April, 1921. 



5. In sod run the colter closer to the shin and also 

 down almost to the bottom of the furrow. 



6. Sometimes by setting the colter a little "wide" 

 the scouring of the plow is improved. 



7. When a badly worn bearing causes the colter to 

 wobble, get it fixed, because it will increase the draft 

 besides doing inferior work. Take as good care of 

 your colter as you do of your shai'cs. 



Types of Colters. 



There are four common tj'pes namely, the fin^ knife, 

 rolling, and skim colter (commonly called a jointer). 

 In good scouring soil that is free from stones, the com- 

 bined rolling colter and jointer gives splendid satisfac- 

 tion in covering weeds. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



153 





Figure 7A 



Jointers are used to cut and turn over the edge of 

 the furrows close to the colter so that when the slice 

 is turned over, all surface growth will be completely 

 buried. It simply turns over a small furrow, which 

 lies on top of the furrow slice. This is turned over by 

 the moldboard, the result being a clear edge between 

 the furrows and no weeds visible. The jointer should 

 be set with its point directly below the hub of the 

 colter and so as to cut not more than two inches deep. 

 The point should be set verj^ close to colter, but a 

 small clearance should be allowed between jointer and 

 colter. This clearance prevents the jointer from 

 catching and retaining trash. 



Figure 8 shows a typical combined rolling colter and 

 jointer. So many people have asked if the jointer is to 

 clean the colter that the writer takes this opportunitj" 

 of saying it is not for this purpose. 



m/i//!^ t/iem easy foraa 



Figure 9 shows a jointer and rolling colter attached 

 to the beam independently. Notice the chain for cov- 

 ering the weeds as well as the device for keeping the 

 colter clean. 



Figure 8. 



Bail Support Moved. 

 This trouble was dealt with under the heading 

 "Plows not cutting same depth." Again let me call 

 your attention to this very small but very important 

 part of your plow. 



Figure 7B. 



Figure 9. 



Sprung Beam. 



Many wrong adjustments on a plow are attributed 

 to a ""sprung beam." If you had measured the distance 

 the beams were from the share and the distance they 

 wore apart when you purchased the plow you would 

 be in a better position to judge this point correctly. 

 Beams are sprung often in stony ground. It is very 

 questionable whether they can be fixed locally or not. 

 It will depend on the quality of the steel and the skill 

 of the blacksmith. My advice is to buy a new beam. 

 (To be continued.) 



