162 THE OLIVER PLOW BOOK 



the trash down and under. The coulter cannot 

 do this if it is set deep enough in the ground for 

 the downward motion at the cutting edge to be prac- 

 tically straight. For this reason the safest rule is to set 

 the coulter deep enough to cut the trash without clogging 

 and shallow enough to cut the trash without riding over 

 part of it. 



When operating the plow in hard ground the coulter 

 set high and as far back as possible gives the plow point 

 a chance to penetrate the ground first. The plow 

 bottom sucks its way into the ground. The rolling 

 coulter must be forced into the ground. If the coulter 

 is placed ahead of the plow point part of the suction of 

 the bottom will be utilized in pulling the coulter into the 

 ground. If the plow point penetrates first it has the 

 advantage of the weight caused by deeper penetration 

 to hold the coulter in the ground. 



In plowing stony ground the coulter set well ahead of 

 the point and very low prevents stones from lodging 

 between the coulter blade and the plow bottom. 



A little study of these fundamentals will soon point 

 the way for properly adjusting the coulter. 



The Jointer 



The purpose of the jointer is to turn a small furrow on 

 top the furrow slice so that when this slice is inverted 

 the trash, stubble, sod, etc., may be turned to the 

 bottom of the furrow. 



The adjustment of the jointer is very much simpler 

 than that of the coulter. It should be set so that the 

 furrow it turns should rest upon the larger furrow slice 



