But to return to our operation :—it remains to con struct the lower part of the ear. Invert the block, and make the saw enter at the points where line al (Fig. 9.) meets with the traces, and continue your stroke along these traces until both ends of the saw approach within an inch, or any other convenient thickness, of the oppo site' face of the ear. When the cuts are finished, re move, as before, the sawn pieces, and the ear will Le finished-i' It is fixed to the plough by mortising the fore part o b (Fig. 5. and lo.) into the posterior end of the sock, which must be made double, like the case of a comb, that it may receive and secure this fore part of the ear. A screw-nail is then made to pass through the ear and the handle of the sock at the place of their contact, and other screw-nails pass through the tail or the ear and the right handle of the plough. The part of the tail which passes beyond the handle must be cut dia gonally, and the work will be finished.
In describing this operation I have followed the sim plest course, that it may be more easily conceived; but I have been taught, by practice, that it requires some useful modifications. Titus, instead of beginning to form the block as represented a b c d (Fig. 7.), where a b is 12 inches in length, and the angle at b ,s a right one, I cut off towards the bottom, and along the whole length b c of the block, a wedge b c e, the line 1 being equal to the thickness of die bar of the sock (which I suppose to be I inch) ; for, as the face of the wing inclines Irom the bar to the ground, if the block were placed on the sock, without taking into the account this inclination, the side a b would lose its perpendicular direction, and the side a d would cease to be horizontal. Besides, in stead of leaving at the top of the block a breadth of 134 inches front m to n (Fig. 8.), I remove from the right side a kind of wedge nkic n of 11 inch in thickness; because experience has shown me, that the tail, which by these means has become more oblique, as c i instead of k i, fits more conveniently to the side of the handle. The diagonal of the upper face is consequently removed back from k to c; and we have »r r instead of at k, as above. These modifications may be easily comprehend ed by those acquainted with the general principle.
In the different experiments to which ears have been subjected, to determine the quantity by which the right upper side of the block passes beyond the perpendicu lar, and to fix the relation between the height and the depth of the furrow, they were made only of wood ; but since my experiments have convinced me, that for a furrow 9 inches broad and 6 in depth, the dimensions I have given are the best, I propose in future to have the ears made of cast iron.
To any one who has been in the habit of seeing every kind of soil ploughed, in the completest manlier, by an improved sowing plough, drawn by two horses, it must appear highly absurd, that the lightest soils of Middle sex, Surry, and many other English counties, should be worked by 5 or 6 strong horses, yoked to a ponderous unwieldy implement, whilst after all, the furrow taken by an implement provided with an impelling power of 'uch magnitude is generally of less depth than the one taken by the improved plough drawn only by two horses. The difference of expense in these two cases, must at least amount to twenty shillings per acre in favour of farmers who use the improved sowing plough ; and this may be given as one of many reasons, why the rent of land is so much lower in England than in Scotland. There arc several obstacles to the improvement of agriculture which farmers cannot remove ; but to pur rhase proper implements, and to work them in a suitable manner, is certainly within the power of every one. It therefore appears surprising, that a great proportion of English farmers are so obstinately wedded to ancient customs and prejudices, as to persist in a practice, which, whilst it does no good to themselves, is highly pernicious to the interests of agriculture and the pros perity of the state. A spirit of inquiry, however, has now gone abroad, and it is to be hoped, that the conse quences thereof will serve to correct the above and other errors. So many English farmers have of late visited Scotland, and made sedulous inquiries respecting the practical husbandry of that country as inclines us to be lieve, that improvements in one part of the island will soon be diffused over the whole. But a stronger reason for inducing us to think that the number of horses used in a plough will shortly be lessened, may be gathered from the desire manifested by many English proprietors to obtain rents of a similar extent to those paid to their Scottish brethren. It is obvious that this cannot happen, so long as the produce of land is wasted and consumed by a parcel of idle or superfluous horses; therefore it will not give us surprise to be informed, that long teams interdicted by English proprietors, and that they refused to accept of a tenant, who did not previously bind and oblige himself to use the improved sowing plough drawn by two horses; which implement, with the exception of the thrashing machine, may justly be reckoned the greatest boon hitherto bestowed on British agriculture.