THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 325 



the point and" wing of the share should be in such a position 

 "lying down flat," as common plowmen express it that they 

 will enter the earth several inches, straight in, before it raises the 

 furrow-slice any. "When the furrow-slice must begin to rise as 

 soon as the wing of the share begins to enter the earth, and must 

 rise more and more, until it reaches the mold-board, the draft of 

 that plow will be full one-third greater than it would be if the 

 wing of the share were very wide, and the surface of it for two 

 or more inches almost horizontal. When the share of a plow 

 can enter two or three inches, so as to cut the furrow-slice loose 

 before it begins to rise, it requires but little force to raise the fur 

 row-slice and turn it over. The wing of the share should extend 

 beyond the sole of the plow never less than three inches ; and 

 farther than this, as the size of the plow increases, in order to 

 cut loose the furrow-slice so that it will turn over more readily. 

 When the wing of the share extends but little beyond the sole 

 of the plow, the furrow-slice is not cut loose ; and it is far more 

 inclined to fall back into the furrow than if it were cut v loose on 

 the bottom. The wing should always be " cold chilled " hard 

 ened on the under side, and should be so thin that it will wear 

 off as fast on the upper side as it does on the under side. When 

 the wing of the share is half an inch thick, and chilled or not, it 

 will wear off the fastest on the under side ; and will affect very 

 greatly the running of the plow.* 



451. The point of the share should always be cold chilled on 

 the under side ; and if the soil is free from stone it should be 

 much longer, and more slender, and thinner than it should be for 

 plowing ground that is full of fast stone. When there are no 

 fast stone against which a plow may be broken, the point of the 

 share may be so thin that the upper side will wear away as fast 

 as the under side wears off. When plow points are very thick 



* Plow points and any other iron is " cold chilled " by running the liquid iron on a 

 smooth piece of cold iron, which is placed in the sand when the pattern is molded. Iron 

 being so much better to conduct heat than wet sand, the liquid iron is cooled so rapidly 

 that it is rendered as hard as it can be made. It costs no more to cold chill plow points 

 than it does to cast them without cold chilling. And one plow point cold chilled will out 

 last two, and sometimes four if they are made of soft iron which are not cold chilled. 



