Alfalfa in Kansas. 



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chain is better than the straight. At other times use the straight chains 

 if a steel bar hitch is not on the plow. The angle of hitch should be such 

 that the tractor does not tend to pull the plow into the ground; instead, 

 it should lift up. Of course, the entire weight should not be taken off 

 the wheels. The angle of hitch must be determined for each particular 

 outfit. Be very careful to arrange the hitch so that the wheels will not 

 track on the next round. This will prevent unduly packing the ground. 

 Set the center of the coulter above the plow point and high enough to 

 swing from side to side. The cut outside of the land side can vary from 

 one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch. If in rocky soil, and not plowing 

 more than six inches deep, rolling coulters can be used as a safeguard 

 against buried rocks. This is of special importance on tractor plows. Set 

 the coulter so it will cut about one-half inch deeper than the point of the 

 plow and will swing across in front of the point. 



Fia. 226. Diagram showing method of laying off the ground for tractor plowing. 



Laying off the ground for tractor plowing is very important. The 

 accompanying diagram shows a method that has proven very successful. 

 Set the stakes 50 feet from the fence or edge of the field. This distance 

 can vary from 30 to 100 feet. Starting at one corner with a single bot- 

 tom, plow a light furrow across the short end. This will serve as a guide 

 to go by in raising or lowering the bottoms. With all bottoms down, 

 plow the long way. Do the same thing on the other two sides. Previous 

 to the first round, or at this time, stake off the fields into narrow lands. 

 The width of these lands is often 100 feet; although many farmers lay 

 off their lands for a certain number of rounds, less the width of one or 

 more 14-inch furrows, to offset any unevenness in plowing that may 



