Mr. A. J. Stansbury says: "I heard John Randolph (who hated Jefferson)
once describe, in his own biting, caustic manner, the delight expressed
by him in a new model for the mould-board of a plough.
"It was called 'the mould-board of least resistance;' and the inventor
had gone into a very profound mathematical demonstration, to prove that
it deserved its name.
"Jefferson listened and was convinced; and deeming it a great discovery,
recommended it, with zeal, to all his agricultural friends.
"The Virginia planters, accordingly (who thought every thing of their
great man as a natural philosopher), agreed, many of them, to take this
new 'mould-board of least resistance.'
"It was accordingly cast, and forwarded to their farms; when lo! on
trial, no ordinary team could draw it through the soil."
JEFFERSON AS AN INVENTOR.
"He sometimes figured as an inventor himself, and on that subject let
me relate to you an anecdote which vividly portrays the character of
his mind. You know that he had perched his country seat on a mountain
height, commanding a magnificent prospect, but exposed to the sweep of
wintry winds, and not very convenient of access.
"Not far from Monticello, and within the bounds of his estate, was a
solitary and lofty hill, so situated as to be exposed to the blast of
two currents of wind, coming up through valleys on different sides of
it.
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