HARROGATE

harrogate, a municipal borough and watering-place in the ripon parliamentary division of the west riding of yorkshire, england, 203 m. n. by w. from london, on the north-eastern railway. pop. (1891) 16,316; (1901) 28,423. it is indebted for its rise and importance to its medicinal springs, and is the principal inland watering-place in the north of england. it consists of two scattered townships, low harrogate and high harrogate, which have gradually been connected by a continuous range of handsome houses and villas. a common called the stray, of 200 acres, secured by act of parliament from ever being built upon, stretches in front of the main line of houses, and on this account harrogate, notwithstanding its rapid increase, has retained much of its rural charm. as regards climate a choice is offered between the more bracing atmosphere of high harrogate and the sheltered and warm climate of the low town. the waters are chalybeate, sulphureous and saline, and some of the springs possess all these qualities to a greater or less extent. the principal chalybeate springs are the tewitt well, called by dr bright, who wrote the first account of it, the "english spa," discovered by captain william slingsby of bilton hall near the close of the 16th century; the royal chalybeate spa, more commonly known as john's well, discovered in 1631 by dr stanhope of york; muspratt's chalybeate or chloride of iron spring discovered in 1819, but first properly analysed by dr sheridan muspratt in 1865; and the starbeck springs midway between high harrogate and knaresborough. the principal sulphur springs are the old sulphur well in the centre of low harrogate, discovered about the year 1656; the montpellier springs, the principal well of which was discovered in 1822, situated in the grounds of the crown hotel and surmounted by a handsome building in the chinese style, containing pump-room, baths and reading-room; and the harlow car springs, situated in a wooded glen about a mile west from low harrogate. near harlow car is harlow observatory, a square tower 100 ft. in height, standing on elevated ground and commanding a very extensive view. a saline spring situated in low harrogate was discovered in 1783. some eighty springs in all have been discovered. the principal bath establishments are the victoria baths (1871) and the royal baths (1897). there are also a handsome kursaal (1903), a grand opera house, numerous modern churches, and several hospitals and benevolent institutions, including the royal bath hospital. the corporation owns the stray, and also the spa concert rooms and grounds, harlow moor, crescent gardens, royal bath gardens and other large open spaces, as well as royal baths, victoria baths and starbeck baths. the mineral springs are vested in the corporation. the high-lying moorland of the surrounding district is diversified by picturesque dales; and harrogate is not far from many towns and sites of great interest, such as ripon, knaresborough and fountains abbey. the town was incorporated in 1884, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 8 aldermen and 24 councillors. area, 3276 acres. harrow,[1] an agricultural implement used for (1) levelling ridges left by the plough and preparing a smooth surface for the reception of seeds; (2) covering in seeds after sowing; (3) tearing up and gathering weeds; (4) disintegrating and levelling the soil of meadows and pastures; (5) forming a surface tilth by pulverizing the top soil and so conserving moisture. the harrow rivals the plough in antiquity. in its simplest form it consists of the boughs of trees interlaced into a wooden frame, and this form survives in the "bush-harrow." another old type, found in the middle ages and still in use, consists of a wooden framework in which iron pegs or "tines" are set. this is now generally superseded by the "zig-zag" harrow patented by armstrong in 1839, built of iron bars in which the tines are so arranged that each follows its own track and has a separate line of action. this harrow is usually made in two or three sections which fold over one another and are thus easily portable, the arrangement at the same time giving a flexibility on uneven ground. additional flexibility may be imparted to the implement by jointing the stays of the frame which are in the line of draught. the liability that the tines may snap off is the chief weakness of this type, and improvements have consisted chiefly in alterations in their shape and the method of fixing them to the frame. [illustration: fig. 1.--jointed zig-zag harrow. (ransomes, sims & jefferies, ltd.)] the other type of harrow most used is the chain harrow, consisting of a number of square-link chains connected by cross links and attached to a draught-bar, the whole being kept expanded by stretchers and trailing weights. it is used for levelling and spreading manure over grass-land, from which it at the same time tears up moss and coarse herbage. mention may also be made of the drag-harrow, a heavy implement with long tines, approximating closely to the cultivator, and of the norwegian harrow with its revolving rows of spikes. a few variations and developments of the ordinary harrow require notice. in the adjustable harrow (fig. 2) the teeth are secured to bars pivoted at their ends in the side bars of the frame, and provided with crank arms connected to a common link bar, which may be moved horizontally by means of a lever for the purpose of adjusting the angle which the teeth make with the ground, and thus convert the machine from a pulverizer to a smoothing harrow. the small figure illustrates a spring connexion between the adjusting lever and its locking bar, which allows the teeth to yield upon striking an obstruction. as the briskness of the operation adds to its effectiveness, the harrow is often made with a seat from which the operator can hasten the team without fatiguing himself. [illustration: showing tooth mechanism of harrow. fig. 2.--adjustable harrow.] fig. 3 illustrates a spring-tooth harrow. in this harrow the independent frames are carried upon wheels, and a seat for the operator is mounted upon standards supported by the two frames. the teeth consist of flat steel springs of scroll form, which yield to rigid obstructions and are mounted on rock shafts in the same manner as in the walking harrow before described. the levers enable the operator to raise the teeth more or less, and thus free them from rubbish and also regulate the depth of action. [illustration: fig. 3.--spring-tooth harrow.] another variation of the harrow with great pulverizing and loosening capabilities consists of a main frame, having a pole and whipple-trees attached: to this frame are pivoted two supplemental frames, each of which has mounted on it a shaft carrying a series of concavo-convex disks. the supplemental frames may be swung by the adjusting levers to any angle with relation to the line of draught, and the disks then act like that of the disk plough (see plough), throwing the soil outward with more or less force, according to the angle at which they are set, and thus thoroughly breaking up and pulverizing the clods. above the disks is a bar to which are pivoted a series of scrapers, one for each disk, which are held to their work with a yielding action, being thrown out of operation when desired by the levers shown in connexion with the operating bar. pans on the main frame are used to carry weights to hold the disks down to their work. the cut away disk harrow differs from the ordinary disk harrow in that its disks are notched and so have greater penetrating power. the curved knife-tooth harrow consists of a frame to which a row of curved blades is attached. other forms of the implement are illustrated and discussed in _farm machinery and farm motors_ by j. b. davidson and l. w. chase (new york, 1908). footnote: [1] in mid. eng. _harwe_; the o. eng. appears to have been _hearge_; the word is cognate with the dutch _hark_, swed. _harke_, ger. _harke_, rake, and with danish _harv_, and swed. _harf_, harrow, but the ultimate origin is unknown; the fr. _herse_ is a different word, cf. hearse.