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of this beam, B, is supported by the cord or rope, and the windlass, by means of which the depth of the mole is regulated. C, is another beam, fastened by iron couplings to the beam, B, as shown at c and b, and having its rear end resting upon the axis of the trucks, I I. Upon this axis are placed the supports, D D, which sustain the windlass. These supports are stayed by the rods, ss, and hence can be inclined backward, as shown in Fig. 9.

E, is the arm to which the moles, r and J, are attached. It is fastened securely in the rear end of the beam, B, by the iron bolt, m, and keys, n n, and passing through a mortise in the beam, C, works up and down against the friction roller, at f, and, as is evident, receives great resistance from it. The advantage of having the mole, J, attached as here shown at y, is, that it may yield to stones and other objects which would be likely to break it.

There is at K, a cutter bolted underneath the beam, C, which opens the sod and separates roots, etc., before the arm, E.

Letters patent were granted for these valuable arrangements April 19, 1859, to H. W. Rowland and E. Forbis, and the right was assigned to themselves and Washington Witherow.

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Fig. 11 represents the Cole & Wall mole plow. A, is the beam, in which a wheel at B, moves in a mortise; at D, is a circular cutter, intended to cut the sod, and thus lesson friction. E, is a cutter bar or arm, to which the moles, F and G, are attached; the mole, G, has a fin, H, attached to the under surface; C, is a

wheel, to the axle of which two stout iron bars, J and K, are attached. The bar J, serves as a regulator of the cutter, E, elevating or depressing the mole the depth of the beam, A.

Fig. 12 represents the mole and cutter of the Bales' mole plow.

The improvements here represented pertains principally to the mole and cutter -its adjustability to various depths, etc. A, represents the beam; B, the cutter shaft, which is made of cast steel, made light and sharp, and polished, so as to pass through the ground smooth and as easily as possible, that the ground may

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readily close behind it. The mole, D, is in the form of a wedge, having a sharp edge in front, and so curved in its upper surface as to form an arch-shaped trench, as shown in section D D, five by sevca inches. The mole is hollow in the bottom, so as to prevent its pressing the bottom, permitting the water to rise freely through the bottom, and made of cast steel, well polished.

Fig. 13 represents A. Defenbaugh's mole plow. The mole to this plow is at tached by a stout link to the lower portion of the cutter bar, or colter, E The mole, H, has a circular fin, m, attached to it, and the sides of the mole are furnished with friction blocks or pulleys, k k k k, on each side. The colter is fixed and not adjustable, but the beam, D, may be elevated or depressed, by means of the windlass, B. The forward end of the beam is attached to a shoe or sled, E F.

It would require a very strong team to operate one of these plows if the power were applied directly-that is if the team were attached to the end of the beam, as in the case of the ordinary plow. But, by employing a capstan, as represented

in Fig. 7, two yoke of oxen can operate it with comparative ease. By attaching a dynamometer at the end of the lever or sweep to which the team is hitched, it ap pears that about 250 pounds is all the draught required to cut e 26 to 40 inches in ordinary mole moist clay; but if the dynamometer is attached where the cable is attached to the beam (D, Fig. 7), the direct draught is indicated, and amounts to about 6,000 pounds. By a simple arithmeti

cal process the direct draught is readily determined-viz: multiply the power applied at the end of the lever or sweep by the length of the sweep in inches (counting from the center of the capstan or reel), and divide the product by half the diameter of the reel or capstan; the quotient will be the direct amount of power required to operate the implement or machine. For example, the sweep, in Fig. 7, to which the oxen are attached,

measures 16 feet, or 198 inches;

the capstan or reel measures 16

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incnes in diameter, and the dyna

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mometer indicates a draught of 250 pounds; what is the actual force or power necessary to operate the plow ?

250 pounds 198 inches 49,500÷8 nches 6,187 pounds. After the reel or spool has been wound full from top to bottom, the doubling of the cable on the reel will cause an increase of power to be applied; the double cord or thread will make the dynamometer indicate an increase of 75 to 100

pounds; thus making, in the above-named instance (with a two-inch cable), the actual draught to be 6,435 pounds.

During the first days of July, 1859, a trial of five different patents of the mole plow was had at London, Madison county, at which the writer acted as chairman of the examining and awarding committee. It is not deemed inappropriate to insert the report of that committee in this place-the writer having in the meantime neither seen nor learned anything in relation to these plows to cause him to change a single idea expressed in the report.

"According to previous notice, there were assembled at London, Madison county, O., a large concourse of persons, chiefly farmers, to witness the trial of reapers, mowers, and mole plows or ditching machines. It may not be generally known that within the past twelve months there have been five patents obtained on mole plows, by persons in Madison county. Each one of these plows has special merits, and the agricultural community in that county manifested considerable anxiety to learn, by means of a trial, the comparative merit of each. The entries and description of these plows were as follows:

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"There being great uniformity in the operation and draft of the plows, the committee found it impossible to take the working qualities as a basis of the award, and therefore took into account cost, adjustability, and the shape of the mole. The adjustability of the Witherow plow, being very convenient in operation, and so graduated that the operator can know at all times the precise depth (by means of a graduated scale) at which the ditch is being made, together with the cost of the plow, determined the committee to award it the first premium. The mole of this plow is an angular ovoid, six and a half inches high. five in horizontal diameter, running down to a flat base of about two inches. The mole might be considerably improved in form.

"The Defenbaugh machine is adjusted with regard to depth by a windlass, attached in the rear of the cutter, or colter, by which a change of eighteen inches may be made in the depth of the ditch, but the operator has no means of knowing precisely at what depth he is cutting. The form of the mole is that of an ellipse, with a flat base, from the center of which proceeds a sharp fin, downward, an inch or more. Upon the whole, the mole is rather better than that of the Witherow plow.

"The Bales plow is not without merit. On the trial he used the capstan of the Witherow machine. The adjustability is more difficult than in either of the preceding ones, while the mole is certainly the most objectionable. The mole is seven inches in perpendicular diameter, and five in horizontal. It is well known that a small quantity of flowing water requires a very limited channel. The mole of this plow presents the same sized channel to a small, that it does to a large quantity of water. When water has a wider channel than absolutely necessary, it forms a zigzag course, and deposits whatever foreign matters, such as sand, roots of vegetables, etc., it may bring with it, at the curves it has made in its course, and in a short time, comparatively, fills up from this cause. But if the channel is so constructed that a small quantity of water has a very narrow channel, and a larger quantity of water a wider channel, the probability is that the channel will be kept clear a much longer period than where a uniformly wide channel is prepared for all stages of water.

"Although the Cole & Wall plow is defective in being readily adjusted to different depths, yet, in the opinion of the chairman of the committee, the mole was certainly the best shaped of any presented for competition. Its form is ovoid, and has a fin four inches in depth, extending from the base downward; this fin is about half an inch thick, and makes a deep incision in the earth in the bottom of the drain, thus making a very narrow channel for the water when at a low stage. When operating, two moles are attached; the first one measures four by five inches, while the second one is five by eight inches. It is claimed that the second mole, being a short distance behind the first one, and being three more inches in perpendicular diameter, completely closes the incision made by the colter, and thus prevents the drain from filling by substances falling in from above, more effectually than the others. On account of the superiority of the mole, the committee awarded to this plow the second premium.

"The Marquis, or Illinois mole plow, is one among the earliest patented in this country. On the trial, it was operated by the Cole & Wall capstan. It is defective in adjustability to different depths, and the shape of the mole was, by the committee, considered to be not superior in form to that of the Bales plow,

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