290 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



By pulling on a rope the bottoms can be raised or lowered. Where more 

 than one wheel supports the plow it is best to have the wheel on the 

 right run in the furrow. Guiding the engine will be much easier. 



The moldboard plow is unsatisfactory for hard, dry soils, and black, 

 waxy soils. The disk plow can then be used to good advantage. It will 

 turn a furrow regardless of the scouring qualities, as a scraper cleans 

 the disk. Disk plows will not work in extremely hard ground. Where 

 the moldboard plows will give good results, their use is preferable. 



OPERATION AND CARE. Never use a very dull share longer than is 

 necessary. The draft is increased materially and the work is not as 

 good. It is advisable to keep an extra set of shares on hand to guard 

 against delays. 



Suction on riding plows should be about one-half of an inch. A hard, 

 tough soil requires more suction than one that is easily worked. It is 

 measured from the heel of the land side to the surface upon which the 

 share is resting evenly. Means are usually provided for quickly chang- 

 ing suction. 



All springs should be kept at the proper tension for easy handling of 

 the levers to which they are attached. Always keep the plow leveled when 

 the bottom is in the ground. For any one depth of plowing there is just 

 one position for the front furrow- wheel lever. This is of more importance 

 on the gang than on the sulky. 



If in stony ground, the floating feature of the foot-lift plows should be 

 set so that in case an obstruction is hit the plow bottom will not be 

 locked rigidly in the frame. Making use of this device will save broken 

 eveners and a nasty fall for the operator more than once. 



The hitch often gives trouble. The horses should be neither too far 

 apart nor too close. If it is the former the line of draft will be out too 

 far, and if the latter the horses will not be able to do good work. The 

 right-hand horse should not be compelled to walk in the plowed ground. 



On the high-lift riding plow attach the tongue and connecting rod in 

 such a manner that both furrow wheels will run straight ahead. The 

 hitch is often so arranged that a sliight lead from the land is necessary 

 for the front furrow wheel of the sulky, and toward the land if a gang. 

 At the same time the rear furrow wheel is set with a slight lead from the 

 land. This lead is necessary whenever a point of hitch is more than a 

 few inches outside of the true line of draft. It is for this reason that 

 more than three horses on sulkies and four on gang plows should never 

 be used. 



Draft of riding, plows should be very little if at all more than for the 

 same size walking plow. This is obtained by carrying the weight of the 

 plow and the furrow slice on the wheels. The importance of proper ad- 

 justment can thus be seen readily. 



On engine gangs these same adjustments are found, only applied dif- 

 ferently. One adjustment in particular deserves mention that is, the 

 method of hitch. Straight chains, cross chains and the semirigid type of 

 steel bars are all used. On the smaller gangs the latter is very common. 

 Care.shottld be taken to see that no parts bind. When a plow must be 

 set over some distance from the line of draft of the tractor, the cross 



