56 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



only do the best work, but accomplish it with the greatest ease to 

 tihemselves and their team. If the power (or team) is not rightly 

 applied, good work cannot easily be done ; for if the plough inclines 

 in or. out of the ground too much, or takes too wide or too narrow a 

 furrow-slice, the ploughman must exert force to direct it properly, in 

 addition to that required to overcome the obstacles and inequalities 

 in the soil; but if the power be rightly applied, the plough will move 

 so accurately as not only to perform good work with more ease to 

 both ploughman and team, but in soils free from obstruction, even 

 without being guided. 



" To effect a proper horizontal movement, the clevis at h or draught- 

 rod (if one is used instead of a clevis) must be adjusted and confined at 

 that point, moving it to the right or left, if necessary. This will 

 cause the plough to take the proper width of furrow-slice, which, in 

 sod, should be wider or narrower according to the depth of furrow, or 

 rather the thickness of the furrow-slice required ; for as the thickness 

 is increased, so also must be the width, in order to turn it easily and 

 perfectly over, particularly when the furrow slices are required to be 

 laid over level and side by side. The proportion in ordinary sod 

 should be 6 by 11, 7 by 12, or 8 by 14 inches. In determining the 

 width of furrow-slice, some regard must be had to the strength of the 

 particular sod to be turned ; for the plough will turn over a wider 

 slice in a strong or stiff sod than when running in one more 

 easily broken, or it will cripple and double when raised to a perpen- 

 dicular position, thus only doing the work called " cut and cover." 

 When the slices are required to be laid at an angle, and lapped each 

 one upon the preceding, the proportion of width should be less, or 

 about 6 by 9 and 10 or 7 by 10 and 11 inches ; for the narrower the 

 slice in proportion to the depth, the greater will be the inclination of 

 the slice as it is lapped upon the preceding one." 



By far the larger part of the draught of the plough, or 

 strength of the team required, is due to the friction in the soil, 

 while the cutting, raising and turning over of the turf adds 

 comparatively little to it, although, it is true, the friction is 

 somewhat increased by the weight of the plough, and this 

 weight is of course increased by tlie weight of the furrow-slice 

 as it is lifted from its bed. Hence the draught of the plough is 

 but slightly increased by an increase of speed, since the friction 

 is not increased, but remains nearly the same, on the bottom of 

 the furrow, on the landside and between the furrow-slice and 

 the mould-board, whether the motion be fast or slow. 



