192 POWER AND THE PLOW 



plows. Probably four fifths of the traction outfits include 

 the disk engine gang. 



Conditions in the Far Western states require a greater va- 

 riety of farm equipment than in any other section, and prac- 

 tically every type of plow found elsewhere in the United States 

 is used. The land varies from level to mountainous, the farms 

 from tiny patches of highly valuable fruit and truck crops to 

 immense grain ranches. All climates and all altitudes are to 

 be found. The great diversity of crops, the variation in kind 

 and depth of soil, make the depths of plowing widely different 

 hi different sections. Not only are the conditions varied in 

 the extreme, but much more severe than those prevailing east 

 of the Rocky Mountains, and the demand for any particular 

 type of plow is limited. Neither machinery nor agriculture is 

 standardized. It is therefore difficult to interest Eastern 

 manufacturers in providing plows fully adapted to local needs. 

 The same conditions discourage the establishment of factories 

 on the Coast, though many circumstances are favorable. 

 Buildings are cheaper than in the East and labor often as 

 cheap. Crude oil furnishes cheap fuel, and freight rates 

 on raw material from Eastern mines are less than on finished 

 products. Only local manufacture or closer study by Eastern 

 makers will result in plows satisfactory for every condition. 



Plows must be made heavier, stronger, of better materials 

 and simpler, especially for California. The soils are heavier 

 and many contain cementing materials which bind them in 

 masses like concrete. There is no frost and little rain at the 

 proper time, hence these soils must be loosened by machinery. 

 Along the Coast the salt air soon eats up iron and steel and 

 lever handles of steel last only five to nine months before 

 breaking. Plow bottoms frequently outlast the frames. Wood 

 is demanded in the frames and wherever else possible. Back 

 from the Coast the hot sun takes the sap out of unseasoned wood, 

 and all stock must be dried for several years before using. 

 White teamsters are seldom available in California, the work 



