THE plough, principally in common use all over the county, is the common plough of the midland counties, very generally used upon all sandy, gravelly, or loamy soils, of moderate dryness or friability, and not being too moist or tenacious. This plough was formerly very generally guided by hand, constructed to make only one furrow, and drawn by three or four horses, according to the state or hardness of the soil, with a man to hold the plough, and a boy to drive. Somewhat more than 30 years ago, wheels were first applied to the fore end of the beam, and it was found that by pitching the plough a little deeper, and setting the wheels so as to prevent its drawing in too deep, the wheels were a sufficient guide, and the plough required no one to hold it, except in places of difficulty ; one person attending was therefore sufficent to drive on the team, turn the plough in and out at the ends, or guide it in particularly hard or soft places.
Soon after another furrow was added, by splicing an additional beam to the off side of the former, one somewhat lengthened, with foot share and shelboard ; the same number of wheels, viz. One each side, guiding the two furrows : this plough is now generally used, drawn by four or five horses, and can in all common cases be managed by one man, without an assistant ; but in difficult work, a driver is sometimes allowed.

P the point of the share, p q the land side bottom 33 inches long, q s the plough bottom to clear the furrow, nine inches wide, the bottom of the plough cuts the soil with the angle of about 15 or 16 degrees : p r the upper part of the shelboard, or mould board, which presses down the furrow ; this extends from the point of the share about three feet six inches, and spreads to the near eighteen inches wide ; it acts against the furrow with an angle of about 24 , which will clear itself in most soils, in a state tolerably dry. The off wheel, which is the highest, goes along the near side of the last made furrow, thus gauging the width of the new furrow to about nine inches ; it is made moveable to different widths, the near wheel goes uponn the unploughed land, and gauges the depth ; it is movable higher or lower, by a rack ; p t the wing of the share undermines the furrow, and makes it easily turned over. The two furrow plough is upon the same principal, but being longer in the main beam, has a secondary beam, foot share, and mould board, fastened to the former, and made moveable by screws, so as to vary the depth and breadth of the furrow.
These ploughs are neat compact tools, and if their force of draught be not increased by the wheels, so as to require more power to keep in motion than some others, they must be equal to any ploughs now in use. In moist tenacious soils, by lengthening the mould board and bottom of the plough, it may be applied to the soil with a more acute angle, and would then clear itself the better. The mould board is very frequently of cast iron, otherwise of wood plated ; the bottom and land side of the plough is also plated with iron.
The ploughs upon Lord Moira's farm are not very distinct, or different from this, except that there are no wheels ; they are held by hand, and drawn by two horses abreast, guided by reins, in the Norfolk and Northumberland manner. I saw them ploughing bean ground a second time for wheat, in which they went on well. I remarked to the farm bailiff, that I thought the ploughing of a strong ley, would be too much for them ; but he says they can do it, and more horses than two are seldom or never used. I must remark, the horses are well corned, and well kept, besides being naturally stout, stiff, strong horses ; the ploughs too, are light neat tools, not over-loading the team ; and I suppose there is some advantage in drawing two abreast, they being nearer their work ; or from their similarity to the common wheel plough above described, I do not see why they should go easier, or be drawn with less force, unless it be supposed that wheels increase the friction, or impede the motion of the plough : it must however be confessed, that these wheeled ploughs are seldom drawn by less than 3 horses, and the 2 furrow ploughs have commonly 4 or 5.
The old fashioned throck plough is not quite given up ; I saw a few instances of it at work on strongish soils, drawn by four horses ; it is a clumsy heavy looking tool, and the horses seemed as much loaded with it on a similar soil, as Lord Moira's team of two horses only.
On Ashby Wolds, Mr. Smith's wheel ploughs are drawn by a horse to lead and two oxen ; 2 teams were thus at work ; or a horse to lead and 4 oxen draw a 2 furrow plough. The ploughs are the wheel ploughs first described, and these are by far the most common ploughs of the county.
Trench and draining ploughs of various constructions are made in the county, in a very ingenious manner, by Messrs. Hanford and Co. of Hathern, near Loughborough : their advertisement is annexed in the appendix, and I would willingly have procured or made drawings of the implements of their construction, but they had not near a full assortment at home, and unless such drawings are well executed they do not convey a clear idea.
2. Harrows.- The harrows in general have nothing singular in their construction : I give a drawing of a pair of Lord Moria's, principally for the simplicity of their coupling, which is a wooden sloat fixed on two pins passing through the middle bull ; this is not being closely confined, but left to have some play, gives the harrows full liberty to work about, and yet effectually keeps them asunder, and prevents their entangling or falling foul of each other ; and it may be taken off, or put on, almost in a moment. It will appear by the drawing, that if the traces be so managed as to give the line of draught there marked, the tines or teeth will each cut different ground, going 20 in a yard, or about one inch and three-quarters asunder. I do not know that any particular form of harrow can give much greater advantage.
Mr. Hanford has constructed harrows of the diagonal form, merely to command this advantage, of each tine or tooth cutting different ground ; but I am not sure whether the above form with the off trace let out, so as to give the line of draught its proper direction, is not equal to any form of the harrow that can be devised.
Respecting the price of ploughs, harrows, and implements of husbandry, it is difficult, and indeed the makers refuse to fix a specific price, as that depends upon the strength of timber, and more particularly the weight of iron-work used in the construction : the price of iron-work is, for heavy and plain work 4d. common work 5d. and screw-work 6d. per lb. ; but the intricate work often applied to machinery is worth 1s. per lb. Dishley, and many of the principal farms, keep a smith as an hired servant, constantly the year about.
3. Rollers.- The common simple roller with a pair of shafts is still the most common. Of stone rollers I saw none used in agriculture, though they are not uncommon in many places. Of rollers divided in the middle I saw none here, though they are elsewhere used, and said to turn much better than all of a piece, and with less disturbance to the surface of loose buds when turned short again.
Heavy iron rollers are used by gentlemen and the larger farmers to roll grass land and meadows, and are a very capital tool to level and consolidate such land, and enable the scythe at harvest to lay close to the surface. The most remarkable roller I saw in the county is the double spiked roller at Lord Moira's ; it consists of two rollers, each about 9 inches diameter armed with 8 rows of spikes, fixed in a frame, and mounted upon wheels about three and a half high, with double shafts fixed on the frame ; there is also an upright post windlass, and power of pullies fixed upon the frame, to raise or lower the rollers at pleasure, without stopping the machine. It is put in motion by 4 horses drawing double. The spikes of the rollers work in and mutually cleanse each other. T was made at Newark ; is a new invention, and cost 30 guineas : a few others have been made. Mr. Rutherford, his lordship's farming bailiff, reports it to have a great and good effect upon strong tenacious soils, and upon such, thinks it a very useful implement.
4. Drill machines. - Cooke's drill has been long in the hands of the principal farmers, and is now pretty much used at Lord Moira's, Dishley, and by some other principal farmers, but not by any means generally. Upon Lord Moira's farm, oats are sown broad cast ; barley and wheat generally by Cooke's drill ; it lays in 5 rows at a time, at 12 inches, or 6 rows at 10 inches ; a set of scarifiers are fitted to it, and occasionally used as hoes, drawn by a horse to cut up weeds and loosen the soil between the rows of barley and wheat. At Dishley, Cooke's drill is often used to lay in all kinds of grain, and even veiches. Mr. Honeybourn observes, that it requires some attention, but not more than a steady servant or labourer ought to bestow : he assures me he succeeded well in laying in carrot seed by this machine, though thought so difficult a seed to sow ; for thus sowing, the carrot seed must be well rubbed, then intimately mixed with sifted sawdust, after which the ladles of Cooke's drill will deliver it equally regular with other seed. This machine succeeds best where the land is somewhat loose and friable, and not too tenacious or stiff.
Bailey's Nothumberland drill is used at Lord Moira's, for turnips, and I believe also for beans ; it lays a turnip seed one or two rows at a time, in ridges rolled flat, at about 2 feet 3 inches distant, and the beans at the same distance ; they are either crop afterwards hoed, or moulded up with a horse-hoe plough, and finished cleaning by hand ; the horse-hoe greatly facilitating the business, and to give room for which, the rows cannot well be less than three-quarters of a yard asunder. This mode of sowing turnips has been practised at Dishley and elsewhere, but is now given up for broad cast ; the latter producing most plants, as well as being done with more dispatch.
Hanford and Co. of Hathern, also make drill boxes, or hoppers, which may be fastened or attached to any common plough, and will sow grain or pulse along the furrow, to be ploughed in : one of these has been used at Dishley, attached to a two furrow plough, to sow beans along every other furrow ;- the price1L. 11s. 6d. each.
5. Horse-hoes.- Of these several sorts are in use to mould up beans, potatoes, turnips, cabbages, and any other plants set or sown at a proper distance ; for which purpose a light plough turning a furrow either way is commonly used. Hanford and Co. make several sorts for this purpose, as well as for cutting up weeds : two or three sorts used at Lord Moira's are made by Mac Dougale and Hill, Oxford-street, London, either for cutting weeds or moulding up ; they have one wheel only under the beam ;- price about 2 guineas each. One of them is very curious ; it consists of two light ploughs, the one turning a furrow to the right, and the other to the left ; these when put close together make a common moulding plough ; or when divided six or eight inches asunder, which they are constructed for, they bestride the row of plants, and divide or cast down part of the ridge either way, having broad or wide iron notches at the fore end of the beam to enable the horse to draw it when going between the rows. These modes of shortening labour are peculiarly useful to this county, where I understand all kinds of farm labour be high, and work people scarce, owing to the facility of employment in the stocking trade and other manufactures.
Very ingenious transplanting tools are made by Hanford and Co. for transplanting turnips, and other plants, or small shrubs ; they clip round the plant in the horse shoe form, are trod down round it, and by means of its handle, which acts as a lever, similar to the docking iron, the plant is taken up with the earth adhering, and replanted without separating from the earth around.