A NEW PLOUGH.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 24, 10 January 1877, Page 3

A NEW PLOUGH.

A plough constructed upon a novel •principle (says a South Australian journal), was exhibited at tlie Moouta Show on Thursday, Nor. 19 ; The plough is named " The Vixen," and is designed for ploughing operations on ungrubbed ground. The frame of the plough is of an ordinary description, but the body, instead of being attached m the usual way, is suspended about three inches behind the wheels, the turn-furrow running back the usual length. The coulter, which is attached to the body of the plough instead of to the frame, slants m a backward direction, and projects half an inch m front of and. below the share, thus protecting it from contact with stumps or roots. The entire body is kept m position by the action of a 561 b compound lever, which, concentrates a force of 5001 b s on the point of the share. Immediately the coulter comes into contact with a stump it raises the body of the plough, and hence the mouldboard and share are suspended from the earth until the obstacle is passed, when the action of the lever brings them into their original position. The coulter and the share are constructed m a very simple manner. The share is bolted to the body instead of posessing the usual clumsy foot ; and the coulter is not a fixture, as m an ordinary plough, but can be adjusted lower as the point wears. The inventor of this ingenious contrivance is Mr Richard Bower Smith, of Kalkabury, who has .taken out a provisional register. The plough has been subjected to several severe tests at Kalkabury, and is pronounced by the farmers m that neighbourhood to be of great service m rough ground. It not only effects a great saving m shares and coulters, but is also capabable of bringing a good deal of land into cultivation, which would otherwise lie idle for years on account of the . enormous expense attached to grubbing,