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diff --git a/40888-0.txt b/40888-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c27c9c --- /dev/null +++ b/40888-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1121 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40888 *** + +[Illustration: JETHRO WOOD.] + + + + + JETHRO WOOD, INVENTOR OF THE MODERN PLOW. + + A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE, SERVICES, AND TRIALS; TOGETHER WITH + FACTS SUBSEQUENT TO HIS DEATH, AND INCIDENT TO HIS GREAT + INVENTION. + + "No citizen of the United States has conferred greater + economical benefits on his country than Jethro Wood--none of her + benefactors have been more inadequately rewarded."--_Wm. H. + Seward._ + + BY FRANK GILBERT. + + + CHICAGO: + RHODES & McCLURE. + + 1882. + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882. + By I. U. KIRTLAND, + In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. + + + STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED + BY + THE CHICAGO LEGAL NEWS CO. + + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF THE ORIGINAL WOOD PLOW.] + + +EXPLANATION OF THE FOREGOING FAC-SIMILE. + +SIDE VIEW of Plough. _A_ Mould-board, the form of which is claimed as +new. _B_ Share claimed. _C_ Standard claimed. _DD_ Screw-bolt, and not +confining the beam to the Standard. _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, the 1st, +2d, 3d, 4th and 5th sides mentioned in the specification. _g_, _g_. +Excavation at the fore part of the mould-board to receive the share +which fills it up and forms an even surface. _h_ Hole to receive the +knob or head cast on the under side of the share, which, on being +shoved up to its place, nooks under the mould-board at the upper side +of the hole, and is held in its place by a wooden wedge driven between +the knob and the lower side of the hole. _f_ Notches in the Standard +to receive the latch i in elevating or depressing the beam. _s_, _t_, +_v_. Straight diagonal lines touching the mould-board the whole +distance. _u_ Vertical or plumb line touching the mould-board from top +to bottom. _H_ Reverse side of the share. _x_ Knob to hold it fast to +the mould-board. _y_ Side view of knob. _zz_ Shiplaps fitting under +the point and edge of the mould-board. _k_ Another form of standard +keyed on top of beam. Fig. 2d, landside view: _E_ The "landside". _F_ +part of landside cast with mould-board. _mm_ Cast loops to hold the +handles claimed. _n_ Head of screw-bolt held by a shoulder made by a +projection from the mould-board and standard, through which the bolt +passes up to the beam. _o_ Share claimed. _p_ Shiplap claimed. _G_ +Inside view of landside. _r_ Tennon at forward end to fit into a +dovetailed mortice on the inside of that part which is cast with the +mould-board. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The immediate occasion of this little volume was a malignant +misrepresentation from the pen of Ben: Perley Poore. With slight +variation from the original text, the words of Thomas Jefferson about +Benjamin Franklin and his maligners, quoted in the body of this +monograph, apply to this case: I have seen with extreme indignation +the blasphemies lately vended against the memory of the father of the +American plow. But his memory will be venerated as long as furrows are +turned and soil tilled. The present object, however, is not so much to +refute falsehood as to establish the truth, and make it a part of the +permanent knowledge of the public. To the extent that this object +shall be attained, will these labors be rewarded. + +It is not the design of this publication to disparage any one; on the +contrary, it is desired to give ample credit to all who contributed to +the solution of the plow problem. If only brief mention is made of +others, it is because they really deserved but little credit, or their +merits are forever buried in obscurity. It is proposed to set forth +without exaggeration, the claims of the supreme inventor in this line +to the grateful remembrance of the public. And by the public is meant +not only the American people, but all who are fed from the ample +granaries of this country, or share the benefits of the improved +tillage, whether on this continent or in Europe, made possible and +actual by the inventive genius of Jethro Wood. + + + + +JETHRO WOOD; + +INVENTOR OF THE MODERN PLOW. + + +The last words ever penned by John Quincy Adams were these, written in +the peculiarly tremulous hand of "the Old Man Eloquent:" "Mr. J. Q. +Adams presents his compliments to the Misses Wood, and will be happy +to see them at his house, at their convenience, any morning between 10 +and 11 o'clock." This note was found upon his desk when he was +stricken down with paralysis, February 21, 1848, in his seat in the +House of Representatives. The Misses Wood here referred to were the +daughters of Jethro Wood, then deceased. They were at that time +engaged in a labor of love, and the venerable Ex-President was their +friend therein. Prompted more by filial affection than by hope of +gain, they were making a final effort to secure from Congress a proper +recognition of their father's claim as an inventor. It is entirely +safe to say that if Mr. Adams had been spared to the end of the +Congress then in session, that claim would have been then duly +recognized, and the name, services and genius of Jethro Wood become +familiar to the American public. + +Jethro Wood was born at Dartmouth, Massachusetts, on the sixteenth day +of the third month of 1774. His parents were members of the Society of +Friends. His mother, Dinah Hussey Wood, was a niece of Ann Starbuck, a +woman of remarkable ability and high standing in colonial annals. Ann +Starbuck was virtually governor of Nantucket. The niece was a woman of +excellent intellect, and most winsome character. Her conversation +sparkled with genial wit and good cheer. Her husband, John Wood, was +a man of sterling worth, calm, self-poised, strong willed, and +eminently influential. Jethro was their only son. On New Years Day, +1793, he was married to Sylvia Howland, at White Creek, Washington +County, New York. The fruit of this marriage, every way a happy one, +was a family of six children, namely: Benjamin; John; Maria, wife of +Jeremiah Foote; Phoebe; Sarah, wife of Robert R. Underhill; Sylvia +Ann, wife of Benjamin Gould. Of these children the only survivor is +Mrs. Gould, who with her sister, Phoebe, were the Misses Wood of the +Adams note. So much for the domestic setting of this diamond of +inventive genius. + +Even as a boy, Jethro Wood showed plainly the drift and trend of his +mind. The child was indeed "father of the man," and almost from the +cradle to the grave, he was an inventor. In his childish plays he +seemed busied with the idea which he ultimately perfected. Many +curious incidents and memories are treasured among the traditions of +his neighbors and friends. "When only a few years old," writes a +venerable man whose recollection spans two generations, "he moulded a +little plow from metal, which he obtained by melting a pewter cup. +Then, cutting the buckles from a set of braces, he made a miniature +harness with which he fastened the family cat to his tiny plow, and +endeavored to drive her about the flower-garden. The good +old-fashioned whipping he received for this 'mischief,' was such as to +drive all desire for repeating the experiment out of his juvenile +head." + +Such innate and ruling passion might be suppressed, but could not be +subdued. As his mind matured, his thoughts took definite shape. His +home was always upon a farm, but he was never a farmer, in the sense +of Poor Richard's homely couplet: + + "He who by the plow would thrive, + Himself must either hold or drive." + +Born in comparative affluence, blessed with a good education, an ample +library and a well equipped workshop, enjoying the correspondence of +such men as Thomas Jefferson and David Thomas, he was unremitting in +his endeavor to realize his ideal. "His chief desire," to quote +further from our venerable correspondent, "was to invent a new +mold-board, which, from its form, should meet the least resistance +from the soil, and which could be made with share and standard, +entirely of cast iron." To hit upon the exact shape for the mold-board +he whittled away, day after day, until his neighbors, who thought him +mad on the subject, gave him the soubriquet of the "whittling Yankee." +His custom was to take a large oblong potato which was easy for the +knife, and cut it till he obtained what he fancied was the exact +curve. + +The manhood home of Jethro Wood was at Scipio, Cayuga County, New +York, a purely agricultural town, with nothing in its later history to +distinguish it; but in its palmier early days of the present century, +it must have been a nursery of invention. Roswell Toulsby, Horace +Pease, and John Swan, of that town, each took out letters patent for +improvements in plows, and that prior to the issuance of any patent to +Mr. Wood. Their improvements were of no practical value, and played no +part in the development of this branch of mechanism, but their efforts +serve to show the state of the intellectual atmosphere breathed by the +man who was destined to solve the knotty problem which underlies the +very foundation of scientific agriculture. + +Of the cotemporaries of Mr. Wood, who wrought at the solution of this +problem, the most illustrious was Thomas Jefferson, statesman, +philosopher and farmer. + +In one of his letters to Jethro Wood, Mr. Jefferson spoke of his own +labors in that direction, as the experiments of one whiling away a few +idle hours, but herein he did himself injustice. His efforts, however, +were far from exhaustive in their results, and it was with good reason +that he urged Mr. Wood to go forward in his undertaking, and no doubt +he was perfectly sincere in wishing him success. His correspondence, +as published in nine large volumes, attests his long and deep interest +in the problem, which it was reserved for Jethro Wood to solve. Having +carefully examined those volumes, to glean all there is in them on +this subject, I herewith append the observations found, for besides +being in themselves interesting, in view of their authorship, they +throw important light upon the general subject. + +Under date of July 3, 1796, Mr. Jefferson wrote to Jonathan Williams: +"You wish me to present to the Philosophical Society the result of my +philosophical researches since my retirement. But, my good Sir, I have +made researches into nothing but what is connected with agriculture. +In this way I have a little matter to communicate, and will do it ere +long. It is the form of a mould-board of _least resistance_. I had +some years ago conceived the principle of it, and I explained it then +to Mr. Rittenhouse. I have since reduced the thing to practice, and +have reason to believe the theory fully confirmed. I only wish for one +of those instruments used in England for measuring force exerted in +the drafts of different ploughs, etc., that I might compare the +resistance of my mould-board with that of others. But these +instruments are not to be had here. In a letter of this date to Mr. +Rittenhouse I mention a discovery in animal history, very signal +indeed, of which I shall lay before the society the best account I +can, as soon as I shall have received some other materials collecting +for me. + +"I have seen, with extreme indignation, the blasphemies lately vended +against the memory of the father of American philosophy. But his +memory will be venerated as long as the thunder of heaven shall be +heard or feared." + +March 27, 1798, Jefferson wrote to Mr. Patterson: "In the life time of +Mr. Rittenhouse, I communicated to him the description of a +mould-board of a plough, which I had constructed, and supposed to be +what we might term the _mould-board of least resistance_. I asked not +only his opinion, but that he would submit it to you also. After he +had considered it he gave me his own opinion that it was +demonstratively what I had supposed, and I think he said he had +communicated it to you. Of that however, I am not sure, and therefore, +now take the liberty of sending you a description of it, and a model +which I have prepared for the Board of Agriculture of England, at +their request. Mr. Strickland, one of their members, had seen the +model, also the thing itself in use on my farm, and thinking favorably +of it, had mentioned it to them. My purpose in troubling you with it +is to ask you to examine the description rigorously, and suggest to me +any corrections or alterations which you may think necessary. I would +wish to have the idea go as correctly as possible out of my hands. I +had sometimes thought of giving it into the Philosophical Society, but +I doubted whether it was worthy of their notice, and supposed it not +exactly in the line of their publications. I had therefore +contemplated sending it to some of our agricultural societies, in +whose way it was more particularly, when I received the request of the +English board. The papers I enclose you are the latter part of a +letter to Sir John Sinclair, their president. It is to go off by +packett, wherefore I wish to ask the favor of you to return them with +the model in the course of the present week, with any observations you +will be so good as to favor me with." + +Writing from Washington, July 15, 1808, to Mr. Sylvestre, in +acknowledgment of a plow received from the Agricultural Society of the +Seine (France), he adds: "I shall with great pleasure attend to the +construction and transmission to the society of a plough with my +mould-board. This is the only part of that useful instrument to which +I have paid any particular attention. But knowing how much the +perfection of the plough must depend, 1st, on the line of traction; +2d, on the direction of the share; 3d, on the angle of the wing; 4th, +on the form of the mould-board; and persuaded that I shall find the +three first advantages eminently exemplified in that which the society +sends me, I am anxious to see combined with these a mould-board of my +form, in the hope it will still advance the perfection of that +machine. But for this I must ask time till I am relieved from the +cares which have more right to all my time--that is to say, till next +spring;" _i. e._ until after the expiration of his second term as +President of the United States. + +The importance of any step in civilization can be understood only in +its relations, antecedent causes and actual results. + +The _Scientific American_, which is certainly good authority in such +matters, ranks Jethro Wood with Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney, Robert +Fulton, Charles Goodyear, Samuel B. Morse, Elias Howe, and Cyrus H. +McCormick, and these are certainly the great names and this a just +classification. Each in his way laid the foundation on which all +inventors in his respective line have built, and must continue to +build, and none of them all came so near perfecting his grand idea as +Mr. Wood. His now venerable daughter stated the exact truth when she +remarked in a letter not designed for publication: "My father patented +the shape and construction of the plow. He took the iron and shaped +the plow that turns the furrow for every product of the soil in +America. His plow has never been improved. It came from his hand +simple and perfect, as it now is, and there is no other plow now in +use." It was not the use of cast iron that he invented, although the +use of "pot metal" by him occasioned a great deal of hostility to the +original Wood plow. + +Jethro Wood took out two plow patents, and those who wish to belittle +his work, descant upon the first as if it were his only claim to +credit. That first patent was issued in 1814. It fell far short of +satisfying the patentee's ambition. The plows made under it must have +been a great improvement on any then in use, for although he +abandoned it almost from the first, a great many of them were sold +during the period between the first and the second patents. The second +patent dates from 1819. The natal day of the modern plow may be fairly +set down as September 1, 1819. The original specifications in this +plow deserve to be given in full, and may well be inserted in this +connection. The document was the handiwork of Mr. Wood himself, and +runs thus: + +"The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent, and making part of +the same, containing a description in the words of the said Jethro +Wood himself of his improvement in the construction of Ploughs. + +"Considering the manifold errors and defects in the construction of +Ploughs, and the inconveniences experienced in the use of them, the +petitioner and inventor hath applied the powers of his mind to the +improvement of this noble utensil, and produced a Plough so far +superior to those in common use, that he asks an exclusive privilege +for the same from the government of his country. + +"The principal matters for which he solicits Letters Patent, he now +reduces to writing, and explains in words and sentences as appropriate +and significant as he possibly can. But, being perfectly aware of the +feebleness and insufficiency of language to convey precise and +adequate ideas of complicated forms and proportions, the said Jethro +Wood annexes to these presents, a delineation upon paper of his said +new and improved Plough, with full and explanatory notes; urging with +earnestness and respect that the delineation and notes may be +considered as a part of this communication. The said petitioner and +inventor also, being perfectly convinced, as a practical man, that a +model of his inventions and improvements will convey and preserve the +most exact and durable impressions of the matters to which he lays +claim, he sends herewith a model of the due form and proportion of +each, as a just exhibition of his principle and of its application to +the construction and improvement of the Plough, requesting that the +same may be kept in the Patent Office, as a perpetual memorial of the +invention and its use. + +"In the first place, the said Jethro Wood claims an exclusive +privilege for constructing the part of the Plough, heretofore, and to +this day, generally called the mould-board, _in the manner hereinafter +mentioned_. This mould-board may be termed a plano-curvilinear figure, +not defined nor described in any of the elementary books of geometry +or mathematics. But an idea may be conceived of it thus: + +"The land-side of the Plough, measuring from the point of the +mould-board, is two feet and two inches long. It is a strait-lined +surface, from four to five and one-half inches wide, and half an inch +thick. Its more particular description will be hereinafterwards given. +It is sufficient to observe here, that of the twenty-six inches of +length on the land-side, eighteen inches belong to the part of the +Plough strictly called the land-side, and eight inches to the +mould-board. The part of the mould-board comprehended by this space of +eight inches is very important, affording weight and strength and +substance to the Plough; enabling it the better to sustain the +cutting-edge for separating and elevating the soil or sward, and +likewise the standard for connecting the mould-board with the beam, as +will hereinafter be described more at large. + +"The figure of the mould-board, as observed from the furrow-side, is a +sort of irregular pentagon, or five-sided plane, though curved and +inclined in a peculiar manner. Its two lower sides touch the ground, +or are intended to do so, while the three other sides enter into the +composition of the oblique, or slanting mould-board, over-hanging +behind, vertical midway, and projecting forward. The angle of the +mould-board, as it departs from the foremost point of, or at, the +land-side, is about forty-two degrees, and the length of it, or, in +other words, of the first side, is eleven inches. The line of the +next, or the second side, is nearly, but not exactly parallel with the +before-mentioned right-lined land-side, for it widens or diverges from +the angle at which the first and second sides join towards its +posterior or hindermost point, as much as one inch. Hence, the +distance from the hindermost point of the mould-board, at the angle of +the second and third sides, directly across to the land-side, is one +inch more than it is from the angle of the first and second sides, +directly across. The length of this, the second side, is eight inches. +The next side, or what is here denominated the third side, leaves the +ground or furrow in a slanting direction backward, and with an +over-hanging curve, exceeding the perpendicular outwards from three to +six inches, according to the size of the Plough. The length of this +third side is fourteen inches and one-half. The fourth side of this +mould-board is horizontal, or nearly so, extending from the uppermost +point of the third side, to the fore part, or pitch, eighteen inches. +The fifth, or last side, descends or slopes from the last mentioned +mark, spot, or pitch, to the place of beginning at the low and fore +point of the mould-board, where it joins the land-side. Its length is +thirteen inches. + +"Besides these properties and proportions of his mould-board, the said +Jethro Wood now explains other properties which it possesses, and by +which it may be and is distinguished from every other invented thing. +The peculiar curve has been compared to that of the screw auger; and +it has been likened to the prow of a ship. Neither of these +similitudes conveys the fair and proper notion of the invention. + +"The mould-board, which the said Jethro Wood claims as his own, and +which is the result of profound reflection and of numberless +experiments, is a sort of plano-curvilinear surface, as herein-before +stated, having the following bearings and relations: A right line, +drawn by a chalked string or cord, or by a straight rule, diagonally +or obliquely upwards and backwards from a point two inches and a half +inch above the tip or extremity of the mould-board to the angle where +the third and fourth sides of the mould-board join, touches the +surface the whole distance, in an even and uniform application, and +leaves no sinking, depression, hole, cavity, rising, lump, or +protuberance, in any part of the distance. So, at a distance half way +between the diagonal line just described, and the angle between the +first and second sides, a line drawn parallel to the diagonal line +already mentioned will receive the chalked string or cord, or the +straight rule, as on an uniform and even surface without the smallest +bend, sinuosity, or bunch, whereby earth might adhere to the +mould-board, and impede the motion and progress of the Plough, under, +through and along the soil. + +"In like manner, if a point be taken one inch behind the angle +connecting the second and third sides, and a perpendicular be raised +upon it, that perpendicular will coincide with the vertical portion of +the mould-board in that place; or, in other words, if a plumb line be +let fall so as to reach a point one inch behind the last mentioned +angle, then such a plumb line will hang parallel with the mould-board +the whole way; the line of the mould-board there, neither projecting +nor receding but being both a right line and a perpendicular line. + +"Moreover, if a right line be drawn from a point on the just described +perpendicular, an inch, or thereabouts, above the upper margin of the +fourth side, and from the point to which the said perpendicular, if +continued, would reach; if, the said Jethro Wood repeats, a right line +be drawn downward and forward, not exactly parallel to the diagonal +herein already described, but so diverging from the same that it is +one inch more distant or further apart, at its termination on the +fifth side of the mould-board, than at its origin or place of +beginning; such line, so beginning, continued, and ended, is a right +line parallel to the mould-board along its whole course and direction, +and the space over which it passes has no inequality, hill, or hollow +thereabout. + +"Furthermore, an additional property of his mould-board is, that, if +it be measured and proved various ways, vertically and obliquely, by +the saw in fashioning it, by the rule in meeting it, and by the +chalk-line in determining it, the capital and distinguishing character +of right lines existing on, over and along the peculiar curve which +his mould-board describes, is always and inseparably present. This +grand and discriminating feature of his mould-board, he considers as +of the utmost importance. + +"He therefore craves the aid and elucidation of his drawing, and of +his model, in their totality and in their several parts, to render +plain and sure whatever there may be, from the abstruse and recondite +nature of the subject, uncertain or dubious in the language of his +specification. + +"In the second place, the said Jethro Wood claims an exclusive right +and privilege in the construction of a standard of cast iron, like the +rest of the work already described, for connecting the mould-board +with the beam. This standard is broad, stout, strong; and rises from +the fore and upper part of the mould-board, being cast with it, and +being a projection or continuation of the same from where the fourth +and fifth sides meet. Its figure, strength, and arrangement are such +as best to secure the connexion, and to enable the standard thus +associated with the beam, to bear the pull, tug, and brunt of service. +By a screw bolt and nut properly adjusted above the top of the +standard and acting along its side, assisted, if need require, by a +wedge for tightening and loosening, the beam may be raised and +lowered; and the mould-board, with its cutting edge, enabled to make a +furrow of greater or smaller depth, as the ploughman may desire, and a +latch and key fixed to the beam, and capable of being turned into +notches, grooves, or depressions on one edge or narrow side of the +standard, serves to keep the beam from settling or descending. By +means of these screw bolts, wedges, latches, and keys, with their +appropriate notches, teeth, and joggles, the Plough may be deepened or +shallowed most exactly. + +"In the third place, the said Jethro Wood claims an exclusive +privilege in the inventions and improvements made by him in the +construction of the cutting edge of the mould-board, or what may be +called, in plain language, the plough-share. The cutting edge consists +of cast iron, as do the mould-board and land-side themselves. It is +about twelve inches and one half of one inch long, four inches and one +half of one inch broad, and in the thickest part three quarters of an +inch thick. It is so fashioned and cast, that it fits snugly and +nicely into a corresponding excavation or depression at the low and +fore edge of the mould-board, along the side herein before termed the +first side. When properly adapted, the cutting edge seems, by its +uniformity of surface and evenness of connextion, to be an elongation +of the mould-board, or, as it were, an extension or continuation of +the same. To give the cutting edge firm coherence and connexion, it is +secured to the mould-board by one or more knobs, pins or heads in the +inner and higher side, which are received into one or more holes in +the fore and lower part of the mould-board. By this mechanism, the +edge is lapped on and kept fast and true, without the employment of +screws. That the cutting edge may be the more securely and immovably +kept in its place, it has a groove, or ship-lap of one inch in length, +below, or at its under side, near the angle between the first and +second sides, for the purpose of holding it, and for the further +accomplishment of the same object, another groove or ship-lap, stouter +and stronger than the preceding, is also cast in the iron, at or near +the point of the mould-board, so as to cover, encase, and protect it +effectually, on the upper and lower sides, but not on the land side. + +"After the cutting edge is thus adapted and adjusted to the +mould-board by means of the indentations, pins, holes, ship-laps, and +fastenings, it is fixed to its place and prevented from slipping back, +or working off, by wedges or pins of wood, or other material, driven +into the holes from the inner and under side, and forced tight home by +a hammer. + +"In the fourth place, the said Jethro Wood claims the exclusive right +of securing the handles of his plough to the mould-board and land-side +of the plough by means of notches, ears, loops, or holders, cast with +the mould-board and land-side respectively, and serving to receive and +contain the handles, without the use of nuts and screws. For this +purpose one or more ears or loops, or one or more pairs of notches or +holders are cast on the inner side of the mould-board and land side, +toward their hinder or back parts, or near their after margins, for +the reception of the handles of the Plough. And these, when duly +entered and fitted, are wedged in, instead of being fastened by +screws. + +"In the fifth place, the said Jethro Wood claims an exclusive right to +his invention and improvement in the mode of fitting, adapting and +adjusting the cast iron landside to the cast iron mould-board. Their +junction is after the manner of tenon and mortice; the tenon being at +the fore end of the land-side and the mortice being at the inside of +the mould-board and near its point. The tenon and mortice are joggled, +or dove-tailed together in the casting operation, so as to make them +hold fast. The fore end of the tendon is additionally secured by a +cast projection from the inside of the mould-board for its reception; +and if any other tightening or bracing should be requisite, a wooden +wedge, well driven in, will bind every part effectually, and all this +is accomplished without the assistance or instrumentality of screws. + +"The said inventor and petitioner wishes it to be understood, that the +principal metallic material of his Plough is cast iron. He has very +little use for wrought iron, and by adapting the former to the extent +he has done, and by discontinuing the latter, he is enabled to make +the Plough stronger and better, as well as more lasting and cheap. + +"He also claims, and hereby asserts the right, of varying the +dimensions and proportions of his Plough, and of its several sections +and parts, in the relations of somewhat more and somewhat less of +length, breadth, thickness, and composition, according to his judgment +or fancy, so that all the while he adheres to his principle and +departs not from it. + +"Regarding each and every of the matters submitted as very conducive +to the reputation and emolument of the said Jethro Wood, he relies +confidently upon a benign and favorable construction of his petition +and specification, by the constituted authorities of his country. + +"Given under his hand, at the city of New York, this fourteenth day of +August, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen (1819), in the +presence of two witnesses, to wit: + + "SAM'L L. MITCHELL, } + "J. G. BOGERT. } JETHRO WOOD." + +This patent expired by its own limitation in fourteen years, when it +was renewed or continued for another term of fourteen years. In view +of the comparative ease and speediness with which the inventors of the +present day, or their assigns, utilize really valuable patents, it +would be inferred, in the absence of specific knowledge to the +contrary, that twenty-eight years constituted a sufficiently long +period for the enjoyment by Mr. Wood, of "the full and exclusive right +and liberty of making, constructing, using and vending to others to +be used," the plow which he had invented. No doubt some members of +Congress in refusing to continue the patent for a third term, acted +from conscientious motives. But in point of fact, the period was +occupied in a series of struggles calamitous to the inventor, to the +history of which we must now turn. These struggles were unlike those +in the lives of some other great inventors, notably, Goodyear and +Howe. It was not a warfare for existence, the wolf of poverty staring +him in the face. The broad fields which he had inherited from his +father were adequate immunity from the sad fate too frequently +allotted to inventors. But no benefactor of mankind in the domain of +mechanism ever experienced more iniquitous treatment than Jethro Wood +did. + +Before the year 1819 closed, his mission as an inventor was an +accomplished fact. The popular name given his implement, "The Cast +Iron Plow," from its entire abandonment of wrought iron in its +construction, needed no change to be the noblest gift ever made to +agriculture. In the ideal, hope had ripened into full fruition. And +now, at this day, looking at the matter in the light of the past, +seeing the absolutely incalculable benefits of the invention, it seems +almost incredible that the American people, then even more than now, a +nation of farmers, should not have hailed the new plow as an +unspeakable boon, especially the community in which he dwelt, for +Cayuga county then, as now, under a high state of cultivation, was and +is peopled by a population of much more than average intelligence. But +an inventor, like "a prophet, is not without honor save in his own +country." His neighbors gravely shook their heads at "Jethro's folly." +With almost entire unanimity they agreed that the new contrivance +would never work. His trials and difficulties at this stage of +progress are told as follows, by one who wrote largely from personal +recollection: + +"He immediately began to manufacture his plows, and introduce them to +the farmers in his neighborhood. The difficulties which he now +encountered would have daunted any man without extraordinary +perseverance and a firm belief in the inestimable benefit to +agriculture sure to result from his invention. He was obliged to +manufacture all the patterns, and to have the plow cast under the +disadvantages usual with new machinery. The nearest furnace was thirty +miles from his home, and, baffled by obstacles which unskillful and +disobliging workmen threw in his way, he visited it, day after day, +directing the making of his patterns, standing by the furnaces while +the metal was melting, and often with his own hands aiding in the +casting. + +"When, at length, samples of his plow were ready for use, he met with +another difficulty in the unwillingness of the farmers to accept them. +'What,' they cried, in contempt, 'a plow made of pot metal? You might +as well attempt to turn up the earth with a glass plowshare. It would +hardly be more brittle.' + +"One day he induced one of the most skeptical neighbors to make a +public trial of the plow. A large concourse gathered to see how it +would work. The field selected for the test was thickly strewn with +stones, many of them firmly imbedded in the soil, and jutting up from +the surface. All predicted that the plow would break at the outset. To +their astonishment and Wood's satisfaction, it went around the field, +running easily and smoothly, and turning up the most perfect furrow +which had ever been seen. The small stones against which the farmer +maliciously guided it, to test the 'brittle' metal, moved out of the +way as if they were grains of sand, and it slid around the immovable +rocks as if they were icebergs. Incensed at the non-fulfillment of +his prophecy, the farmer finally drove the plow with all force upon a +large bowlder, and found to his amazement that it was uninjured by the +collision. It proved a day of triumph for Jethro Wood, and from that +time he heard few taunts about the pot-metal. + +"It was soon discovered that his plow turned up the soil with so much +ease that two horses could do the work for which a yoke of oxen and a +span of horses had sometimes been insufficient before; that it made a +better furrow, and that it could be bought for seven or eight dollars; +no more running to the blacksmith, either, to have it sharpened. It +was proved a thorough and valuable success. Thomas Jefferson, from his +retirement at Monticello, wrote Wood a letter of congratulation, and +although his theory of the construction of mould-boards had differed +entirely from the inventor's, gave his most hearty appreciation to +the merits of the new plow." + +In this connection may be told a curious episode, one in itself worthy +of record, and strikingly illustrative of the perversities of fortune +to Mr. Wood in those gloomy days. It is the story of a Czar and a +Citizen. + +All uncertainty as to the feasibility of the new plow having been +removed, and actuated by that broad philanthropy which was one of the +peculiar charms in the character of Mr. Wood, he desired to extend as +widely as possible the area of his usefulness, and concluded to make +the Czar of Russia, so long the chief grain exporting country of the +world, the present of one of his plows. During the Revolutionary war, +then fresh in the American mind, that great sovereign, Catherine of +Russia, had been the staunch friend of this country, and that, too, +without being impelled by jealousy of Great Britain. It seems to be a +peculiar trait in the Romanoff family to admire liberty in the +abstract, however absolute in practice. Sharing the prevailing good +will toward Russia, Mr. Wood conceived this happy thought of making a +truly substantial contribution to Cossack civilization, a civilization +ever ready, with all its crudeness, to adopt foreign improvements. +That gift, in one point of view slight, proved of great benefit to +Russian agriculture. It is impossible to state the extent of actual +advantage derived by Russia from that truly imperial gift. It was in +effect giving to that country, second only to the United States in +area of tillage, in proportion to population, the free use of the +perfected plow. In an old copy of the New York _Tribune_, in its palmy +days of Horace Greeley and Solon Robinson, the tale of the Plow and +the Ring is unfolded. It runs thus: + +"During the year, 1820, Jethro Wood sent one of his plows to Alexander +I, Emperor of Russia, and the peculiar circumstances attending the +gift and its reception formed a large part of the newspaper gossip of +the day. Wood, though a man of cultivation, intellectually as well as +agriculturally, was not familiar with French, which was then as now +the diplomatic language. So he requested his personal friend, Dr. +Samuel Mitchill, President of the New York Society of Natural History +and Sciences, to write a letter in French to accompany the gift. + +"The autocrat of all the Russias received the plow and the letter, and +sent back a diamond ring--which the newspapers declared to be worth +from $7,000 to $15,000--in token of his appreciation. By some +indirection, the ring was not delivered to the donor of the plow, but +to the writer of the letter, and Dr. Mitchill instantly appropriated +it to his own use. Wood appealed to the Russian Minister at Washington +for redress. The Minister sent to His Emperor and asked to whom the +ring belonged, and Alexander replied that it was intended for the +inventor of the plow. Armed with this authority, Wood again demanded +the ring of Mitchill. But there were no steamships or telegraphs in +those days, and Mitchill declared that in the long interval in which +they had been waiting to hear from Russia, he had given it to the +cause of the Greeks, who were then rising to throw off the yoke of +their Turkish oppressors. A newspaper of the time calls Mitchill's +course 'an ingenious mode of quartering on the enemy,' and the +inventor's friends seem to have believed that the ring had been +privately sold for his benefit. At all events it never came to light +again, and Wood, a peaceful man, a Quaker by profession, did not push +the matter further." + +Perhaps another and quite as potent a reason why Friend Wood did not +follow up this matter was that weightier affairs demanded his +immediate and entire attention. One difficulty was overcome only to +develop another. No sooner had he silenced the cavils of the farmers +and demonstrated the value of his patent, than infringements upon his +rights threatened to, and actually did, rob him of the fruits of his +invention. "Uneasy rests the head that wears a crown" of genius. + +The patent laws of that day were very imperfect, and there was a +strong prejudice against their enforcement. The cry of "no monopoly" +was raised. Mr. Wood had expended many thousands of dollars in +perfecting his patterns and getting ready to supply the demand which +he felt sure would arise for his plows, many of which, during the +first few years, he gave away, that their value might be established +to the satisfaction of the public. The stage of probation over, the +plow makers of the country, defiant of patent law, engaged in their +manufacture. His patent had fourteen years to run. In an incredibly +short time their use by the farmers in all parts of the land became +almost universal, and had he been allowed a royalty, however small, he +would have realized a vast fortune. Instead of that he very nearly +exhausted all his property in unavailing endeavors to establish +through the courts his rights as inventor and patentee. + +In 1833, when his patent expired, Congress granted a renewal for +fourteen years. He was now bowed with the burden of years, and debts +incurred in trying to protect himself against infringers. His +remaining days were spent in vain efforts to maintain his rights. His +broad and kindly nature had conceived noble plans for the use of the +wealth which at one time seemed so nearly within his reach. He had +always been deeply interested in education, and had fortune smiled +upon him it is not too much to say that in spirit, however different +in detail, Jethro Wood would have anticipated Stephen Girard, Ezra +Cornell and John S. Hopkins, in nobly founding a great institution of +learning. + +In private life Jethro Wood was a model man. If he had faults it is +impossible to ascertain them, for it would seem, from the concurrent +testimony of all who were acquainted with him, that + + "None knew him but to love him, + None name him but to praise." + +Although a consistent member of the Society of Friends, Mr. Wood was +extremely liberal in his religious views, and did not conform to the +peculiar dress of the sect. He had that truly Catholic spirit so +admirably characteristic of the great Quaker-poet, John G. Whittier. +Not even the cruel wrongs he sustained at the hands of dishonest +infringers could turn the sweetness of his kindly temper. Nature had +endowed him richly in every way, and no gift had been abused. +Physically, his was the highest type of manly beauty. Six feet and two +inches in height, perfect in proportion, courtly in manner, his +presence was worthy his character. + +We will not linger over the closing scene of his eventful life. That +belongs to the sacred secrecy of private grief. His death occurred at +the very threshold of a new conflict, and upon it his son and +executor, Benjamin Wood, entered with intelligent zeal. The closing of +it being reserved for two of his daughters. + +The story of these new labors was well told several years ago by a +journalist familiar with the facts, and we cannot do better than to +unearth the record from its musty file, and by transcribing it to +these pages, give it a kind of resurrection worthy its importance. + +"After the death of Jethro Wood, his son Benjamin, who received the +invention as a legacy, continued his efforts to wrest justice from the +unwilling hand of the law. Nearly all his father's failures had +proceeded from the inadequacy of the patent laws, which were almost +worthless to protect the rights of the inventor. Even now a patent is +worth little until it has been fought through the Supreme Court of +the United States. In those days so many obstacles were thrown in the +way of inventors, and the combinations against them were so +formidable, that Eli Whitney, in trying to establish his right to the +cotton-gin in a Georgia court, while his machine was doubling and +trebling the value of lands through the State, had this experience, +which is given in his own words: I had great difficulty in proving +that the machine had been used in Georgia, _although at the same +moment there were three separate sets of this machinery in motion +within fifty yards of the building in which the court sat, and all +so near that the rattling of the wheels was distinctly heard on the +steps of the Court House_. + +"Similar difficulties had met Jethro Wood in _his_ suits; so his son +resolved to strike at the root of the evil by securing a reform in the +laws. He accordingly went to Washington, where he remained through +several sessions, always working to this end. Clay, Webster, and John +Quincy Adams, all of whom had known Jethro Wood and his invention, +aided his son powerfully with their votes and counsel, and he +succeeded in securing several important changes in the patent laws. + +"Then he returned to New York, and commenced suit to resist +encroachments on his right, and the wholesale manufacture of his plow +by those who refused to pay the premium to the inventor. The +'Cast-Iron Plow' was now used all over the country, and formidable +combinations of its manufacturers united their capital and influence +against Benjamin Wood. William H. Seward, then practicing law, was +retained as Wood's counsel, and the plow-makers engaged all the talent +they could muster to oppose him. + +"Heretofore it had never been contradicted that Jethro Wood was the +originator of the plow in use, but now his right to the invention was +denied, and it was alleged that his improvements had been forestalled +by other makers. Again and again the case was adjourned, and Europe +and America were ransacked for specimens of the different plows which +were declared to include his patent. + +"Mr. Wood also obtained from England samples of the plows of James +Small and Robert Ransom. He searched New-Jersey to find the Peacock +plow which was said to have a cast-iron mould-board of exactly similar +shape to his father's. Everywhere in that State he found 'Wood's plow' +in use, but he could hear nothing of the one he sought. At length +riding near a farm-house he discovered one of the old 'Newbold-Peacock +plows' lying under a fence, dilapidated and rust-eaten. 'We don't use +it any more,' the farmer replied to his inquiries, 'we've got one a +good deal better.' 'Will you sell this?' asked Wood. 'Well, yes.' And +Wood, glad to get it at almost any price, paid the keen farmer, who +took advantage of his evident anxiety, two or three times the price of +a new plow, and added the old one to his specimens. + +"This motley collection of implements was brought into court and +exhibited to the judges. At last, after the case had dragged its slow +length along, through many terms, and the plaintiff was nearly worn +out with the law's delay, the time for final trial and decision +arrived. The combination of plow-makers feared that the case would go +in Wood's favor, and made every effort to keep him out of court, that +he might lose it by default. During his long entanglement in the law, +he had contracted many debts, and one of his opponents had managed to +purchase several of these accounts. Just before the case was to be +heard for the last time, this worthy plow manufacturer, attended by a +sheriff, and armed with a warrant to arrest Wood for debt, appeared at +the front door of his house. Fortunately Wood had had a few minutes +warning, and slipping out at the back door, he made his way under +cover of approaching darkness to a house of a friendly neighbor. There +he procured a horse and started for Albany, 150 miles distant, hearing +every moment in fancy the clattering of hoofs at his heels. + +"As if fortune could not be sufficiently ill-natured, his horse proved +vicious and unmanageable, and thrice in the tedious journey threw the +rider from his saddle upon the frozen earth, so injuring him, that he +was barely able to go on. + +"On arriving at Albany he found himself not a moment too soon. The +case had an immediate hearing, and after three days' trial the Circuit +Court decided unequivocally that the plow now in general use over the +country was unlike any other which had been produced; that the +improvements which rendered it so effective were due to Jethro Wood, +and that all manufacturers must pay his heirs for the privilege of +making it. + +"This was a great triumph; but it was now the late autumn of 1845, and +the last grant of the patent had little more than a year to run. Wood +again repaired to Washington to apply for a new extension, but the +excitements of so long a contest had been too much for him. Just as he +had recommenced his efforts they were forever ended. While talking +with one of his friends, he suddenly fell dead from heart disease, and +the patent expired without renewal. + +"The last male heir to the invention was no more. On settling the +estate, it was found that while not a vestige remained of the large +fortune owned by Jethro Wood when he began his career, _less than five +hundred and fifty dollars had ever been received from his invention_. + +"The after history of the case is a brief one. Four daughters of Jethro +Wood alone remained to represent the family. In the winter of 1848 the +two younger sisters went to Washington to petition Congress that a +bill might be passed for their relief, in view of the inestimable +services of their father to the agricultural interests of the country. +Webster declared that he regarded their father as a 'public +benefactor,' and gave them his most efficient aid; Clay warmly +espoused their cause, and the venerable John Quincy Adams, with his +trembling hand--then so enfeebled by age that he rarely used the +pen--wrote them kind notes, heartily sympathizing with them. On one +memorable day, while they were in the House gallery, Mr. Adams, at his +desk on the floor, wrote them briefly in relation to their case. A few +minutes later he was struck with the fatal attack under which he +exclaimed, 'This is the last of earth; I am content,' and was borne +dying to the Speaker's room. The tremulous lines, the last his hand +ever traced, were found on his desk and delivered to Miss Wood. + +"A bill providing that in these four heirs should rest for seven years +the exclusive right of making and vending the improvements in the +construction of the cast-iron plow; and that twenty-five cents on each +plow might be exacted from all who manufactured it, passed the Senate +unanimously. But Washington already swarmed with plow manufacturers. +The city of Pittsburgh alone sent five to look after their interests. +Money was freely used, and the members of the House Committee who +were to report on the bill were assured that during the 28 years of +the patent, Wood's family had reaped immense wealth, and wished to +keep up a monopoly. The two quiet ladies, fresh from the retirement of +a Quaker home, where they had learned little of the world, were even +accused of attempting to secure its extention through bribery. It was +the wolf charging the lamb with roiling the water. So ignorant were +they of such means, that, though the Chairman of the Committee plainly +told the younger lady in a few words of private conversation that a +very few thousand dollars would give her a favorable verdict, she did +not understand the suggestion till after an unfavorable report was +presented, and the bill killed in the House. + +"When they were about to leave Washington, some friendly members of +Congress advised them to deposit the valuable documents which had been +used in their suit, including the letter from Thomas Jefferson to +Jethro Wood, in the archives of the House, where they could only be +withdrawn on the motion of some member. They did so, and left them for +some years uncalled for. When at last they applied for them they could +not be found. Nor from that time to the present has any trace of them +been discovered by any of the family. Thus perished the last vestige +of proof relating to this ill-fated invention." + +This is a fair and candid statement, one fully sustained by +unimpeachable documentary evidence. Especially by the somewhat +voluminous pamphlet entitled "Documents relating to the improvements +of Jethro Wood in the Construction of the Plough." A careful +examination of the testimony therein embodied, and of the +Congressional Reports on the subject, warrant the foregoing +statements. + +It is not strange that in an early annual report of the United States +Commissioner of Agriculture, that official should have remarked with +some bitterness that "Although Wood was one of the greatest +benefactors to mankind by this admirable invention, he never received, +for all his thought, anxiety and expense, a sum of money sufficient to +defray the expenses of his decent burial." The time long since passed +forever to seek pecuniary indemnity; but a debt of gratitude never +outlaws, and it is due to the great inventor that his countrymen +should gratefully cherish his memory. Every year adds to the debt we +all owe him. As the area of cultivation widens, the obligation +deepens. Already America is the foremost nation of all the earth in +the production of wheat and provisions, the latter being in reality +corn in meat form. In exchange for our food supplies, the United +States is draining Europe of its gold at an enormous rate, and the +fundamental element in the production of American wealth, is our great +implement of tillage. American prosperity is the monumental glory of +Jethro Wood and his plow. + +"The Balance Sheet of the World" shows that the United States can +boast more acres of tillage, in proportion to population, than any +other country on the globe; and in grain production, outstrips all +competitors. Of such a record every American citizen may well be +proud, and it should be remembered that without the genius of Wood +such a record could not have been made, even approximately. But in +order to a just appreciation of the importance of the modern plow and +the usefulness of the inventor of it, one should take a retrospective +glance, tracing, as best we may without tedious details, the steps +which led from the use of a forked stick to the present implement for +fallowing the ground. The _Scientific American_, which ought to be +good authority on such a subject, in speaking of the Wood patent, +says: "Previously the plow was a stick of wood plated with iron." If +this does sound like an exaggeration, but is really a plain statement +of fact, consider for a moment what the plow really is in its relation +to civilization. + +The savage lives by the chase and upon the bounty of untilled nature. +The first steps toward civilization are to domesticate animals, and +cultivate the soil with a rude kind of hoe. Both are alike primitive. +The next step is to press the beast into service by supplementing the +hoe with a plow. In that implement we see what might be called the +original strand in the mighty cord which binds in co-operation man, +brute and earth. By means of this agency of agriculture the beast of +the field is made to toil, and purchases the benefits of human +kindness at the expense of idleness and industry. It is not too much, +then, to say that the plow is at once "the tie that binds," and the +tap-root which nourishes the world. If by some miraculous calamity +this one implement were forever swept away, universal and unappeasable +famine would be inevitable. And that occasional famines of a local +character are disappearing from the civilized world, is very largely, +if not chiefly, due to the improved tillage resulting from improved +plows. + +We might well say, in paraphrase of a familiar saying attributed to +Napoleon: Let me make the plows of a nation, and I care not who makes +their laws. + +The primitive plow was and is (for the barbarian of to-day is +substantially the same in his agricultural methods as the barbarian of +antiquity) simply a forked stick, to which is attached by a strip of +rawhide or a wisp of grass, a beast, often the patient cow. As the +prong passes over the ground, held down by the bowed form of the poor +tiller, it barely scratches the face of the earth. + +The first improvement was to reverse the stick and notch the forward +end. By that means the animal could be more securely fastened to the +plow, the thong being tied around the crotch of the stick. The shorter +limb ran along the surface of the ground, the notch in front being the +only reliance for stirring the soil. In the absence of a compact turf, +such plowing would do a little good in rendering the ground fallow, +and would at least have the merit of not being so difficult to operate +as its predecessor. + +The third plow had three parts. It consisted of a beam, a handle and a +share, all constructed by simply trimming the natural wood selected +for that purpose. In the first plow the prong which served as a share +was slanting, while in the third it rested flatly upon the ground, +projecting forward, instead of backward, as in the second plow. It +could have required no very difficult search to have found small +trees and broken limbs, needing no mechanical skill in fashioning, to +render them serviceable for such crude uses. They may be termed +nature's contribution to the art of plow-making. + +Without going further into details, it may be stated that a standard +authority on the history of mechanism asserts that "the ancient +Egyptian, Etruscan, Syrian, and Greek plows, were equal to the modern +plows of the south of France, part of Austria, Poland, Sweden, Spain, +Turkey, Persia, Arabia, India, Ceylon and China; at least such was the +case until the middle of the present century." The Roman and Gallic +plows were better than those of the modern countries named. The Gauls +had mould-board plows. Pliny is our authority for this statement. That +eminent Latin author of eighteen centuries ago, in speaking on the +general subject, says: + +"Plows are of various kinds. The colter is the iron part which cuts +the thick sod before it is broken into pieces and traces beforehand by +its incision the future furrows, which the share, reversed, is to open +with its teeth. Another kind, the common plowshare, is nothing more +than a lever furnished with a pointed beak; while another variety, +which is used in light, easy soils, does not present an edge +projecting from the share-beam throughout, but only a small point at +the extremity. In a fourth kind, again, this point is larger and +formed with a cutting edge by the agency of which it cleaves the +ground, and by the sharp edges at the side cuts up the weeds by the +roots." + +Pliny adds that the broader the plowshare the better it is for turning +up the soil. These excerpts from the great Roman may serve to show the +utmost reach of invention in that line, until a new impulse, begun in +the Netherlands in the eighteenth century, was brought to perfect +development in the next century by an American citizen who died the +poorer for his invention. + +The highest of all authorities upon this and cognate subjects is +"Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary," and Knight says of Jethro +Wood, "He made the best plows up to date." He adds, "He met with great +opposition, and then with much injustice, losing a competency in +introducing his plow and fighting infringers." The same writer defines +the peculiarities of the Wood plow with remarkable clearness and +brevity: "It consisted in the mode of securing the cast-iron portions +together by lugs and locking pieces, doing away with screw-bolts, and +much weight, complexity and expense. It was the first plow in which +the parts most exposed to wear could be renewed in the field by the +substitution of cast pieces." Considering the source of this passage, +it may be said that literature could hardly pay a nobler tribute to +the memory of Jethro Wood than this. It is doubly significant, from +the fact that Knight's publishers, Houghton, Osgood & Co., are also +the publishers of the _Atlantic Monthly_, in the May number of which +magazine a _habitue_ of the National Capital tried to belittle the +invention of Jethro Wood, and malign as iniquitous the attempt of his +daughters, championed by John Quincy Adams, to secure for that +invention proper recognition. It would be quite superfluous to follow +this maligner in the details of this, and a subsequent attack in an +agricultural journal. He disclaims any design to defame the claimants, +but insists that other and earlier inventors deserve the credit for +the modern plow. The opinion of Knight's Dictionary upon the Wood +patent has just been given, and the following extract from the same +great work sets forth in their proper relations to the modern plow the +inventions of those for whom this _habitue_ makes preposterous +claims: + +"The modern plow," says Knight, "originated in the low countries, +so-called. Flanders and Holland gave to England much of her husbandry +and gardening knowledge, field, kitchen and ornamental. Blythe's +'Improver Improved,' published in 1652, has allusions to the subject. +Lummis, in 1720, imported plows from Holland. James Small, of +Berwickshire, Scotland, made plows and wrote treatises on the subject, +1784. He made cast-iron mold-boards and wrought-iron shares, and +introduced the draft-chain. He made shares of cast-iron in 1785. The +importation of what was known as the 'Rotherham' plow was the +immediate cause of the improvement in plows which dates from the +middle of the last century. Whether the name is derived from Rotterdam +cannot be determined. + +"The American plow, during the colonial period, was of wood, the +mold-board being covered with sheet-iron, or plates made by hammering +out old horseshoes. Jefferson studied and wrote on the subject, to +determine the proper shape of the mold-board. He treated it as +consisting of a lifting and an upsetting wedge, with an easy +connecting curve. Newbold, of New Jersey, in 1797, patented a plow +with a mold-board, share and land side all cast together. Peacock, in +his patent of 1807, cast his plow in three pieces, the point of the +colter entering a notch in the breast of the share." + +It will be observed that the credit given these improvers of the plow +is very considerable, without at all trenching upon the exceptional +credit due to Jethro Wood. With such an authoritative refutation, the +slander may well be dismissed as beneath further notice. + +In no way more appropriately can final leave be taken of the subject +in hand than by presenting the apostrophe to Jethro Wood from the pen +of Edward Webster, formerly associated editor of the _Rural New +Yorker_: + + No jeweled diadem or crown + E'er glittered on thy manly brow-- + No slave would tremble at thy frown, + Nor at thy footstool bow; + For thou wert pure in heart and mind, + And strove to _raise_--not crush mankind! + + As famed Prometheus of yore, + In aid of our lost, wretched sires, + Stole from the flaming-sun, and bore + Down to the earth those fires + That fill with light and life all space, + And mark the Day God's glorious race-- + + So thy inventive genius found + For man the bright and polished share, + That bids the willing fields abound + With fruits beyond compare; + And from the seed that falls like rain + Crowds full our barns with bearded grain! + + Eternal may the honors shine, + We yield with grateful hearts to thee; + May children's children round thy shrine-- + Sons of the brave and free-- + With reverent lips pronounce thy name, + And build for thee a deathless fame! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jethro Wood, Inventor of the Modern +Plow., by Frank Gilbert + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40888 *** |