PLOWS AND PLOWING. 293 



cast steel, and possessing the hardness of cast iron and the dura- 

 bility of steel. The steel plows heretofore sold were made from 

 steel plates bent and twisted into the desired form. This new in- 

 vention gives promise of furnishing a very desirable plow. 



Having selected a good plow, skill and judgment are required 

 of the plowman in order to bring out its best working capacity. 

 So little interest is manifested in the subject, so little pride is 

 manifested in its use, that we have but few skillful plowmen among 

 us. The first thing necessary is to properly adjust the team to the 

 plow. In order that the plow may hofd easy, and at the same 

 time pass with the least possible resistance through the soil, it 

 would be necesssary that the line of the draught be regulated so 

 that it will pass from the point of attachment at the shoulders of 

 horses, or the ring of the ox yoke, on a straight line through the 

 attachment upon the end of the plow beam to the point of resis- 

 tance on the mould-board of the plow. This of course is practi- 

 cally impossible, since it would necessarily pass through the furrow- 

 slice itself; but the attachment should be such that if a mathe- 

 matical line were projected through the clevis it would strike the 

 point of resistance. If this attachment be too far to the right hand 

 the plow runs oif ; if too far to the left it " lauds too hard ;" if too 

 low the plow does not run at the desired depth ; if too high it runs 

 too hard on the wheel. This causes it to be hard to guide, and in- 

 creases the draught very materially. Therefore plowmen are 

 greatly in error where they " fid down," as it is termed, the chain 

 with which their oxen are attached to the plow. This arrange- 

 ment brings the draught out of a straight line, and entirely disar- 

 ranges the proper working of the plow. There is no plow manu- 

 factured, either in or out of the State, whose designer arranged 

 the parts with a view to having the draught so low. Yet plow- 

 men still adhere to this old notion, and curse the plow for its 

 imperfect work. 



Rev. Mr. Gurney. The paper which has been read, so far as I 

 am a judge, is a very practical and a very exhaustive one, and 

 still there was one point not touched upon, and I do not know 

 that it comes under this general head of plows and plowing. 

 What I would like to hear discussed is, how much land shall we 

 plow ? Is there not danger of plowing too much ? I think we 

 ought not to plow any further than we can manure thorpughly and 

 well. It seems to me that by plowing we exhaust the soil. You 



