XII. ORDINARY TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS FOR SOIL 

 PREPARATION 



The Plow and Its Parts. The plow may be best understood by 

 considering its several parts. 



a. The Beam is the horizontal piece of wood or steel by which the 

 plow is drawn. 



b. The Standard or Stock is the heavy pie^e of metal attached 

 in a vertical position to the beam and to it many of the other parts 

 of the plow are attached. 



c. The Handles and Handle Bearers. These i nn from the lower 

 part of the plow on a gentle slope to such a height that they may 

 be easily held by the plowman. They are used for guiding the 

 plow. 



d. The Clevis is a piece of iron bent in the shape of a short 

 but wide U. The two ends are perforated to receive a pin which 

 passes through it and the end of the plowbeam to which it is at- 

 tached. In the front part of the clevis are a number of holes for 

 regulating the depth of the furrow. When the singletree or the 

 doubletree is attached to the upper holes, the plow will run deep. 

 When attached to the lower holes, it will run shallow. Sometimes 

 there is a horizontal bar on the clevis also containing perforations. 



e. The Plowshare is the V-shaped piece of metal which cuts the 

 bottom of the furrow slice. 



/. The Plowpoint is the sharp metal tip at the end of the plow- 

 share which enters the ground first. 



g. The Moldboard is the wide curved plate of metal above the 

 plowshare which turns and throws the furrow slice. 



h. The Colter is a revolving disk or a straight blade fastened to 

 the beam just in front of the moldboard which cuts the furrow slice 

 from the land. It is not always used. 



Usually from two to three horses are hitched to heavy breaking 

 plows. For light plowing after the soil has already been loosened 

 a one-horse plow with small plowshare and narrow, thin mold- 



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