330 



458. I always go with my plowmen to the field and show them 

 how to adjust the plow until it will run just right ; and at least 

 once every day I take hold of the plow with my own hands, to 

 see if it runs correctly. It would be no difficult thing to tell, if 

 I were blindfolded, when a plow runs correctly or incorrectly, 

 and how to adjust it properly in case it seemed to run wrong. 

 Any good plowman can tell by the touch when a plow runs 

 right. 



THE GAUGE-WHEEL. 



459. Were the soil which is to be plowed always very smooth 

 on the surface, and of a uniform depth, and of equal solidity, 

 and could the share always be kept as sharp as when first put on 

 the plow, a gauge-wheel under the beam to regulate the depth of 

 the furrow would be not only a useless but a cumbersome appen 

 dage. A plow should always be adjusted to run as nearly as 

 may be the desired depth without the wheel ; and if the plow 

 is inclined to run a little too deep in some places, while most of 

 the time it runs just deep enough, the wheel may be lowered not 

 more than half an inch at a time, until it appears to be exactly 

 right. When the share is very dull and the soil variable being 

 very hard in some places and mellow and light in others it is 

 almost impossible to plow a furrow of a uniform depth without a 

 wheel. In such a case a plow must be adjusted to run deep, 

 and then the gauge-wheel lowered under the beam, until it will 

 make the plow cut a furrow of a uniform depth. But such an 

 adjustment of a plow increases the draft more than we arc 

 wont to suppose ; and makes it hold harder ; and it does not, as a 

 general thing, run as well. Take off that dull point and put on 

 one that is fit to plow with, and then the plow will operate enough 

 better to repay the expense of a new share. 



460. A gauge-wheel for general purposes should never be less 

 than one foot in diameter. Very small gauge-wheels never 

 operate as well as wheels of a larger diameter, unless the ground 

 is very smooth. When the ground is rather rough, small wheels 

 are apt to strike obstructions in such a manner as to require a 



