An Essay on the Mechanical Principles of the Plough

Edinburgh:: For J. Balfour, 1774. Book. 8vo, removed. Pp. 55; errata pasted on verso of advertisement leaf. Folding plate. First edition. One of several works on the improvement of plough design which appeared at the time. "This is a theoretical description of the way ploughs operate... The author pleads for lighter ploughs, and is antagonistic to the wheel plough, because it gives uneven depth." - Fussell, More Old English Farming Books, p. 98. Barron was Professor of Logic and Belle Lettres at the Univ. of St. Andrews, and author of A History of the Colonization of the Free States of Antiquity, a defense of colonial taxation relative to America. Both Fussell and the BLC err in giving the title as Essays..., and calling for 71 pp. A scarce work, not in the R. A. S. or Perkins catalogues. A very good copy..