TILLAGE TOOLS: WHAT THEY ARE FOR IQI 



there is little difference in draft between the walking plow 

 and the sulky plow. The draft of the sulky is slightly 

 increased in going up hill ; hence, the wheel plow is at a 

 disadvantage, somewhat, on hilly land, but on level land 

 it is to be preferred because it pulls no harder and does 

 its work with care, certainty, and accuracy. 



The disk plow is fast coming into favor. It pulverizes 

 well, and covers trash in an effective manner. It, how- 

 ever, cannot be used, practically, in stony land. This 

 kind of plow is well adapted to hard, gummy soils, in 

 which it is difficult to keep the required depth with the 

 moldboard plow, and it is preferable to the latter in 

 breaking hard-pan and hard-baked topsoils. This tool is 

 generally satisfactory where deep plowing is to be done, 

 always leaving the soil in a loose, broken condition. This 

 plow is now made for horses and for steam. 



The gang plow is intended for large areas. It requires 

 the employment of several horses or of an engine, but a 

 single man can operate it, and perhaps do better work 

 than he could, if guiding a single plow by hand. This 

 sort of plow finds its place on extensive farms that are 

 level and free from rock, ledges, and ditches. It is used 

 largely in the West, but there is no reason, however, why 

 small steam plows should not be used to good advantage 

 in every section of the country. Generally speaking, 

 steam-plowed land is plowed no deeper than that done by 

 horse power, but steam does the work more economically. 



Every plow that has been made, and has stood the test 

 of time, is built on the principle of a double wedge one 

 force of the wedge acting in a vertical, the other in a 

 horizontal plane. The plows of the future will doubtless 

 be built on a similar plan, but the constant aim will be 

 to make them penetrate to a greater depth, and pulverize 

 the soil more fully. The nearer the plow achieves this 



