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The Second General Peece of Im∣provement contains the discourse of facilitating the charge and burden of the Plow, and a demonstration of the Figures thereof.
CHAP. XXVIII.
Discovers the severall Abuses of the Plough.
BEfore I proceed in this discourse, I will lay down these two or three Maxims or Conclu∣sions.
First, that whatever moveth upon the Land, or that worketh in the Land, and carrieth the least earth or weight with it, must needs move or work easi∣est. A wheel the lesser ground it stands upon, the easier it turns, and the lesser the wheel the easier still; so the Plough, the more earth or weight it carries with it, the more strength must be required. The naturall furrow it must carry, but the lesser compass both in heigth and length it bears upon the Plough, the easier the Plough must go.
Secondly, the more naturally any thing moves, the more easily, and the more Artificially, the more difficult∣ly.
Thirdly, the sharper or thinner is any tool, the easier it pierceth, and the less strength is required; so contrary, the thicker or duller any tool is, the more strength must work it; and;