METHODS OF PLOWING 127 



to four inches deep sometimes it is not plowed 

 at all for a year or two, the surface being simply 

 scratched sufficiently to cover the seeds. When 

 the tough prairie sod was first broken in the pioneer 

 days, about seventy-five years ago, it was necessary 

 to plow very shallow. The great "prairie breaker" 

 of those days had a beam nine to ten feet long, 

 was pulled by eight to twelve yoke of oxen, and 

 turned a furrow 18 inches to two feet wide and not 

 more than 2 or 3 inches deep. This served its 

 purpose admirably, but as soon as the native 

 grasses were subdued it was seen that deeper work- 

 ing plows were needed. Shallow- working "sod 

 plows" are still used for subduing sod. Prairie 

 soils are so open in texture and rich to such a depth 

 that deep plowing does not give the beneficial 

 results that it does in many other parts of the 

 country. But it is quite certain that in the long 

 run it pays to plow these soils deeper than the mere 

 surface scratching that is now given to many of 

 them. 



DRAFT IN PLOWING 



The power that it takes to plow, and the amount 

 of draft required, have an important influence on 

 the depth of plowing and the amount of pulverisa- 

 tion accomplished. Experiments by Anderson 

 showed that it takes 55 per cent, of the total draft 

 in plowing to cut the furrow slice, and 12 per cent. 

 to turn it ; the 33 per cent, remaining is used in the 

 friction of the sole and the landslide. An old share 

 point makes plowing as hard work for three horses 

 as a new point does for two. The use of a bold 

 mouldboard increases the draft very slightly, not 

 over 2 or 3 per cent, more than when a straighter 

 mouldboard is used. This is a small price to pay 



