44,8 THE RUBAI. WEW-YORKER. 
force neutralizes the other and so involves a 
loss to the real work at hand. In any event, 
there are two opposing forces involved. 
The rolling coulter involves exactly the same 
difficulty. The roller meets the resistance of 
Fig. 53. 
Fig. 55. 
the ea’-th to its penetration, and being circular 
in form is ever trying to run cut of the ground 
on an inclined plane, on substantially the prin¬ 
ciple thus invol ved. To obviate this tendency 
the bridle is elevated, forming an angle in the 
line of draft, which the team are ever endeav¬ 
oring to straighten,and thus the forces are neu¬ 
tralized to a certain extent. 
The new style of coulter is nearly free from 
these difficulties and draws easiest. Yet it has 
friction surface more pronounced than the 
others which is increased by its location on the 
side of the share. In this regard the test was 
with this style of coulter attached to the side 
and projecting to the extent of its thickness, 
as is done where not fitted in the shop when 
made. But even when set into the share so as 
to make a continuous surface, the friction will 
be great, as the recess in the iron will still have 
its edges to meet the surface and is not likely 
to go as easy as no coulter. 
These trials were in a heavy loam or clay 
loam soil, and the conclusions are drawn for 
such a soil. 
RELATION OF WIDTH AND DEPTH TO DRAFT. 
There is a disagreement among writers on 
the plow (no one has recently or for years test¬ 
ed plows, at least for public use) regarding the 
relation of width and depth of furrows to draft. 
Pussy found deep furrows to plow hardest per 
inch while Gould found the reverse. Wide 
furrows are said to draw easier than narrow 
ones per inch moved. All observers agree that 
a large furrow turns easier than a smaller one. 
The following reasoning appears to be good. 
The cutting of a furrow by the coulter and 
share is said to absorb 42 feet of the draft of a 
plow. Inasmuch as the deeper and wider a 
furrow is cut the less is the proportion of the 
cutting surface to the soil turned, therefore the 
less is the ratio of total draft involved applied 
in severing the soil. For instance, a furrow 
15 x 10 inches, has an end section of 150 inches 
and cuts only aline of 25 inches, while a fur¬ 
row 10 x 5 inches has an end section of 50 inch¬ 
es and cuts 15 inches, or it cuts or severs three- 
fifths the length of the first and turns only one- 
third the soil. 
If the above reasoning is really sound, then 
it is economy, if other things are equal (char¬ 
acter of work) to put on team enough to turn 
a good wide furrow. Whiledraft istbus being 
decreased per inch of work, the cost of the plow¬ 
man is also reduced very materially per acre 
plowed. 
To test these principles trials were made for 
three years for the benefit of the students, and 
are not as complete as they should be, yet are 
of value to the public. 
The plow used was a No. 3 Moline. 
Width of 
furrow. 
Depth of 
furrow. 
End section 
of furrow. 
Draft. 
Draft per 
sq. inch. 
in. 
in. 
in. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
Depth variable. 
15 87 
5 
76 85 
414 
5 38 
15 96 
6 08 
97 03 
469 
4 83 
15 04 
6 46 
97 15 
534 
5 45 
15 96 
6 00 
104 28 
567 
5 43 
14 87 
8 28 
122 38 
730 
5 96 
14 71 
8 46 
124 44 
826 
6 63 
Width variable. 
10 04 
8 46 
84 93 
668 
7 86 
12 5 
7 54 
94 25 
652 
6 81 
13 66 
7 33 
100 12 
609 
6 08 
15 87 
? 5 
116 04 
544 
4 68 
16 14 
6 62 
106 84 
566 
5 28 
17 75 
7 21 
127 47 
5&S 
4 58 
17 54 
0 00 
116 81 
588 
5 03 
20 25 
6 12 
123 93 
633 
5 12 
20 25 
5 95 
120 48 
644 
5 83 
One truth stands out eminently clear in the 
above results, namely: That as the size of the 
furrow in either depth or width departs to 
either extreme, under or over the normal 
capacity of the plow, the draft is increased. 
Every plow has a depth and width that it 
will turn to the best advantage, depending 
upon the mechanical construction of the 
plow. It is desirable, therefore, to know the 
normal capacity of a plow in order to adjust 
the size of furrow to it, or, better, to buy a 
plow that will be adapted to the size of furrow 
proposed to be turned. 
It will be noticed in the trial of the influ¬ 
ence of varying widths on draft that the ab¬ 
solute draft sharply decreased from a 10-inch 
furrow to a 15-inch furrow, and that a 17- 
inch furrow actually required less, draft than 
a 10-inch furrow for the plow under trial. 
The very inconsistent fluctuations of draft 
are due to the varying of the movement of 
the team, especially where width is concerned, 
as a surging of the horse on the uuplowed 
ground outward tends to vary the width of 
cut. A strong and steady team should al¬ 
ways be used in these trials and should be 
very steadily driven. 
The principle laid down by students of the 
plow,that draft decreases with the increase of 
furrow-width, may be true when applied to a 
series of plows of the same pattern of varying 
sizes, but is not a true law as applied to any 
one plow. The differences of opinion .that 
have arisen regarding the influence of size of 
the furrow on draft are doubtless due to over¬ 
looking the influence of the relation of the 
mechanical construction of the plows used in 
relation to the furrow slices that have been 
compared. Nor is increase of depth followed 
by increased draft til] the plow’s normal 
capacity is parsed, 
SUMMARY OF PRECEDING OBSERVATIONS. 
1. A deflection of the traces when under 
draft, from a straight line from shoulder to 
double-tree, results in a decided loss of power, 
and such loss is applied to the galling and 
worrying of the horse. 
2. The use of a truck or little wheel under 
the end of the plow beam gained 14 1 per 
cent, of the draft as the average of the trials 
made, and in addition gave a more uniform 
furrow, and relieved the plowman. This 
saving can be made only when the line of 
draft is right. 
3. The use of the coulter was, without ex¬ 
ception,attended with a decided loss of force or 
increased draft, whatever the form of coulter 
used, but was less with the new-style coulter 
than with the rolling aud old-fashioned 
coulter. The average gain of draft by dis¬ 
pensing with the coulter was 15 6 per cent. 
The coulter invariably disturbed the line of 
draft, resulting in a furrow of different di¬ 
mensions from those formed without it. 
4. The draft of a plow decreases as the 
depth of furrow increases until it reaches the 
plow’s normal capacity, and then increases as 
the depth is increased beyond this capacity of 
the plow. This law is modified by the fact that 
a furrow increases in size as the ratio of the 
cutting face or edge of the plow to the furrow 
turned decreases. This fact tends to obscure 
or diminish the obvious increase of draft, as 
a furrow passes beyond the normal capacity 
of a plow. 
5. The draft of a plow decreases as the 
width of the furrow increases until the nor¬ 
mal capacity of the plow is reached, after 
which it increases again under the same limi¬ 
tations as in the previous case of depth, yet it 
does not increase in as rapid a ratio as is seen 
in case of depth. The absolute draft in a 15- 
inch furrow was less than for a 10-inch fur¬ 
row. 
6. The discord of these results with those 
previously found by others have several pos¬ 
sible explanations, one of which may possibly 
be the influence of plow improvement and 
the perfection of the dynamometer, which 
affords less opportunity to guess the results 
according to a preconceived theory from the 
uncertain readings of unregistering dynamo¬ 
meters. 
7. ' The facts related in sections 4 and 5 show 
the necessity of intelligently adjusting the 
furrow to the normal capacity of the plow, or 
using only plows that will be normal to the 
furrow turned. 
The loss in draft from a furrow varying 
from the plow’s normal capacity, by two holes 
in the bridle or two points, only, was for an 
average of all trials of varying widths and 
depths, 21 per cent From the standpoint of 
draft it is poor economy to turn a small fur¬ 
row. Three horses are better than two in 
plowing. 
8. If we add the savings from the three fact¬ 
ors discussed, truck, coulters, and width and 
depth, we get 49.7 per cent., or a plow with 
truck on, coulter off,'and plowing a good-sized 
furrow, will give this per cent, of gain when 
put against a plow with coulter on, truck off, 
and turning a shallow, narrow furrow, or 
rather the latter will draw 47.7 per cent, 
harder than the former if my data are correct. 
9. A 7x14-inch furrow requires about three 
horse power to turn it,or 150 pounds multiplied 
by 3 equal 450 pounds. Those who use two 
horses either turn a small and costly furrow, 
or overdraw their horses upon sod land of the 
kind in question under trial. 
10. A furrow turned whose size in not nor¬ 
mal to the plow is usally, if not always, a 
jerky or uneven one, poor and hard on the 
workman. 
The aeompauing cuts, which represent the 
actual draft and its fluctuations at varying 
depths aDd widths, will show this. Notice 
the irregularity of the lines in Fig. 52 (proper 
depth) and Fig. 53 improper depth in com¬ 
parison. The wrong depth gives an uneven 
draft. The same is found in Figs. 54 and 
55, where a too narrow furrow is com¬ 
pared with a furrow of proper width. In 
both cases the more irregular lines drew 
the harder of the two. 
A Caution. —The editor of Hoard’s Dairy¬ 
man has long been convinced that dehorning 
is becoming a dangerous craze. Under no cir¬ 
cumstances would he run the risk of dehorning 
a male or female in which he placed any re¬ 
liance for breeding for butter purposes. He 
believes farmers have gone into this business, 
and especially dairymen, without sufficient 
knowledge of its physiological effects. Notone 
farmer in a hundred has ever made any study 
of the machinery of butter production. How 
should they know whether it is safe to dehorn 
a dairy of butter cow? Yet they drive ahead 
just as if they know all about the future effects. 
Prof. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institute at 
Washington, found that if a male deer was 
castrated while the hops were on they were 
never shed, and if castrated while the horns 
were off, they never grew. 
POINTERS. 
The Sibley Squash (Hiram Sibley & Co.) is 
said to be a distinct novelty and of rare 
quality. 
Mr. B. A. Elliott, in his handsome book 
of hardy flowers, speaks of the Puritan Rose. 
He says he paid 87,000 for it. It is a pure 
white rose, a cross between Mabel Morrison 
and Devoniensis, as we have before stated, 
and in effect a Hybrid Perpetual, though 
Devoniensis is a Tea. We shall order plants 
for the coming season. 
An experienced celery grower states, in the 
Michigan Farmer, that when one has only 
a small quantity of celery to blanch, to use a 
tile. “Dirt,” he says, “is death to celery in 
warm weather. The tile is put on by taking 
two pieces of tin 13 inches long, the shape of a 
tile cut lengthwise through the middle. 
Fasten these together with small hinges so 
that they will open and shut like folding 
doors. Clasp this around the plant, slip the 
tile over this aud draw out the tin. 
Paper and boards are also used. The paper 
is put on with the same kind of a tin or folder, 
wrapping the paper around it, and winding 
the paper with number 24 wire. The size of 
the paper may be about 12 by 18 inches. If 
boards are used they are stood up on edge, one 
on each side of the row, and held in position 
by a wire with a hook on each end and about 
six inches long, slipped over the boards at 
each end and in the middle. When it gets 
cooler earth may be used without injury to 
the celery . 
There are many varieties of celery; but the 
above writer thinks that the best are Boston 
Market, Perfection Heartwell, La Plume 
and Chestnut. There are some self-blanching 
varieties, but they require greater care and 
experience in raising. The cost of producing 
an acre of choice celery is about §300; but 
when once produced there is no difficulty in 
selling it. 
J. M. McCullough, of Cincinnati, speaks 
of his Maud S. peas as by careful selection be¬ 
ing the earliest and best in the market to-day. 
The R. N.-Y. has spent a deal of time in test¬ 
ing the “earliest” peas. Some strains are bet¬ 
ter than others on account of regularity in 
ripening and evenness of the growth of vines. 
But there is a mighty little difference be¬ 
tween the “First and Best” peas sent out by 
leading seedsmen—those who value their repu¬ 
tation . 
D. B. Wier expresses the opinion, in Or¬ 
chard aud Garden, that the plum curcnlio can 
be nearly exterminated by spraying the trees 
with Paris-green or London-purple... 
Correspondents of the above monthly 
write that they had excellent success in graft¬ 
ing the shellbark hickory and pecan last 
spring, and in a few instances the grafts made 
a growth of three to four feet. In every in¬ 
stance of success either the grafts were set 
in the stock below the surface of the ground, 
or the soil was banked up around the grafts, 
leaving only the top bud exposed. 
Thrashing corn is now much in favor, sa>s 
President Chamberlain in the Albany Culti¬ 
vator. Itemized figures have been given in 
institutes to show that the thrashing costs no 
more than the husking. Also that if the corn 
and its stalks are well dried, both will keep 
after thrashing, and that the stalks may be 
haudled with barley forks much more easily 
than when whole, aud are eaten better by the 
stock, while the part not eaten makes better 
bedding and absorbent, aud obstructs the 
handling of the manure far less. But the 
thrashing is hard on men aud on the machine, 
and if the corn is damp both it and the fodder 
will hurt in storage. 
J. J. Thomas, horticultural editor of the 
Albany Cultivator, has an orchard of 300 
trees. A part stands in grass, cut annually 
for hay, and another portion in cultivated 
ground in which crops of potatoes, corn, pars¬ 
nips, turnips, corn-fodder aud sorghum are 
continually raised, with an occasional crop of 
rye for plowing in as manure. A third por¬ 
tion has been in grass or clover a part of the 
time, and at other times cultivated with corn 
and corn-fodder, after plowing in a crop of 
clover. 
Mr. Thomas has found cultivation to be 
the most profitable. The trees make a finer 
growth and the fruit is larger and fairer. He 
finds that there is more money made from an 
orchard well tilled, even if one half is de¬ 
stroyed by blight once in 10 or 12 yearn, than 
from a larger number of stunted trees bearing 
low-priced fruit of second quality. 
He raises Bartlett, Lawrence, Howell, An¬ 
jou, Seckel and Clairgeau, The heaviest 
crops are borne by the Anjou. Bose he 
recommends as an excellent market pear of 
the first quality. He finds Lawrence a first 
