PLOWING. 99 



Several years ago, John Johnston of Geneva made in substance the following statement: 

 &quot; 1 had some 800 oak and black walnut stumps pulled, bringing up earth from four to six 

 feet deep, and ten feet square or more on the surface. The next year I sowed the field to 

 wheat. Where the stumps stood, the wheat was not so good as elsewhere, but it is now, after 

 some years, in wheat again, and I never saw such wheat as where the stumps were pulled. 

 You could see where every stump had been; the wheat is all of ten inches taller, stands far 

 stockier on the ground, and looks as if a load of barnyard manure had been laid down and 

 not half spread.&quot; 



We are inclined to believe such instances as above quoted, rare, and as being the excep 

 tion rather than the rule, although subsoils of value are common in some localities. 



As we have previously stated, no definite rule can be given with respect to the depth of 

 plowing. We have specified general rules, and stated various conditions and circumstances, 

 with probable results, but soils differ so widely in character that different methods will be 

 required for different fields, and each farmer, by careful experiment and observation, will be 

 able to best determine for himself the methods most suited to his own soils, always bearing 

 in mind the general principles relative to the character of different soils, and the relation 

 which the surface or agricultural soil bears to the subsoil. 



Clay soils, heavy loams, or heavy soils of any kind are best pulverized and made friable 

 by plowing when dry or nearly so. If plowed when wet, they will turn over in smooth, 

 compact furrows, which will dry in the sun into hard lumps that will require often the entire 

 season to pulverize, and usually will remain so until subjected to the action of the frost, 

 which has a tendency to separate their particles and reduce them to a pulverized condition. 



Gravelly soils may be plowed when either wet or dry. The accompanying illustrations 

 in this department represent several of the standard plows at present in use. 



The Gilpin Sulky, Timber Land, Stubble and Iron Beam Plows represent cuts made 

 from photographs of implements manufactured by Deere & Co., Moline, 111. 



In the Gilpin Sulky Plow one lever varies the depth of plowing, levels the plow at all 

 depths, and raises it out of the ground when desired. Sulky plows are admirably adapted to 

 large farms and level lands free from stones, and are much used in the Western States. The 

 Deere Gang Plow, an illustration of which will be seen in connection with another depart 

 ment, on large farms of the country, where twenty of them are employed in a single field, is 

 similar to the Gilpin Sulky, except it plows two furrows at once instead of one, and is more 

 heavy and cumbersome than the latter, being used only on very large farms. Its use requires 

 three or four horses or mules. It is very strong and not easily broken by striking large 

 stones or other obstructions. The Cassaday Sulky Plow, and Oliver Chilled, by the Whitte- 

 more Bros, of Boston, Mass., are also fine implements. The former is especially adapted to 

 lands where there are stones or other obstructions, and for this reason is proving especially 

 valuable to the farmers of New England. Two horses are sufficient for its use. 



The Osborne Plow Sulky, manufactured by Gregg & Co., Trumansburg, N. Y., has a 

 system of levers by which the driver is enabled to regulate the depth and width of the 

 furrows at will. t 



The Green-sward and Subsoil Eagle Plow, by the well-known firm of Ames Plow Co., 

 Boston, Mass., may be made to turn furrow slices from nine to fourteen inches deep, and from 

 sixteen to twenty inches wide when desired. 



The Advance Chilled, and the Goodall Subsoil Plow, also used as a grub hook, stone and 

 root-puller, and manufactured by Joseph Buck & Sons, Boston, Mass., are too well-known to 

 require comment. 



The Adamant plows, by the New York Plow Co., of New York City, are exceedingly 

 durable, being made of metal of uniform hardness. They are so constructed as to be fitted 

 with &quot;slip points&quot; of steel, of which we give an illustration by means of which the plows 

 can be kept constantly sharp, while the cost of repairs is thus greatly reduced. 



