or even the
Dews (if plentiful), will dissolve them.
I have had great Benefit by this Roller in preparing my Ridges for
Turneps. The Weather proving dry at _Midsummer_ (which is the best
Season for planting them), the Land was in Pieces like Horse-heads, so
that there was no Hope of reducing them fit for planting with Turneps
that Year; the Clods being so very large, that they would require
so many Vicissitudes of wet and dry Weather to slack them; but this
Instrument crush’d them small, and the Plough following it immediately,
the Ridges were harrow’d and drill’d with very good Success.
I have also made use of it for the same Purpose in the Middle of a
cloddy Field, where it pulveriz’d the Clods so effectually, that the
Benefit of it might be plainly distinguish’d by the Colour and Strength
of the Two following Crops, different from the other Parts of the Field
adjoining on both Sides, whereon the Roller was not drawn.
But crushing has such a contrary Effect from squeezing, that if
this Roller should be us’d when the Land is moist, it would be very
pernicious, by unpulverizing it; of which I am so cautious, that
sometimes I let the Roller lie still for a whole Year together.
There is also a long triangular Harrow, which is sometimes useful in
the Intervals when the Earth is of a right Temper betwixt wet and dry;
but there is no need to describe it, and I scarce use it once in Two or
Three Years.
The Diameters of the wooden and iron Pins and Screws, with their Holes,
and the Sizes of the Nails to be made use of in all the describ’d
Instruments, I leave to the Discretion of the Workmen, who, if they are
Masters of their several Trades, cannot be ignorant of such Matters.
_Fig._ 7. and _Fig._ 8. shew the Lands of Turneps mention’d at the
Beginning of this Work.
[Illustration]