838 



THE FARMERS HANDBOOK. 



point where the force acts on the load. In ordinary plough harness, with 

 the chains tight and long enough to prevent the swingle-bar catching the 

 heels, this angle places the swingle-bar just a shade lower than the hocks. 



When attached to the back-chain, the shafts must not be brought up too 

 high,' or they will be pulled downwards by the tugs, and portion of the 



horses strength will be expended against his own hack. The hack chain, 



5. — Six-horse Plough Team. 



when of the proper length, allows the points of the shafts to lie about 

 3 inches below the hame hooks (Fig. 3). 



In team work, where horses are 

 harnessed in tandem, inattention to the 

 importance of securing a direct line of 

 draught may lead to a serious loss of 

 power. In some cases the chains of the 

 leading hoise are Looked to those of the 

 horse immediately behind,, close up to 

 the hames (Fig. 4), with the icsult that 

 the leading horse draws downwards on 

 the chains. This means that the strength 

 of the rear horse, instead of acting directly 

 on the load, acts partly against the power 

 exerted by the leader, and is thus to some 

 extent rendered ineffective. 



A direct line of draught can he se- 

 cured by adopting some simple arrange- 

 ment. A good appliance is shown in 

 Fig. 6. This is a simple half-inch iron 

 bar, 12 inches in length, with a ring at 

 each end and one at the centre. The 

 reai' chains are attached to the ring in 

 the centre, while the upper ring is 

 attached to the hame hook, and the 

 lower ring receives the chains of the leader (Fig. 5). 



Another simple and very effective arrangement, which can be fitted by 

 anyone, is obtained by the attachment of short auxiliary chains to the rear 

 chaii s to receive the leading chains. These auxiliaries are attached to the 

 rear chains about 18 inches or 2 feet from the large end links, and are held 

 up by short drop chains. They take the leading chains, and preserve the 

 direct line of draught, preventing the downward pull on the rear i-haii.s. 



Fig. 6. — An appliance for obtaining a 

 correct line of draught when leading 

 harness is used in ploughing. 





