METHODS OF PLOWING 131 



hence riding over his field in a sort of automobile 

 plow and handling it with brake and lever. There 

 nave been more remarkable improvements than 

 this within a generation. But certain New England 

 fields, at any rate, will never be plowed witn an 

 automobile plow unless the rocks in it weather 

 with remarkable rapidity during the next few 

 decades. It is more than likely that a willing team 

 of Clyde or Percheron horses and a skilful man 

 guiding the handles of a good walking plow, will 

 be, for many years, the cheapest and most effective 

 method of getting the soil ready for a crop on 90 

 per cent, of American farms. 



THE ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD PLOW 



There are many styles and makes of plows, each 

 different from the others in some respect. The 

 kind of plow that should be bought depends upon 

 the use for it and upon the way it is built. Do not 

 buy a plow by its name or trie reputation of the 

 firm, any more than you would buy fertiliser by 

 brand or a cow by pedigree. The essential parts 

 of a good plow are briefly discussed below: 



The Beam. This may be of iron, steel or wood. 

 A wooden beam is cheaper and lighter than a 

 metal beam; for these reasons a majority of the 

 plows now found on farms have wooden beams. 

 Walnut and ash make the strongest plow beams. 

 Steel beams, which are much fighter than iron 

 beams, are rapidly replacing wooden beams, being 

 much stronger. 



The Moutdboard is the most important part of a 

 plow; its shape should be studied carefully by a 

 plow buyer, so as to note how it will lift, turn and 

 pulverise the soil. The general shape of the 



