February, 1910.] 



188 



Miscellaneous. 



rest ; but when a plough is turned out 

 the operator has to apply his skill to 

 make it go well. The maker, however, 

 provides reasonable means of adjusting. 

 The fact is, a plough requires more skill 

 to set properly than the uninitiated 

 might suppose. The setting that will 

 suit one soil will not necessarily suit 

 another. Who is there that has plough- 

 ed on land which is very variable who 

 has not had the experience that at one 

 end of the field there is a tendency for 

 the big wheel to run away from the 

 land side, while at the other it will cut 

 too hard on the land side, or, again, 

 where it will pull in much deeper in one 

 place than another, although the service 

 is equally hard ? When this occurs it is 

 most difficult to set the plough just 

 right to suit all conditions. Where the 

 land is normal from end to end and the 

 soil in fair ploughing condition, a well- 

 made plough, well set, should go from 

 end to end without being touched by 

 hand. That is the best test that can be 

 applied. Too often one sees the plough- 

 man fail to make the mind triumph over 

 matter, for, instead of adjusting the 

 plough properly, he may be seen with 

 one foot (sometimes two), out of the 

 furrow, struggling to keep the plough 

 in place, leaning the greater part of his 

 weight on the handles, and so increasing 

 the under-friction that the draught is 

 excessively increased, and horses can 

 only get along in snatches, suggesting 

 that first the horses have a pull at the 

 plough, and then the plough has a pull 

 at the horses, both man and horses 

 being thoroughly done up at shutting 

 out time. 



The Science op Grip. 

 There is nothing which adds so much 

 to draught as the weight which the 

 holder puts on to the handles. A man 

 may hold a plough firmly and yet add 

 but little to the draught, and a well-set 

 plough requires this rather than pres- 

 sure. A plough that a skilled ploughman 

 cannot set to run easily on fair land 

 should be broken up, as it is a very 

 expensive implement to keep. But if 

 one looks over a plough that is difficult 



to hold, it is odds in favour of the fact 

 that there is one or another of the nuts 

 that regulates some adjustment that 

 has never been moved since it came from 

 the work, as can be proved by the fact 

 that the paint has not been disturbed, 

 while perhaps it is so long since others 

 were moved that they are rusted in. 



A plough should be easily adjusted, 

 and this is not convenient unless all nuts 

 and screws are kept well greased. It is 

 as much or even more than some will do 

 to keep the hubs of the wheels greased, 

 and as the ploughboy whistles o'er the 

 lea so do the wheels. If the wheels are 

 not kept greased they soon wear loose, 

 and then not only will the furrow be 

 uneven in width, but as they roll one 

 way or the other so will the plough 

 follow the direction just as a bicycle does, 

 and the man will have to hold against 

 this tendency to iuu out of the straight; 

 the lolling of the wheel also alters the 

 depth of the ploughing, for it is not 

 the same height when lolling as upright. 

 The necessity for thin washers or cotters 

 to use as soon as there is play should 

 not be overlooked, Nothing better 

 teaches a young ploughman the purpose 

 of the parts than being made to take 

 a plough to pieces, and to take out 

 every bolt, and then put it together 

 again. It is not time wasted in the long 

 run, though because a plough looks so 

 simple few are called upon to do it. 

 For the best effect to be obtained he 

 should be told the purport of each part. 



Part Adjustment. 

 The main parts which are employed 

 to adjust an ordinary mould-board 

 plough are the wheels, the T-head, the 

 sliding head, the draught chain, the 

 share, the coulter, skin coulter, breast 

 stay, and the handles. Beyond these, 

 however, are the less recognized points 

 where, through some temporary or con- 

 structional deficiency, some little in- 

 genuity is required to make the plough 

 run easily. The wheels mainly control 

 the width and depth of the furrow, yet 

 on swing ploughs these are absent, thus 

 showing they are not indispensable, 



A, Beam; B, 

 Draught Chain ; 

 L, Land-wheel; 



The Common Plough. 

 Handle or Blits; C, Handle Stay or brace; D, 

 G, Breast or mould-board ; H, Breast-stay ; I, 

 M, Land-wheel Standard; N, Furrow- wheel; 



Coulter; Q, Coulter-clip; R, Skin Coulter. 



T-head ; E, Sliding Head ; P, 

 Mould-board Rest; K, Share; 

 O, Furrow-wheel Standard; P } 



