Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 4H 



with interest on the proceedings of this Clnb, may build a theory for 

 themselves. 



First, what is plowing? It is a process by which the soil is 

 cut into slices of a certain width and thickness, which are inverted 

 more or less completely, and, so far as this process is perfectly 

 completed, the plowing is perfect. The ingenuity of inventors 

 and manufacturers has been taxed for years to produce a plow 

 that will perform this operation perfectly, and when one is acquainted 

 with the immense variety of plows in use, one can understand the 

 importance to the farmer of perfect plowing. A field is plowed 

 when every portion of its surface has been turned over to an even 

 depth in furrows of equal width. As the main point in plowing 

 lies here, too much care cannot be taken to do this perfectly well. It 

 cannot thus be done unless the furrows are straight as well as of even 

 depth and of equal width. It will not do to suppose that a field can 

 be well plowed with crooked furrows. Where the furrows are 

 crooked some parts of them must be necessarily wider than others, and 

 those wider parts cannot be cut off by the wing of the share, and those 

 parts are then unplowed. The furrows cannot be of even depth 

 unless the plow is held steadily and squarely on its sole. If it is 

 allowed to roll from side to side, the bottom of the furrow will not be 

 flat, but will slope from or to the land side, and will make a sort or 

 ridge, and one side of the slice will be thin. If this is permitted the 

 plowing is imperfect. To secure a perfect furrow, two poles should 

 be set up at the farther end of the field, in line with the desired fur- 

 row, and the plow should be driven so that these poles should be 

 seen between the horses' heads as one single pole. If, by accident, a 

 crook is made, the plow should stop immediately, turn back to 

 where it commenced, and start again on the line. A little practice will 

 enable a straight furrow to be turned with ease. Then the team must 

 be hitched with long and short traces, so that the plow will run 

 evenly at the proper depth ; a little practice will secure this. Hip- 

 straps should not be used. The plow must be held steadily and. 

 tightly, and not allowed to pitch and roll like a small boat in a rough 

 sea. If a hard spot or a stone is struck which throws out the plow 

 it must not be passed, the plow must be drawn back and the obstruc- 

 tion removed. In short, everything must be avoided or removed that 

 will interfere with or prevent perfect plowing. The curse of Ameri- 

 can farming is poor, imperfect, miserable plowing ; and a farmer 

 should be ashamed to have a crooked furrow seen on his farm. 



Why do we plow ? Plowing has but one single object, which is to 



