PLOWING, 49 



the first furrow which will be flat, drive the team close to the 

 furrow slice, and lean the plow handles to the left until the 

 furrow slice will just lap on the first one turned; after one 

 round has been plowed, the plow can be gradually adjusted to 

 cut just as wide or as deep as required, although on new land 

 good execution cannot be done at a greater deptn than seven 

 inches. If greater depth is desirable, a double plow is better. 



For turning flat furrow slices, a plow with a narrow base and 

 broad at the top of the mould board, is the most desirable. 

 The coulter should be set so as to cut under ; and the handles 

 inclined a little to the right. The slices must be twice as wide 

 as their depth. This style of plowing is most suitable for 

 bushy, rooty, and obstructed pastures, or other grass lands, 

 where the double plow cannot be used to advantage. Trench 

 plowing is done by putting a skim plow forward of the main 

 plow on the same beam, which removes a thin sod, and lays it 

 upside down in the bottom of the furrow, while the main plow 

 turns up ten inches or more of the undersoil. This sort of deep 

 plowing should be decided upon with caution. Except in light 

 sandy soils, trench plowing should be done late in the fall. On 

 most soils, two inches deeper each year is enough. The excep- 

 tions are light soils underlaid with clay, and old worn soils. 



Sod and Subsoil Plowing is done with what is commonly 

 called the Michigan Sod Plow, (an illustration of which, with 

 all the plows, etc., mentioned, is given in the article on Agri- 



I cultural Implements,) consisting of two plows on one beam ; 

 the forward, or skim plow, cutting not more than three or four 

 iuches deep, and the rear plow lifting the under soil to the 

 depth of six or eight inches, raising it up, and laying it over 

 the sod, breaking the soil well, and leaving a clean channel for 

 the next sod. For the deep breaking up of all sod land, free 



i enough of obstructions, this is the best method of plowing. 



