MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL 17 



market may all be referred to one of the three follow- 

 ing types: — shovel plows, moldboarcl or turning 

 plows, and disk j)lows. The first plow Avas prob- 

 ably little more than a crotched stick with the 

 short arm of the crotch sharpened so that it could 

 be dragged through the ground. In the evolution 

 of the shovel plow from this primitive form a steel 

 point was first added to protect the cutting end of 

 the stick, and subsequently this point was flattened 

 into a triangular shape and was slightly curved. 

 The " Creole " or " Cuban " plow, still so much used 

 in many parts of tropical America, has only reached 

 the second stage in this development. It is only 

 a steel-shod stick dragged through the ground. 

 Shovel plows are largely used in laying off rows for 

 planting and sometimes for cultivation, but they are 

 but little used for the preliminary preparation of the 

 land. Most modern cultivators are only gangs of 

 small shovel plows. 



The turning plow is the one mostly used for 

 breaking up the soil in preparing it for planting. It 

 is so called because it cuts out a clean furrow slice 

 and turns it more or less completely over, thus bury- 

 ing all grass and weeds that are growing on the sur- 

 face. It consists of a wooden or steel beam to 

 which the team is attached, which corresponds to the 

 long arm of the crotch in the primitive plow. To 

 this is attached a standard which corresponds to the 

 short arm of the crotch, and handles bv which it is 

 controlled by the plowman. The standard carries on 

 one side a long, narrow vertical plate, the land side, 



which serves to hold the plow steadily to its work, 

 c 



