METHODS OF PLOWING 139 



at a time. From two to twelve plows are mounted 

 upon a frame, all turning furrows the same way, 

 one following another. The sulky gang plow pro- 

 vides a seat for a man; others have handles, like 

 a landside plow, and are guided by the plowman. 

 The latter commonly have two to four plows, run 

 on low wheels. Some of the largest gang plows 

 are reversible, like a sulky plow; they have two 

 gangs, one right hand and one left hand. 



Gang plows are practicable only where there is 

 a large area of fairly level land to be plowed. In 

 this country they are used chiefly for plowing in 

 the West. The chief saving that they effect is in 

 decreasing the number of plowmen and in getting 

 a larger area plowed when the weather and soil 

 are suitable, rower is furnished by horses, mules, 

 or steam, principally by horses but frequently 

 by steam in this country. A steam gang plow, 

 combined with a seeder and harrow has reduced the 

 time required for manual labour in plowing, seeding 

 and harrowing, in the production of a bushel of 

 wheat, from 38.8 minutes in 1830 to 2.2 minutes at 

 the present time ; and the cost of human and animal 

 labour for the same operations, from four cents to 

 one cent per bushel. It takes from six to eight 

 horses to handle a four-furrow gang plow. When 

 adjusted right a gang plow should do as good work 

 as a sulky or landside plow. It is probable that 

 they will be used to an increasing extent in this 

 country, especially in the West ; but the sulky plow 



v JL v v L 



is better adapted for average conditions in the 

 East. 



Disk Plow. This implement is beginning to be 

 used quite extensively in arid and semi-arid farming. 

 It consists of a tempered steel disk, either single 

 or in gangs of two or more, which is 25 to 30 inches 



