Part 68

B.Cole Delin et Sculp]

What is meant by Wood-screws, are taper Screws made with Iron, having very deep Threads, whereby they hold-fast when screwed into Wood, and their Points will enter into soft Wood without boring any Hole for them into the Wood they are to take hold of; but near their Heads they are round, and have no Thread, and that Part of them must always be in a bored Hole thro’ that Part of a Board that is to be drawn close.

If the Standards should be much swollen by being wet, it may be proper to anoint them with Soap.

In drilling, when the Wind is very strong, and the Hopper goes high above the Funnel, the Seed might be blown over it, if we did not take care to guard it from the Force of the Wind; and for doing this there are many Ways: Sometimes we nail a Piece of Linen Cloth round the Ends, and the fore Side of the Hopper; or else we nail on a Piece of old Hat, or Shoe-leather, round the Edges of the Funnel, to raise it higher; or if the Hopper go a great deal above the Trunk, we nail up a Pipe of Leather to the wooden Bottom of the Box, which Pipe, being about an Inch wide at Bottom, protects the Seed from the Wind, till it arrives so near the Funnel, that the Wind cannot blow it over.

If we would have a long Hopper, to plant many Rows at once, of Clover or other fine Seeds, it is easy to make each of these wooden (false) Spindles turn Two or Three Brass or Iron Spindles; but then, as in all other Cases; where the same Hopper is to supply more than one Chanel with Seed, each of its Wheels must have Liberty to rise without the other, as those of the hinder Hopper of the Wheat-drill do.

CHAP. XXIII.

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.