18 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



for this part of the plough. The beam serves to keep 

 the plough in a proper direction, and to the end of it 

 the horses are attached. 



Fixed to the beam, in an upright position, is the 

 coulter, a sharp cutting instrument, very simple, but of 

 much importance to the working of the plough. The 

 point of the coulter nearly meets that of the share, and 

 both the surfaces are directed to cut a clean slice from 

 the land. The coulter cuts in a vertical direction, the 

 share in a horizontal one. The blade of the coulter is 

 about two inches and a half wide ; the thickness differs 

 according to the strength required. The setting of the 

 coulter in the exact position in which it will work best 

 is a matter for the ploughman's own experience. 



The stilts or handles extend backward in the opposite 

 direction from the beam, and by their means the plough- 

 man keeps a straight line, and also preserves the plough 

 at a regular depth in the ground. The handles are 

 generally about five feet and a half long, and are placed 

 wide enough apart for the ploughman to walk in the 

 furrow. By means of the handles he guides the plough 

 to the right or left, raises or depresses it at will, and 

 brings it round at the land's end out of one furrow into 

 another. 



SMALL'S CHAIN PLOUGH. 



These are the principal parts of a plough, and in- 

 dispensable to its proper working ; but in addition to 

 these parts, modern ploughs are furnished with one or two 

 wheels. Ploughs are indeed of two kinds, those fitted 

 up with wheels and called wheel-ploughs; and those 



