138 SOILS 



The Sulky Plow is a plow mounted on wheels, 

 with provision for the driver to ride and to con- 

 trol it with a lever. The plow itself may be a 

 swivel, which is turned at the end of each furrow ; 

 or there may be two landside plows, one turning 

 the furrow-slice to the right and the other to the 

 left, these being used alternately so that the plow- 

 ing is back and forth, not around the field, and no 

 dead-furrows are left. The landside construction 

 is usually considered somewhat superior to the 

 swivel construction in sulky plows. 



Under ordinary conditions the draft of a sulky 

 plow is no greater than the draft of a landside plow 

 doing the same amount and quality of work. A 

 large part of the weight of the plow falls upon the 

 axles, so that the friction on the sole of the plow is 

 greatly relieved. A sulky plow weighing three or 

 four times as much as a landside plow does not 

 pull any harder, even with a man mounted upon it. 

 If the soil is soft, so that the sulky wheels sink into 

 it or clog, the draft is increased. Two heavy 

 horses can pull it, but three are better. A good 

 sulky plow, properly adjusted, should turn as even 

 and deep a furrow as a landside plow, and some- 

 what wider. If the soil is hard or rooty, it keeps 

 in the ground better than a landside plow. This 

 type of plow is of service only on comparatively 

 level land; it is not practicable on hilly and rocky 

 land. The mechanism of a sulky plow is not 

 difficult to operate nor does it get out of order 

 easily. Wherever it can be used to advantage the 

 sulky plow saves the time and strength of the plow- 

 man ; it is being used more every year by American 

 farmers. 



The Gang Plow differs from the sulky plow 

 chiefly in the fact that it turns more than one furrow 



