The midland journal., August 14, 1885, Image 1

About The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947

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Journal.
E. E. Ewing, Proprietor.'
VOL. VII.
About Harrows.
What they Were, What they
Are, and What they
Should Be.
By HENRY STEWART.
No farmer who understands his
business can doubt that harrowing is
the most important of the farm work
in preparing the soil for crops. The
plow merely turns over the soil; it
turns up from below the surface thesoil
which has been exhausted in parts of
its fertile elements by the rootsofthe
previous crops, and turns under the
surface whicn has been exposed to the
atmosphere and upon which a quant
ity of the refuse of a previous crop
has fallen or decayed. It cannot do
any more than this. If the farmer
has manured the land and has cover
ed tlie manure by the plow, then, ev
en, this work is only partially perfor
med ; for the soil and the manure
then lie in layers, and need the final
mingling together of their particles
by the harrow before the ground is in
the best condition for the seed and
the expected crop. Again it is only
a very small proportion of soils that
can even be broken up anrt pulver
ized by the plow, this is possible on
ly with the lightest soils, all heavy
soils are turned over in slices, and
wholly unfitted for the reception of
the seed until these compact furrow
slices arc broken up, and pulverized
and mellowed by harrowing; so that
the seed can find a suitable bed in
which to push its roots downward,
and its spire upwards to the air and
light,
Now this fact being understood, it
then becomes of the greatest im
portance, that this raqst particular
work should be done in the best man
ner. A noted farmer, well known to
me, has’said that he can get ten good
plowmen more easily than he can get
one man to harrow well. My own
experience has be' n the same, and
for years past. 1 i W chosen to do the
harrowing my self, always, so that I
might have it done to s<Jt me, while
I could get a fair plowman, or else I
could by good and thorough harrow
ing make up for any defects of the
plowing, During an experience of
thirty years in which I have thus
been particular about this work, I
have tried every kind of harrow that
has been made, but it was only until
I learned of the Acme Harrow, that
I found an implement that could be
put into the hands of a workman
with the assurance that if he was
only moderately conscientious the
work would be well done ; because it
was scarcely possible for any man
but a very careless one to do poor
work with such a complete and effect
ive implement.
The whole history of agriculture
has been an example of the import
ance of the harrow, and as the barrow
has been improved agriculture has ad
vanced, In the early ages the har
row was very rude and its work ex
ceeding unsatisfactory. The very
word itself was used to express an
instrument of torture, and “harrow
ing” is used to-day to express the
most painful effects upon the mind
of some dreadful calamity or disast-j
RISING SUN, CECIL COUNTY, MD.. FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1885.
er. The old poet Virgil wrote of tor
menting the soil with harrows, and
we may well believe that the unhap
py farmer of that day who worked
his fields with a triangular crotch of
a tree fastened to the tail of hid horse,
was as much tormented in his soul,
as his fields were in their soil, when
he saw how very unsatisfactory the
work of his poor tool was. llow
helpless must he have felt as he
wrestled with the hard clods and his
wretched implement, which merely
slid i ver them or rolled them over
and as it jumped from furrow to fur
row and jerked the unhappy beast,
which must have felt equally deg
raded with his master.
It is surprising when we recall the
history of the harrow, how little
mechanical ingenuity has been ex
pended upon it, until recently. It
has grown, in fact, very slowly, and
by very small degrees has gradually
advanced step by step as if it was
forced along by ne<e*sty. Indeed
it is only within the life time of a
man now living, who has made u
study of this implement upon trill}'
scientific principles, and has brought
great mechanical skiii and inventive
genius, to bear upon it. that thy har
row has been advanced from the con
dition to which it whs brought two
thousand years ago by the Romans.
And yet, notwithstanding his efforts
and the influence of the agricultural
press and tlie example of leading
farmers in all parts of the country,
there are thousands of harrows in use
to-day that are no better for practi
cal purposes than the old Roman
crotches armed with wooden teeth or
iron spikes, used twenty centuries
ago. If we follow the development
of the harrow, or its gradual evolu
tion. from the beginning until now.
these facts will appear in a most
striking and interesting manner.
f First it was the
B top of a tree, (see
0$ Fig. l.with its
branches, drawn bg
■ AL. B a horse to which it
was by the
tail. As this be.
bS‘ came worn down
flattened by use,
nBMpL/L A the mere naked fork
ed branches used,
f f) un( l *t no doubt oc
wPwjvlir' cured to the mind of
A the farmer of that
* day that it would be
an'improvement to
to trim ofT the unnecessary branches,
instead of slowly wearing them offby
use, and so furnish it at once with
projecting stubs (See Fig. 2,)
This was the first mechanical im
provement in the harrow. In time
another improvement suggested tself
as may be very plainly seen, by the
addition to the bare forked branches,
of cross bar ; used to make the im
plement jump from one obstruction
to another, and thus strike the clods
and pulverize them (See Fig. 3.)
Thus was originated tlie expression
a “stroke” of the harrow, which is in
use among farmers to this day.
[Entered at the Post Office in Rising Sun, Md., as Second-Class Matter.]
It is curious to note how
this ancient practice prevails
even i ow in the common
brush harrow ; which is a mere bund
le of bushes spread like a fan and
weighted by means of a log bound
across the brush to give it weight. As
the smooth boughs and cross bar
were found to be less effetive than
the stubs of the small, teeth were
used, and these were first made ol
wood, but finally of iron. The Ro
mans who were an exceedingly ingen
ious people and whose agriculture
was very highly advanced tn their
late history, brought the harrow up
to about us useful a condition as we
ourselves who read these pages may
remember it nearly thirty years ago.
They had tlie triangular, and the
oblong, or square harrow; all fur
nished with teeth, but quite roughly
made oi hewed, or the natural timber
(See Figs. 4. 5 and 6) an 1 a p ank
smoothing harrow about as effective
as the same kind of toothed harrow
of the present day.
When the Roman Empire fell, civ
ilization fell with it for many centur
ies, of winch wr. have so little history
that we cal ltl at period the dark aces’
and when this perio 1 passed awav
mankind had reverted almost to the
barbarous habits of the pre-Roman
time. Then the harrows were mere
logs again and in an old book oftliat
period a harrow is figured which con
sists of a log studded with pins or
spikes and nothing inure. The old
practice, too, of drawing harrows by
the horse’s tail seems to have come
again into use. and staid in use for
inanv years; for a law was made by
the Irish Parliment only a little more
than two hundred years ago. to pro
hibit the drawing of harrows bv the
“tayles” of horses; a practice which
was thought to impair the breed of
these animals. Rut about this time
there seemed to be an advance in
tlie mechanical part of agriculture
and several improved implements
were devised. Still the harrow re
mained in the back ground and when
in Ireland in 1847 the writer noticed
that brush and bush harrows, loir
harrows, wooden toothed forked limbs
and many of them drawn by women,
were far more plentiful than toothed
harrows, and in our own Country and
in Canada it was only tlie better
c’ass of farmers who possessed a
good square trained iron toothed har
row. Soon after this. Agricultural
Journals began to appear, and from
i n ventions
seems to
y g rea tly aw
i-JSpPL aliened and
tilaEpK/V hm stimulated '
I 1 © andagrlcul-!
]<jSLOPy ) A ture advm -l
§® p/f/m ced rapid!}.
5 Vm7 * ii V tt-S Kook lar
*“ fW: /C li I il mere, an<l
~wl I s ' / If i reading far-1
1 1 at first some j
r what looked
'Jj II down upon
' as “c ran ka”
began to ap
pear and wherever one of them set
tled down, new implements were in
troduced. Inventors and manufact. I
( Concluded next wee/e.')
The Wonders of Advertising.
We happened to cansually mention
two weeks ago that any persons want
ing a pair of French calf shoes, gai
ters or boots, put up in the best man
ner, might have the wish gratified by
waiting on friend Buckley across the
alley. As soon as the mail bad scat
tered this bit of information a gentle
rivulet of orders began to flow in
Ilad we spread out a real advertise
ment, buttered bis cake on both sides
as it were, in place of only a little
bint, doubtless a flood of orders would
have been the result, and a jour, would
have been necessary to keep the book
clear. And the poor overworked
man might have suffe ed from a stroke
of coup d'oeil , or something, this re
cent hot weather.
The moral of this little episode is.
if you don’t want, to be bothered fil
ling out orders and raking in dimes,
don’t advertise in the Jouk.nal.
MM
Information Wanted.
It is time the local option men, the
high licence men and the saloon men
know where the candidates for the leg
islature stand on these questions, or
rather this one question of vital inter
est. Let. them come out and define
their position. The people want lo
know, before they honor you with their
votes whether you propose to work for
the amen hnent of the pre-ent law, ele
men.ite the eider fraud from it, and
attach a penalty for its violation, and
otherwise strengthen the law so as to
make it effective for the purpose, and to
conform to the will of those who voted
in fa.or of a local option law.
The law is a fraud on the people as it
stand-:.
Gentlemen, speak out and send your
declaration to the Midland for publi
cation. The question is not so much
whether democrat or republican candi
dates snail hi elected to the legislature
as it is whether delegates and senator
shall be sent to Annapolis who will do
the will of the great majority of the
voters and people of the county. The
day of political chicanery is pretty well
placed out, and the candidates who be
lieve ‘•honesty is the best policy” and
stand on tint plant; will win.
Come gentlemen, in the name of the
people we call on you to define your i
position on this question. Ifitisneces- l
sary or believed to be necessary, to refer
the question again to the people for de
cision, let it be so referred. But let us
have fair, square dealing and no cheat
ling- The present law is not the law or j
i Kind of law the people expected or (
w ished when they voted such a sweep
iug majority in favor of a local option '
law, pine and simple. The saloon men 1
want either a licence law or a square
prohibition law. They are tired as t
every body else is of this hybrid law, ■<
Tear Cider! Aroynt thee, witch! Let
us have no more of this grim, ghastly ,
humor at the expense of good morals,
health and pockets.
One Dollar per Annum in Advance.
■m “ ■ Oxford Items.
Press.
The barn of Leander 0. Wrightof
Little Britain, Lancaster county was
struck by lightning on Monday of
last week but not burned.
Blackberries are scarce and in great
demand. Why do m t the farmers
cultivate more small berries and fruit
md sow 1 ss wheat which does not
pay its own expenses. This is a per
tinent question why do they not? Can
any of them answer.
The picnic of the .Sharpless family
will take place at Shurpless Hock,
near Chester on the 24th of August.
The excavation for the cellar of the
new M. E. Church in Oxlord was com
menced last week-
Howard G. Wilson of Lower Oxford
has threshed and hauled to S. R.
Dickey & Co.’s warehouse 474 bush
ls of wheat, taken from 15 acres of
ground. This is over 31| bushels per
acre.
A. M. Spangler, one of the State
fish wardens, has written to Lancaster
county Commissioners that they have
appointed a fish warden whose baili
wick shall extend from Sunbury to the
State line, along the Susquehanna,
and whose duty it shall be to have all
fish-baskets in .the" river destroyed.
The fish wardens ak the Lancaster
commissioners to co operate with the
State b>ard and appoint four men to
assist the warden in dismantling the
baskets on the Lancaster county side
of the river.
CONOWINGO ITEMS.
The population of this vicinity is
rapidly increasing—Mr. J. C. Adams’
family numbers the addition of a fine
girl. Mr. Charlie Grubb was recently
presented with 174 pounds of fine twin
boys. Charley’s corn crop is looking
well and he has just threshed a fine
Crop of wheat and oats.
The race last week between Mr. Dus
tin’s Conowingo Maid and the Local
Freight was won in one heat by the
Maid; Time 2.594.
Mr. Thad Bostic superintendant of
repairs for P. R. R. is putting on more
hands and has honored Pilot Town
with a call for more of her industrious
citizens.
The colored people’s camp meeting
commences next Sund.ty at Couowin
go. Nobody.
Your Neighbor
Has tried -Aromanna” and considers
it an indispeusible article. A specific
in sick headache. Ask Dr. L. It. Kirk,
Druggist about it- Price 25 and 75
cents.
Name Changed.
The name of Penn Station, Central
Division, P* W. B. R. R. has been
changed to Kdton, to take effect
August Ist. This is a very sensible
change as that is the name of the
Post office at that place, and there is
another Penn Station on the Penn’a,
Railroad causing trouble in freight
shipment. The new named station is
the second above Oxford.
What a Baptist Minister Says.
New Freeport, Pa., Aug. 4, 1883.
G. Holstein ; —[ have been affleted
for a long time with liver complaint and
constipation. I have tried many reme
dies and several doctors, but they all
failed. I have used three bottles of
your Aromanna and find it the very
thing I needed. I shall recoinend it to
all who are suffering in the same way.
JOHN WEST. Pastor Baptist
Church.
Sold by Dr. L. R. Kirk Rising Sun.
NO. 44.