140 THE OLIVER PLOW BOOK 



where the earth sticks. If the surface of the mould- 

 board has a cloudy appearing spot and is darker than the 

 surrounding parts of the mouldboard, it shows that this 

 part of the mouldboard is softer than the rest. The 

 only remedy in a case of this kind is a new mouldboard. 



If the surface has the appearance of being scratched 

 and the earth sticks there is no known remedy for this 

 trouble because a mouldboard plow has not yet been 

 made that will successfully scour in this type of soil. 

 The reason is that the soil is a mixture of very sharp 

 sand and silt. The silt, being of a plastic nature, fills 

 in the grooves made by the sand, thus destroying the 

 high polish of the mouldboard and making it absolutely 

 impossible for the plow to shed properly if the soil is 

 moist enough to make the silt plastic. 



The scratched mouldboard cannot shed dirt properly whether it is of 

 the variety that sticks to the metal or not. The two illustrations on 

 page 141 show this bottom in sandy soil. 



Another remedy that sometimes works to advantage 

 is the moving of the coulters to the landside of the 

 bottom. The object of this adjustment is to put an 

 additional weight of the furrow slice upon the shin of 



