MANAGEMENT IN TRACTION PLOWING 249 



the desired result with greater or less curvature of the mold- 

 board. The same acreage may be secured by running at a 

 speed of two and one half miles per hour with six plows, or at 

 one and one half miles per hour with ten. In the former case 

 the outfit must run ten miles farther to accomplish the same 

 work. The engine speed may remain the same in either case, 

 but at the faster speed the ten miles of extra travel must be 

 endured by the tractor wheels with the additional strain upon 

 rim and grouters. Both the engine and the operator must 

 withstand two thirds more jolting, and the plowman, especially, 

 must endure the discomfort occasioned by rapid progress, since 

 the frame wheels of the plow are relatively small in diameter. 

 These wheels and the gauge wheel, coulter and share on each 

 bottom, must travel much farther in plowing an acre. The 

 shares must be changed oftener, while the entire outfit remains 

 idle. More trips across the field will be required for a given 

 acreage, and there is the temptation at every turn to waste 

 a little time. These speeds represent extremes, neither of 

 which is adapted to present plow design. Until experience has 

 proved that a higher speed is advantageous, and plowmakers 

 have met the need with new plow shapes, the majority of trac- 

 tors will be adapted to a plowing speed about equal to that of 

 horses. Good management demands that the existing condi- 

 tions be analyzed and no attempt made to force results which 

 cannot reasonably be expected. 



Every possible means should be taken to secure as large a 

 volume of work as is possible with a safe rate of wear and tear 

 on equipment. It is difficult to persuade hired crews to secure 

 this volume by keeping the outfit in motion, the majority pre- 

 ferring to take long periods of rest and crowd the engine dur- 

 ing the time it works. There is only one best speed for plowing 

 with a given engine, and a good engineer can prolong the life 

 of an engine by finding it. One well-paid man should be 

 given full authority over the others, and made responsible not 

 only for the amount of work done, but for the condition of 



