The traditional way: a German farmer works the land with horses and plough.

A plough in action in South Africa. Notice the soil being turned over.

The plough (American spelling: plow) is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture. The primary purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds and the remains of previous crops, allowing them to break down. It also aerates the soil, and allows it to hold moisture better. In modern use, a ploughed field is typically left to dry out, and is then harrowed before planting. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1595 KB) Farmer plowing, by de:Benutzer:Marcela Einscharpflug aufgenommen am 12. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1595 KB) Farmer plowing, by de:Benutzer:Marcela Einscharpflug aufgenommen am 12. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Plough. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Plough. ... Big Dipper map A group of the brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, form a well-known asterism that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial. ... For other uses, see Tool (disambiguation). ... Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ... Crumbler roller, commonly used to compact soil after it has been loosened by a harrow In agriculture, a harrow is an implement for cultivating the surface of the soil, in this way it is distinct in its effect from the plough, which is used for deeper cultivation. ...

Ploughs were initially pulled by oxen, and later in many areas by horses. In industrialised countries, the first mechanical means of pulling a plough used steam-power (ploughing engines or steam tractors), but these were gradually superseded by internal-combustion-powered tractors. In the past two decades plough use has reduced in some areas (where soil damage and erosion are problems), in favour of shallower ploughing and other less invasive tillage techniques. Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... Industrialisation (or industrialization) or an industrial revolution (in general, with lowercase letters) is a process of social and economic change whereby a human society is transformed from a pre-industrial to an industrial state . ... // A traction engine is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into traction engine. ... A decade is a set or a group of ten, commonly a period of 10 years in contemporary English, or a period of 10 days in the French revolutionary calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Ploughs are even used under the sea, for the laying of cables, as well as preparing the earth for side-scan sonar^{[citation needed]} in a process used in oil exploration. A submarine communications cable is a cable laid beneath the sea to carry telecommunications between countries. ... Diagram of sidescan sonar Side scan sonar (also sometimes called side-scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side looking sonar and side-looking sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor. ... Oil exploration is the search by petroleum geologists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earths surface. ...

The early German word before sound-shift is plug and in Old Prussian plugis. After the German sound shift (p = pf) it became the modern German word Pflug. High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... Old Prussian is an extinct Baltic language, once spoken by the inhabitants of the area that later became East Prussia (now north-eastern Poland and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia) prior to the German colonization of the area which began in the 13th century. ...

History of the plough

Hoeing

When agriculture was first developed, simple hand-held digging sticks or hoes would have been used in highly fertile areas, such as the banks of the Nile where the annual flood rejuvenates the soil, to create furrows wherein seeds could be sown. In order to regularly grow crops in less fertile areas, the soil must be turned to bring nutrients to the surface. Agricultural square bladed hoe. ... For other uses, see Nile (disambiguation). ...

Scratch plough

Main article: Ard (plough)

The domestication of oxen in Mesopotamia and by its contemporary Indus valley civilization, perhaps as early as the 6th millennium BC, provided mankind with the pulling power necessary to develop the plough. The very earliest plough was the simple scratch-plough, or ard, which consists of a frame holding a vertical wooden stick that was dragged through the topsoil (still used in many parts of the world). It breaks up a strip of land directly along the ploughed path, which can then be planted. Because this form of plough leaves a strip of undisturbed earth between the rows, fields are often cross-ploughed at right angles, and this tends to lead to squarish fields^[1] In the archeology of northern Europe, such squarish fields are referred to as "Celtic fields". An ard is a type of primitive plough. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ... Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro. ... An ard is a type of primitive plough. ... Celtic fields are a popular name for the traces of early agricultural field systems found in the British Isles. ...

Crooked ploughs

Main article: Aratrum

The Greeks apparently introduced the next major advance in plough design; the crooked plough, which angled the cutting surface forward, leading to the name. The cutting surface was often faced with bronze or (later) iron. Metal was expensive, so in times of war it was melted down or forged to make weapons – or the reverse in more peaceful times. This is presumably the origin of the term "beat your swords to ploughshares". Aratrum is the Latin word for plough; Greek: arotron (αροτρον). ... Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares, a sculpture by Evgeniy Vuchetich Swords to ploughshares is a concept in which military weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications. ...

Mouldboard plough

Ploughing with oxen. A miniature from an early-sixteenth-century manuscript of the Middle English poem God Spede ye Plough, held at the British Museum

Chinese iron plough with curved mouldboard, 1637.

Horse-drawn, two-furrow plough.

A major advance in plough design was the mouldboard plough (American spelling: moldboard plow), which aided the cutting blade. The coulter, knife or skeith cuts vertically into the ground just ahead of the share (or frog) a wedge-shaped surface to the front and bottom of the mouldboard with the landside of the frame supporting the below-ground components. The upper parts of the frame carries (from the front) the coupling for the motive power (horses), the coulter and the landside frame. Depending on the size of the implement, and the number of furrows it is designed to plough at one time, there is a wheel or wheels positioned to support the frame. In the case of a single-furrow plough there is only one wheel at the front and handles at the rear for the ploughman to steer and manoeuvre it. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1405x1057, 40 KB)Ploughmen. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1405x1057, 40 KB)Ploughmen. ... For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... London museum | name = British Museum | image = British Museum from NE 2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2559x1696, 798 KB) Summary Photo I took 2006-05-21 of an old plough on a farm in northern Iowa. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2559x1696, 798 KB) Summary Photo I took 2006-05-21 of an old plough on a farm in northern Iowa. ...

When dragged through a field the coulter cuts down into the soil and the share cuts horizontally from the previous furrow to the vertical cut. This releases a rectangular strip of sod that is then lifted by the share and carried by the mouldboard up and over, so that the strip of sod (slice of the topsoil) that is being cut lifts and rolls over as the plough moves forward, dropping back to the ground upside down into the furrow and onto the turned soil from the previous run down the field. Each gap in the ground where the soil has been lifted and moved across (usually to the right) is called a furrow. The sod that has been lifted from it rests at about a 45 degree angle in the next-door furrow and lies up the back of the sod from the previous run. Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil, usually the top six to eight inches. ...

In this way, a series of ploughing runs down a field (paddock) leaves a row of sods that lie partly in the furrows and partly on the ground lifted earlier. Visually, across the rows, there is the land (unploughed part) on the left, a furrow (half the width of the removed strip of soil) and the removed strip almost upside-down lying on about half of the previous strip of inverted soil, and so on across the field. Each layer of soil and the gutter it came from forms the classic furrow.

The mouldboard plough greatly reduced the amount of time needed to prepare a field, and as a consequence, allowed a farmer to work a larger area of land. In addition, the resulting pattern of low (under the mouldboard) and high (beside it) ridges in the soil forms water channels, allowing the soil to drain. In areas where snow buildup is an issue, this allows the soil to be planted earlier as the snow runoff is drained away more quickly.

Parts of a mouldboard plough: There are 5 major parts of a mouldboard plough

1. Mouldboard
2. Share
3. Landside
4. Frog
5. Tailpiece

A runner extending from behind the share to the rear of the plough controls the direction of the plough, because it is held against the bottom land-side corner of the new furrow being formed. The holding force is the weight of the sod, as it is raised and rotated, on the curved surface of the mouldboard. Because of this runner, the mouldboard plough is harder to turn around than the scratch plough, and its introduction brought about a change in the shape of fields—from mostly square fields into longer rectangular "strips" (hence the introduction of the furlong). ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ...

An advance on the basic design was the ploughshare, a replaceable horizontal cutting surface mounted on the tip of the mouldboard. It was introduced by the Celts in Britain around 4000 BC (without the replaceable feature) early mouldboards were basically wedges that sat inside the cut formed by the coulter, turning over the soil to the side. The ploughshare spread the cut horizontally below the surface, so when the mouldboard lifted it, a wider area of soil was turned over.

Heavy ploughs

In the basic mouldboard plough the depth of the cut is adjusted by lifting against the runner in the furrow, which limited the weight of the plough to what the ploughman could easily lift. This limited the construction to a small amount of wood (although metal edges were possible). These ploughs were fairly fragile, and were unsuitable for breaking up the heavier soils of northern Europe. The introduction of wheels to replace the runner allowed the weight of the plough to increase, and in turn allowed the use of a much larger mouldboard faced in metal. These heavy ploughs led to greater food production and eventually a significant population increase around 600 a.d.

Heavy Iron ploughs were invented in Han Dynasty China around 100 BC. Despite a number of innovations, the Romans never achieved the heavy wheeled mouldboard plough. The first indisputable appearance after the Roman period is from 643, in a northern Italian document^[2]. Old words in connected with the heavy plough and its use appear in Slavic, suggesting possible early use in this region^[3]. The general adoption of the mouldboard plough in Europe appears to have accompanied the adoption of the three-field system in the later eighth and early ninth centuries, leading to an improvement of the agricultural productivity per unit of land in northern Europe.^[4] Han Dynasty in 87 BC Capital Changan (202 BC–9 AD) Luoyang (25 AD–190 AD) Language(s) Chinese Religion Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy History  - Establishment 206 BC  - Battle of Gaixia; Han rule of China begins 202 BC  - Interruption of Han rule 9 - 24  - Abdication to Cao Wei 220... Events Rothari, King of the Lombards, issues the Lombard law code. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Crop rotation is the practice of growing two (or more) dissimilar type of crops in the same space in sequence. ...

Research by the French historian Marc Bloch in medieval French agricultural history showed the existence of names for two different ploughs, "the araire was wheel-less and had to be dragged across the fields, while the charrue was mounted on wheels".^[5] Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (July 6, 1886 – June 16, 1944) was a French historian of medieval France in the period between the First and Second World Wars, and a founder of the Annales School. ...

Improved designs

The basic plough with coulter, ploughshare and mouldboard remained in use for a millennium. Major changes in design did not become common until the Age of Enlightenment, when there was rapid progress in design. The Dutch are credited with the introduction of newer shapes for the mouldboard in the 1600s, although these shapes were known earlier in China and may have been discovered by the Dutch while there.^[6] The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; Italian: ; German: ; Spanish: ; Swedish: ) was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. ...

A pair of metal wheels from a plough on a farm near Dordrecht, Eastern Cape.

Joseph Foljambe in Rotherham, England, in 1730 used these new shapes as the basis for the Rotherham plough, which also covered the mouldboard with iron.^[7] Unlike the heavy plough, the Rotherham (or Rotherham swing) plough consisted entirely of the coulter, mouldboard and handles. It was much lighter than conventional designs and became very popular in England. It may have been the first plough to be widely built in factories. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 1. ... Grain mill with bevel gears outside local museum. ... There is also a Rotherham, New Zealand , Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births April 16 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. ...

James Small further improved the design. Using mathematical methods he experimented with various designs until he arrived at a shape cast from a single piece of iron, the Scots plough. This was again improved on by Jethro Wood, a blacksmith of Scipio, New York, who made a three-part Scots Plough that allowed a broken piece to be replaced. In 1837 John Deere introduced the first steel plough; it was much stronger than iron designs that it was able to work the soil in areas of the US that had earlier been considered unsuitable for farming. Improvements on this followed developments in metallurgy; steel coulters and shares with softer iron mouldboards to prevent breakage, the chilled plough which is an early example of surface-hardened steel^[8], and eventually the face of the mouldboard grew strong enough to dispense with the coulter. James Small (1730-1793) was a Scottish inventor instrumental in the invention of the modern-style iron swing plough in 1784. ... John Deere This article is about John Deere, the person. ... For other uses, see Steel (disambiguation). ... A replica Colt 1873 revolver, showing case hardening colors on the frame Case hardening or surface hardening is the process of hardening the surface of a metal, often a low carbon steel, by infusing elements into the materials surface, forming a thin layer of a harder alloy. ...

Yaks are used to plough fields in parts of Asia.

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Yak (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ...

Single-sided ploughing

The first mouldboard ploughs could only turn the soil over in one direction (conventionally always to the right), as dictated by the shape of the mouldboard, and so the field had to be ploughed in long strips, or lands. The plough was worked clockwise around each land, ploughing the long sides and being dragged across the short sides without ploughing. The length of the strip was limited by the distance oxen (or later horses) could comfortably work without a rest, and their width by the distance the plough could conveniently be dragged. These distances determined the traditional size of the strips: a furlong, (or "furrow's length", 220 yards or about 200 metres) by a chain (22 yards or about 20 metres) – an area of one acre (about 0.4 hectares); this is the origin of the acre. The one-sided action gradually moved soil from the sides to the centre line of the strip. If the strip was in the same place each year, the soil built up into a ridge, creating the ridge and furrow topography still seen in some ancient fields. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... As a unit of measurement within the Imperial system, the chain is defined as 22 yards, 66 feet, or 4 rods. ... An acre is the name of a unit of area in a number of different systems, including Imperial units and United States customary units. ... Ridge and Furrow in Grendon, Northamptonshire The term ridge and furrow is often used by archaeologists and others to describe the pattern of peaks and troughs created in a field and caused by the system of ploughing used during the Middle Ages in Britain. ...

Turnwrest plough

The turnwrest plough allows ploughing to be done to either side. The mouldboard is removable, turning to the right for one furrow, then being moved to the other side of the plough to turn to the left (the coulter and ploughshare are fixed). In this way adjacent furrows can be ploughed in opposite directions, allowing ploughing to proceed continuously along the field and thus avoiding the ridge and furrow topography.

Reversible plough

Horse-drawn, reversible plough.

The reversible plough has two mouldboard ploughs mounted back-to-back, one turning to the right, the other to the left. While one is working the land, the other is carried upside-down in the air. At the end of each row, the paired ploughs are turned over, so the other can be used. This returns along the next furrow, again working the field in a consistent direction.

Riding and multiple-furrow ploughs

Early steel ploughs, like those for thousands of years prior, were walking ploughs, directed by the ploughman holding onto handles on either side of the plough. The steel ploughs were so much easier to draw through the soil that the constant adjustments of the blade to react to roots or clods was no longer necessary, as the plough could easily cut through them. Consequently it was not long after that the first riding ploughs appeared. On these, wheels kept the plough at an adjustable level above the ground, while the ploughman sat on a seat where he would have earlier walked. Direction was now controlled mostly through the draught team, with levers allowing fine adjustments. This led very quickly to riding ploughs with multiple mouldboards, dramatically increasing ploughing performance.

A single draught horse can normally pull a single-furrow plough in clean light soil, but in heavier soils two horses are needed, one walking on the land and one in the furrow. For ploughs with two or more furrows more than two horses are needed and, usually, one or more horses have to walk on the loose ploughed sod—and that makes hard going for them, and the horse treads the newly ploughed land down. It is usual to rest such horses every half hour for about ten minutes.

Heavy volcanic loam soils, such as are found in New Zealand, require the use of four heavy draught horses to pull a double-furrow plough. Where paddocks are more square than long-rectangular it is more economical to have horses four wide in harness than two-by-two ahead, thus one horse is always on the ploughed land (the sod). The limits of strength and endurance of horses made greater than two-furrow ploughs uneconomic to use on one farm. Two pairs of Shire horses and a pair of Suffolk Punches A draft horse, draught horse, or harness horse is a large, strong horse bred for heavy work rather than speed. ...

Amish farmers tend to use a team of about seven horses or mules when spring ploughing and as Amish farmers often help each other plough, teams are sometimes changed at noon. Using this method about 10 acres can be ploughed per day in light soils and about 2 acres in heavy soils.

Steam ploughing

A German "balance plough"

The advent of the mobile steam engine allowed steam power to be applied to ploughing from about 1850. In Europe, soil conditions were too soft to support the weight of the heavy traction engines. Instead, counterbalanced, wheeled ploughs, known as balance ploughs, were drawn by cables across the fields by pairs of ploughing engines which worked along opposite field edges. The balance plough had two sets of ploughs facing each other, arranged so when one was in the ground, the other set was lifted into the air. When pulled in one direction the trailing ploughs were lowered onto the ground by the tension on the cable. When the plough reached the edge of the field, the opposite cable was pulled by the other engine, and the plough tilted (balanced), the other set of shares were put into the ground, and the plough worked back across the field. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 553 pixel Image in higher resolution (1287 × 889 pixel, file size: 954 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: steam plough to tilt (UK: balance plough), constructed in 1921 by the company Kemna Author: Stefan Stegemann Date: October 2001 Location: University... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 553 pixel Image in higher resolution (1287 × 889 pixel, file size: 954 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: steam plough to tilt (UK: balance plough), constructed in 1921 by the company Kemna Author: Stefan Stegemann Date: October 2001 Location: University... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... // A traction engine (sometimes called a road locomotive) is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ... // A traction engine is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ...

One set of ploughs was right-handed, and the other left-handed, allowing continuous ploughing along the field, as with the turnwrest and reversible ploughs. The man credited with the invention of the ploughing engine and the associated balance plough, in the mid nineteenth century, was John Fowler, an English agricultural engineer and inventor. John Fowler (11 July 1826 – 4 December 1864) was an English agricultural engineer who was a pioneer in the use of steam engines for ploughing and digging drainage channels. ...

In America the firm soil of the Plains allowed direct pulling with steam tractors, such as the big Case, Reeves or Sawyer Massey breaking engines. Gang ploughs of up to fourteen bottoms were used. Often these big ploughs were used in regiments of engines, so that in a single field there might be ten steam tractors each drawing a plough. In this way hundreds of acres could be turned over in a day. Only steam engines had the power to draw the big units. When internal combustion engines appeared, they had neither the strength nor the ruggedness compared to the big steam tractors. Only by reducing the number of shares could the work be completed. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into traction engine. ... 2005 Case IH windrower Case Corporation (formerly J.I. Case Company) was a manufacturer of construction and agricultural equipment. ... A colorized automobile engine The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of fuel and an oxidizer (typically air) occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. ...

Stump-jump plough

The Stump-jump plough was an Australian invention of the 1870s, designed to cope with the breaking up of new farming land, that contains many tree stumps and rocks that would be very expensive to remove. The plough uses a moveable weight to hold the ploughshare in position. When a tree stump or other obstruction such as a rock is encountered, the ploughshare is thrown upwards, clear of the obstacle, to avoid breaking the plough's harness or linkage; ploughing can be continued when the weight is returned to the earth after the obstacle is passed. Plan of the original single-furrow plough The stump-jump plough is a historical kind of plough invented in South Australia in the late nineteenth century to solve the particular problem of preparing mallee lands for cultivation. ...

A simpler system, developed later, uses a concave disc (or a pair of them) set at a large angle to the direction of progress, that uses the concave shape to hold the disc into the soil – unless something hard strikes the circumference of the disk, causing it to roll up and over the obstruction. As the arrangement is dragged forward, the sharp edge of the disc cuts the soil, and the concave surface of the rotating disc lifts and throws the soil to the side. It doesn't make as good a job as the mouldboard plough (but this is not considered a disadvantage, because it helps fight the wind erosion), but it does lift and break up the soil.

Modern ploughs

Modern ploughs are usually multiple reversible ploughs, mounted on a tractor via a three-point linkage. These commonly have between two and as many as seven mouldboards – and semi-mounted ploughs (the lifting of which is supplemented by a wheel about half-way along their length) can have as many as eighteen mouldboards. The hydraulic system of the tractor is used to lift and reverse the implement, as well as to adjust furrow width and depth. The ploughman still has to set the draughting linkage from the tractor so that the plough is carried at the proper angle in the soil. This angle and depth can be controlled automatically by modern tractors. The three-point hitch is a device used on farming tractors used for certain implements. ...

Specialist ploughs

Chisel plough

The chisel plough is a common tool to get deep tillage with limited soil disruption. The main function of this plough is to loosen and aerate the soils while leaving crop residue at the top of the soil. This plough can be used to reduce the effects of compaction and to help break up ploughpan and hardpan. Unlike many other ploughs the chisel will not invert or turn the soil. This characteristic has made it a useful addition to no-till and limited-tillage farming practices which attempt to maximise the erosion-prevention benefits of keeping organic matter and farming residues present on the soil surface through the year. Because of these attributes, the use of a chisel plough is considered by some to be more sustainable than other types of plough, such as the mouldboard plough. Loess field in Germany Surface-water-gley developed in glacial till, Northern Ireland For the American hard rock band, see SOiL. For the System of a Down song, see Soil (song). ... Soil compaction occurs when weight of livestock or heavy machinery compresses the soil, causing it to lose pore space. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan is a general term for a dense layer of soil, residing usually below the uppermost topsoil layer. ... No-till planting of corn near Plymouth, Iowa. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. ... It has been suggested that Small-scale agriculture be merged into this article or section. ...

A modern John Deere 8110 Farm Tractor using a chisel plough.

The chisel plough is typically set to run up to a depth of eight to twelve inches (200 to 300 mm). However some models may run much deeper. Each of the individual ploughs, or shanks, are typically set from nine inches to twelve inches apart. Such a plough can encounter significant soil drag, consequently a tractor of sufficient power and good traction is required. When planning to plough with a chisel plough it is important to bear in mind that 10 to 15 horsepower (7 to 11 kW) per shank will be required. This is a photo of a John Deere 8110. ... This is a photo of a John Deere 8110. ... Deere & Company (usually known by its brand name John Deere) (NYSE: DE) is an American corporation based in Moline, Illinois, and the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world. ...

Ridging plough

A ridging plough is used for crops, such as potatoes, which are grown buried in ridges of soil. A ridging plough has two mouldboards facing away from each other, cutting a deep furrow on each pass, with high ridges either side. The same plough may be used to split the ridges to harvest the crop. For other uses, see Potato (disambiguation). ...

Mole plough

Main article: Subsoiler

The mole plough or subsoiler allows underdrainage to be installed without trenches, or it breaks up deep impermeable soil layers which impede drainage. It is a very deep plough, with a torpedo-shaped or wedge-shaped tip, and a narrow blade connecting this to the body. When dragged through the ground, it leaves a channel deep under the ground, and this acts as a drain. Modern mole ploughs may also bury a flexible perforated plastic drain pipe as they go, making a more permanent drain – or they may be used to lay pipes for water supply or other purposes. This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Use of the mouldboard plough

In modern use, the mouldboard plough was used for three reasons:-

• Foremost was the control of weeds. In this function, mouldboard ploughing is very successful, a farmer can control weed growth with far fewer herbicides by using this technique than is otherwise possible with any other method, aside from hand weeding, which is labour-intensive and not practical for large operations.
• To break up the soil for planting.
• To warm the soil for planting.

Only the first reason for mouldboard ploughing really paid off. Most plants require little soil agitation to germinate, so breaking up soil is unnecessary beyond what a planting implement accomplishes on its own. Soil warming is also unnecessary beyond two or three inches below the surface, therefore bringing black fresh soil which heats more quickly and more deeply after the final frost of the year is unneeded. Yellow starthistle, a thistle native to southern Europe and the Middle East that is an invasive weed in parts of North America. ... An herbicide is used to kill unwanted plants. ...

Problems with mouldboard ploughing

Mouldboard ploughing has become increasingly recognised as a highly destructive farming practice with the possibility of rapidly depleting soil resources. In the short term, however, it can be successful, hence the reason it was practised for such a long time. A field that is mouldboarded once will generally have an extraordinary one time yield as the larvae of pests and seed from weeds are buried too deeply to survive. After the first harvest, however, continued mouldboarding will diminish yields greatly. Larvae are the plural of larva, juvenile form of animals with indirect development. ... A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ...

The diminishing returns of mouldboard ploughing can be attributed to a number of side effects of the practice:-

• Foremost is the formation of hardpan, or the calcification of the sub layer of soil. In some areas, hardpan could once be found so thick it could not be broken up with a pickaxe. The only effective means of removing hardpan is using a "ripper", or chisel plough, which is pulled through the hardpan by an extremely powerful and costly tractor. Obviously, this layer eventually becomes impenetrable to the roots of plants and restricts growth and yields. This layer also becomes impenetrable to water, leading to flooding and the drowning of crops.
• Deep (> 15-20 cm) mouldboard ploughing rapidly depletes the organic matter content of soil and promotes erosion; these two problems go hand in hand. As soil is brought to the surface, the root structure of the previous harvest is broken up, and the natural adhesion of soil particles is also lost; though loose soil appears good for plant germination (and it is), this loose soil without cohesion is highly susceptible to erosion, multiplying the rate of erosion by several factors compared to a non-mouldboarded plot. This increased rate of erosion will not only outpace the rate of soil genesis but also the replacement rate for organics in the soil, thus depleting the soil more rapidly than normal.
• Deep (> 15-20 cm) mouldboard ploughing leads to increased soil compaction and loss of pore space within the soil. Soil is a bit like a bucket full of balls filled with sand. Each ball represents a cohesive particle of soil, and when stacked the balls leave a great deal of air space, required for healthy root growth and proper drainage. Mouldboarding so disturbs the soil that it breaks these balls and releases their contents. When this happens, the much smaller particles that are within the larger particles are released and pore space diminishes, leading to hard compacted soil that floods easily and restricts root growth.

In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan is a general term for a dense layer of soil, residing usually below the uppermost topsoil layer. ... Pickhandle redirects here. ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ...

Soil erosion

One negative effect of ploughing is to dramatically increase the rate of soil erosion, both by wind and water, where soil is moved elsewhere on land or deposited in bodies of water, such as the oceans. Ploughing is thought to be a contributing factor to the Dust Bowl in the US in the 1930s. Alternatives to ploughing, such as the no till method, have the potential to limit damage while still allowing farming. Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. ... Dust storm approaching Stratford, Texas in 1935 Buried machinery in barn lot. ... No-till farming, also known as conservation tillage or zero tillage is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage. ...

Plough parts

• Frame
• Frog
• Share (also called a plowshare or ploughshare)
• Mouldboard (or moldboard)
• Runner
• Landside
• Shin
• Trashboard
• Handles
• Hitch
• Knife, skeith or coulter

On modern ploughs and some older ploughs, the mouldboard is separate from the share and runner, allowing these parts to be replaced without replacing the mouldboard. Abrasion eventually destroys all parts of a plough that contact the soil. A farmer in Germany working the land in the traditional way, with horse and plow. ...

See also

• Ard (plough) (Scratch plough)
• Aratrum (Ancient Greek and Roman plough)
• Sokha (Old Russian scratch-plough)
• Snowplow
• Ridge and furrow
• Railroad plough
• Foot plough
• Museum of Scottish Country Life

An ard is a type of primitive plough. ... Aratrum is the Latin word for plough; Greek: arotron (αροτρον). ... Illustration of the sokha. ... A large snowplough mounted on a dump truck on a main street in Washington, DC A snowplough (also spelled snow plow, snowplow or snow plough, see miscellaneous spelling differences) is a vehicle, or a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, for removing snow and sometimes ice from outdoor surfaces... Ridge and Furrow in Grendon, Northamptonshire The term ridge and furrow is often used by archaeologists and others to describe the pattern of peaks and troughs created in a field and caused by the system of ploughing used during the Middle Ages in Britain. ... Railroad plough is a railroad car which supports a big plough. ... The foot plough is a type of spade used for cultivation, in the north west of Scotland. ... The National Museums of Scotland and partners have developed the Museum of Scottish Country Life (MoSCL), which is on Wester Kittochside farm lying between the town of East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire and the village of Carmunnock in Glasgow. ...

Notes

References

• The Genius of China", Robert Temple, Prion Books Limited, ISBN 1853752924

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Plough

• The Rotherham Plough – the first commercially successful iron plough
• History of the steel plough – as developed by John Deere in the US
• Breast Ploughs and other antique hand farm tools
• Various types of plough: photos