18 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



while on tlie other it has the share or point, which is 

 a slightly curved steel or iron plate with a horizontal 

 cutting edge which serves to cut out the furrow 

 slice. It extends backward and upward to connect 

 with the moldboard, which is another plate with a 

 compound curve so shaped that the furrow slice is 

 carried upward and is at the same time twisted over 

 so that it falls wrong side up. Plows with differ- 

 ently shaped moldboards are adapted for handling 

 different classes of soils. In gravelly or very sandy 

 soils cheap cast-iron plows are often used, as the more 

 expensive but softer steel ones are quickly ground 

 away and worn out by the grit. On sticky lands 

 that contain much clay it is necessary to use steel 

 plows because the iron ones do not scour well, the 

 soft dirt sticking to the moldboard and preventing 

 the proper turning of the furrow slice. 



Turning plows vary in size from those cutting a 

 furrow slice only five or six inches wide to those 

 cutting sixteen or eighteen inches, and they are 

 adapted to be drawn by from one to as many as six 

 or eight animals. The term " gang plow " is applied 

 to those implements that carry two or more shares 

 and moldboards arranged one behind another so that 

 two or more furrows may be turned at each bout or 

 turn around the field. Such implements can only 

 be used on lands entirely free from obstructions. In 

 the ordinary walking plows there is no mechanism 

 for supporting the plow, but it is held upright and 

 in place by the plowman. In riding or sulky plows 

 the implement is attached to a frame that is carried 

 by two or more wheels. The plowman rides and 



