THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



657 



work. As in the case of the double plo^y, the 

 foremost plow used in trench plowing is not 

 required to lift the soil, but to invert and de- 

 posit it in the furrow below the level of its 

 share. Having but little lifting to do, it is prob- 

 able, that, when the dynamometer is applied, it 

 will show that this plow should take the larg- 

 est portion of the depth of furrow. As the 

 plow which fullows this will have to elevate 

 the soil, it must have greater length of mould- 

 board and a more gradual curve. Experience 

 alone can determine how the labor should be 

 divided between the two teams, and also the 

 width of furrow-slice, to admit of its being 

 done by two-horse teams to the greatest ad- 

 vantage to the greatest depth. This plow may 

 answer for other purposes, but no view to its 

 usefulness for other work should be allowed to 

 prevent its form being as perfect as possible for 

 the one object for which it is made. 



The next modification of the plow is for 

 stubble land. For this purpose it must be high 

 in the beam and so constructed as to clear itself 

 of the dry grass and stubble, and, while it runs 

 deep, it should fully invert the soil and leave it 

 in a mellow condition. The stubljle, grass, 

 and weeds must be entirely buried in this case 

 as well as in sod land; but, as the soil is gene- 

 rally in a light and friable condition, a shorter 

 mouldboard, in a more upright condition, is ad- 

 missible so far as to admit of as deep tillage as 

 the team can manage, for the purpose of disin- 

 tegrating the soil. In this plow the cutter may 

 be dispensed with, and the throat of the plow 

 should be so constructed as to prevent its chok- 

 ing by the accumulation of the stubble; the 

 beam should be high and curved. 



The next modification of the plow is for fal- 

 low land, and for an operation not generally 

 performed, but which is a ver}^ important one 

 in preparing land thoroughly for spring crops; 

 that is, cross plovving the land in the spring 

 which Avas broke up in the fall. This plow 

 should have a very narrow, high, and compara- 

 tively steep mouldboard. It should be narrow 

 to allow the power of the horses to run it deep 

 into the ground, which of course must be done 

 at the expense of width of slice. It should be 

 steep to crush and mix the diiferent portions of 

 the soil that it runs through. By this method 

 the decomposed grass and roots", or manure, 

 inverted by the sod or stubble plow the previ- 

 ous season, will be mixed through the entire 

 soil, instead of being thrvown nearly all to the 

 surface, as would be the case with a plow of 

 the conunon construction. The ellect of ma- 

 nure, or the decomposed vegetable matter, is 

 felt but to a limited extent by the growing 

 crop, unless it is thoroughly mixed with every 

 portion of the soil; and the more thorough this 

 mixture, the better, all things else being equal, 

 will be the succeeding crop. In addition to 

 this thorough mixing of the manure and other 

 organic matter, this plow is designed to grind, 

 crush, or rub the soil, so to speak, into the finest 

 42 



possible condition. Hence the plovc must be 

 narrow or its draft will be two heavy for two 

 horses. 



The subsoil plow, at present in use, is proba- 

 bly as near the correct form as can be devised, 

 but the material of which it is constructed 

 is objectionable. It should be remembered 

 that this instrument is to be forced through the 

 hard, compact subsoil, in many cases greatly 

 compressed by the frequent passage of the 

 plow and teams. The resistance and friction 

 to be overcome is consequently very great. 

 The wing alsp has a great weight of soil to 

 lift in making its way at so great a depth. It 

 would seem that the desideratum to be sought 

 here is such a form and such material as 

 would produce the least friction; instead, 

 therefore, of making subsoil plows of clumsy- 

 form and of rough cast iron, they should be 

 made of the best steel, and the form should be 

 such as to offer the least resistance compatible 

 with sufticient strength. The wing ought not 

 to rise much from the horizontal — only so much 

 as to disintegrate the subsoil as it passes. The 

 standard should be of steel and the form 

 which would s'eem to offer the least resistance 

 should present the shape of an elipsis in its 

 cross section. In other words, the upright 

 portion, which attaches it to the beam, should 

 be beveled to an edge in front and nearly so 

 aft. Being made of steel, they can be made 

 much lighter than those in comjjion use; they 

 would also take a better edge and keep sharp 

 much longer. In the subsoil plow the puintof 

 resistance being lower, the beam should be 

 made long to correspond, so that in this, as in 

 all other plows, the line of draft should be at 

 right angles with the angle of the horses' 

 shoulders and pass through the point of attach- 

 ment or clevis. This rule must never be lost 

 sight of. 



A modification of the old sJwvel pkm is mucli 

 used at the South, under the name of the hidl- 

 tongiie ploiv, being longer and narrower in the 

 iron than the shovel plow, as the name sug- 

 gests. This instrument might be modified so 

 as to form a very important instrument for 

 deeply working corn and other crops in the 

 early stages of their growth. This operation 

 is frequently very desirable, particularly when 

 the soil from much rain has become conrpactto 

 a considerable depth^ If this instrument were 

 constructed with the metal point shaped some- 

 thing like a cultivator-tooth, but narrower and 

 with a longer shank, or with a flange something 

 like the wing of a subsoil plow on each side of 

 it, but of course smaller and narrower, it 

 would seem to be just the instrument for the 

 purpose indicated, i. e. to mellow up the soil 

 under the young plants fin* the small roots to 

 spread themselves in. It might be necessary 

 to add a bar to steady it, but it is thought it 

 would run more steadily than the bull-tongue, 

 even without this addition. 



These are all the modifications of the plow 



