THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



PLOWING. ITS PURPOSES AND ITS RESULTS. 



The plow IL the principal implement of farm culture. The 

 name of it has become typical of agriculture and of peace- 

 ful industry ; as the. sword typifies war and slaughter. Its 

 precise purpose in agriculture, however, and the principles 

 of its construction and action, are very rarely understood 

 by those whose business it is to use it, and whose subsistence 

 is procured by its use. At first, the plow merely stirred and 

 loosened the soil, and consisted of a crooked beam of wood, 

 a limb of a tree, guided by a handle and drawn by an ox. 

 For thousands of years this imperfect implement served the 

 purposes of the cultivator of the soil. At this day, and in 

 our own enlightened country, the plow in use over a large 

 portion of the land, is little better than that which prepared 

 the ancient fields of Egypt, India, and Rome, for the recep- 

 tion of the seei. In the north and west, however, the plows 

 in use are the most perfect productions of the mechanical 

 inventors genius and thought, and of the manufacturing art. 

 Its curves have a deep purpose and significance, but 

 these are unknown to most of those who handle it. And 

 yet a knowledge of thi^ purpose and significance is neces- 

 sary to the most effective use of it. 



No plows in the world are able to do better work than 

 the American plows, and no others are so light and easily 

 handled. But it is a sad truth, which cannot be denied or 

 excused, that worse plowing can scarcely be seen than 

 the average work on American farms. Perhaps this 

 is the reason why the average yield of our crops is smaller 

 than that of any other civilized country, and that American 

 farmers complain that their business is not profitable. If 

 the foundation is weak and ill constructed, the edifice can- 

 not be firm or substantial; and when the plowing is imper- 



