Part 56

Each Hole, being a Mortise, is one Inch and a quarter wide, with its Two opposite Sides parallel from Top to Bottom; each of these Mortises, or Holes, are long at Top Three Inches and an half, and at Bottom Three Inches; the Back-part, or Hinder-end, of each Coulter-hole is not perpendicular, but oblique, and determines the Obliquity of the Standing of the Coulter, which is wedged tight up to it by the Poll-wedge i, Fig. 1. as all Coulters are.

Fig. 17. Is a Coulter; a b is its Length, being Two Feet Eight Inches, before it is worn; e d is its Edge, Sixteen Inches long; d c is the Length of its Handle, Sixteen Inches; this is made thus long, at first, to stand above the Plough, that it may be driven down lower, according as the Point wears shorter; this Handle is One Inch and Seven Eighths broad, and Seven Eighths of an Inch thick, equally thro’ its whole Length: Its Breadth and Thickness might be described by a rectangled Parallelogram.

In all Ploughs this first Coulter is, or ought to be, placed in the Beam in manner following; viz. its Back to bear against the Back of the Coulter-hole, its right Side above to bear against the upper Edge of the Coulter-hole, and its left Side to bear against the lower Edge of the Coulter-hole; so that always Three Wedges at least will be necessary to hold the Coulter; the Poll-wedge before it, as at i, in Fig. 1. another Wedge on the left Side of it above, and a Third on the right Side underneath: The Coulter-hole must be so made, that the Coulter standing thus across the Hole, its Point may incline so much towards the Left, as to be about Two Inches and an half farther to the Left than the Point of the Share, if it were driven down as low as it; but it never ought to be so low in any Plough: As to its bearing forwards, the Point of the Coulter should never be before the Middle of the Point of the Share: What Angle the Coulter would make with the Bottom of the Share, may be seen by the Posture it stands in, in Fig. 1. If it should be set much more obliquely, it would have a greater Force to raise up the Poll-wedge, and get loose.

I find that sometimes it is necessary in some of these Ploughs for the Point of this Coulter to stand yet farther on the Left of the Share’s Point.

The Three added Coulters should stand in the same Posture with this already described, in regard to the Inclination of their Points towards the Left: And this is a very great Advantage to them; for by this means, when the Fin is rais’d up, by turning the Handles towards the Left, their Points do not rise out of the Ground on the right Hand, as they would do without this described Inclination towards the Left; but in regard to their Pointing forwards, I find it best, that every one of the Three should be a little more perpendicular than that next behind it. So the Coulter 4 stands the nearest to Perpendicular of any of them. By this means there being more Room betwixt them above than below, they are the more easily freed from the Turf, whenever the Pieces, being covered with a great Quantity of Couch-grass, or the like, rise up betwixt them: which tho’ this seldom happens, makes a Necessity for a Man, or a Boy, to go on the Side with a forked Stick, to push out the Turf and Grass, which might otherwise fill the Spaces betwixt the Coulters, and raise up the Plough out of its Work.

’Tis to be observed, that none of these Coulters ought to descend so low as the Bottom of the Share, except when you plow very shallow: ’Tis always sufficient that they cut through the Turf, let the Plough go never so deep in the Ground.

It is necessary also, that when you plow very shallow, the Fin of the Share be broad enough to cut off the Fourth Piece or Furrow; else that, lying fast, will be apt to raise up the Ground-wrist, and throw out the Plough: But when you plow deep, the Ground-wrist will break off this Fourth Furrow, altho’ the Fin be not broad enough to reach it.

Sometimes the First or left Furrow is apt to come through betwixt the First Coulter and the Sheat, and so falls on the left-hand Side of the Plough: This is no Injury; but yet it is prevented, by letting the Second Coulter stand a little higher than the Third; and then the Second Furrow, holding the First at its Bottom, will carry it over, together with itself, on the right Side by the Earth-board; but yet never set this, or any of the Three added Coulters, so high that they may not cut through the Turf. But as for the first Coulter, tho’ it should cut but an Inch or Two within the Ground, the Share will break off the first Furrow in raising it up.

Remember, as often as the Point of any Coulter is worn too short, that you drive down the Coulter with a large Hammer, carried for that Purpose; and when it is driven low enough, fasten the Wedges again, so as to keep the Coulters in their right Postures, that their Incisions may be all of them equidistant.

Fig. 18. Is a Nut, with Two of its opposite Corners turn’d up, by which it is driven round by a Hammer, and has so great a Force, that Three of them, with their Screws properly placed, hold the Piece, Fig. 16. as fast to the Plough-beam, as if they both were made of one Piece of Wood; but as often as the Wood shrinks in dry Weather, the Nuts must be screw’d farther on, both here and in all other Places where they are used: particularly, those which hold up the Retch; for if the Sheat should once get loose, there is no Cure but by a new one.

Betwixt this Nut and the Wood, there should be a thin Iron Bolster, about the Thickness of a Shilling, broader than the Nut, to prevent the Nut from eating into the Wood, especially when it is to be often screw’d, as on the Retch of these Ploughs, and most of all on the Hoe-plough; but sometimes we use a Piece of Shoe-leather instead of an Iron Bolster.

Note, There must be Iron Plates upon all the Coulter-holes both above and below, Three of which are seen on the Piece in Fig. 16. There is no need to say how they must be nailed on with many Nails made for the Purpose.

Fig. 19. Is the Iron Collar, fastened to the Beam by Two short Crooks A, B, which take hold of Two short Pins driven into the Plough just behind the Second Coulter-hole, one on one Side, and the other on the other Side of the Beam. The Crook A is seen on the left Side of the Beam near c, in Fig. 2. the Crook B doing the same on the other Side of the Beam, which is seen near a, in Fig. 3. C is the Crook (for its Shape called a C) which holds the Tow-chain to the Collar by the Link D, being Part of the said Chain taking hold of its Fore-claw; the other Claw taking hold of one of the Five Notches of the Collar: This Collar is partly seen at d, in Fig. 2. Both the Claws of the Crook (or C) turn upwards, so that they cannot take hold of any thing that may rise under the Plough: The Use of the Notches is to help the Direction of the Point of the Share, which has been described by the prick’d Lines under Fig. 1. As the Point of the Share wears, it inclines a little more towards the Right, and is remedied by moving the Crook into a Notch nearer to the Left, which will direct the Point a little more towards the Left: This is more easy to be done here than in the common Plough, whose Collar moves round the Beam: We can, by changing the Crook from one Notch to another, incline the Point of the Share towards the Right or Left at Pleasure. The Length of each Side of this Collar is a Foot long.

The Tow-chain is best seen in Fig. 3. where the Link Y is that which passes thro’ the Box, and is pinned in by the Stake, as has been shewn in Fig. 1. which Stake is commonly nailed to the Box, to prevent its rising up. When we would draw up the Plough a little nearer to the Crow-staves, we take hold of the Crook by a Second or Third Link. Note, That the shortening of the Chain does also a little incline the Point of the Share towards the Left.

Fig. 20. is the Iron-wilds. The Leg A is of one Piece with that which has the Notch, and that passes thro’ the Leg B by the Loop at a; both which Legs pass thro’ the Box, and are pinned in behind it, by the crooked Pins C, D. This Figure is seen with its Crooks on it, both in Fig. 1. and Fig. 2. Note, That the Holes in the Box, thro’ which these Legs pass, must not be made at right Angles with the Box, but must incline upwards, so that the Fore-part of the Wilds may be higher than the Hinder-part, or else the Upper-part of the Crow-staves would lean quite back when the Plough is drawn. If the Beasts that draw immediately next to the Plough be very high, their Traces must be the longer; else they and the Wilds making too small an Angle with the Tow-chain at the Box, when they draw hard, the Wheels will rise from the Ground, and be apt to overturn: This Angle I suppose should not be less than of 160 Degrees, and the Angle made by the Tow-chain or Traces that are drawn by the Cattle that go before them, will make an Angle with the Tow-chain at the Box yet much more obtuse. The Use of these Notches in the Wilds is, to give the Plough a broader or narrower Furrow: If the Links are moved to the Notches on the right Hand, it brings the Wheels towards the left Hand, which gives a greater Furrow; and when the Links are moved towards the left Hand, it gives a less Furrow, by bringing the Wheels towards the right Hand.

The Distance betwixt the Two Legs of the Wilds is Eight Inches and an half; the Length of the Legs is Nineteen Inches. They must be of convenient Strength. The Links being placed in Notches distant from one another, prevents one Wheel from advanceing before the other; which would happen, if the Links were both in One Notch, or in Two adjoining Notches, except they were middle Notches: These Links are each Six Inches and an half long.

E is the Ring, by which the Two Links, and the Two Crooks F and G, are held together, and on which they all move.

The Height of the Wheels in Fig. 2. The left-hand Wheel is Twenty Inches Diameter; the Diameter of the right Wheel is Two Feet Three Inches; the Distance the Wheels are set from each other at the Ground, is Two Feet Five Inches and an half; the Crow-staves are One Foot Eleven Inches high, from the Box to the Gallows; they both stand perpendicular to the Box, and the Distance between the Crow-staves is Ten Inches and an half. The Pillow is pinned up at its Ends by Two small Iron Pins, which are chained to it, that if they drop, they may not be lost. These appear in Fig. 1. and Fig. 2. The Height from the level Surface, up to the Hole in the Box, where the Tow-chain passes through it, is Thirteen Inches (being Two Inches below the Holes of the Wilds, on the Hinder-side of the Box); the Height at the other End, where the Crook of the Collar takes hold of the Pin in the Beam at c, in Fig. 2. is Twenty Inches high above the same level Surface, and shews how much the Chain descends forward, for drawing down the Plough, and by which Descent may be known what Angle the Chain would make with the Surface, if it were produced forwards in a strait Line; which is a thing material for the good going of a Plough; and so is the Angle the Tow-chain makes with the Beam: About the Middle of this Tow-chain, there should be a Swivel, whereby one End of the Chain may turn without the other.

When this Four coulter Plough is made, I would advise, that it be tried with only the first Coulter, before the other Three are put in; for if the Plough does not go well with One Coulter, it is not likely it should go well with Four; and I never yet have seen or heard of any that went well with One Coulter, that did not also go well with Four, being placed as is here directed.

P. 307

B Cole Delin et Sculp]

The Proofs of a Plough’s performing well are these; viz. If it makes a Furrow of an equal Depth on the right Hand and on the left, and turns it off fairly: If, in its going, the Tail of the Share, and the Bottom of the Drock, bear against the Bottom of the Furrow; and if it goes easy in the Hands of the Holder, without pressing one Arm more than the other; then the Plough is certainly a good one.

The Ploughman who is accustom’d to a Two-wheel’d Plough, never suffers the Wheels to overturn, in turning out at the Land’s End, from one Furrow to another; for which Purpose, after he has lifted the Plough a little round, he has a Knack of holding up the Crow-staves with the End of the Beam, by pressing his Hand hard against the Handle, whilst the Plough lies down on one Side, until the Horses, the Wheels, and the Plough, come near to a Line in the Beginning of the Furrow; and then he lifts up his Plough, and goes on.

CHAP. XX.

Of the Drill-Boxes.

The Drill is the Engine that plants our Corn and other Seeds in Rows: It makes the Chanels, sows the Seed into them, and covers them at the same time, with great Exactness and Expedition.

The principal Parts of the Drill are, the Seed-box, the Hopper, and the Plough, with its Harrow.

Of these the Seed-box is the Chief: It measures (or rather numbers) out the Seed which it receives from the Hopper: It is for this Purpose as an artificial Hand, which performs the Task of delivering out the Seed, more equally than can be done by a natural Hand.