The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-01-21
THE MODERN PLOw.
WHO WAS ITS INVENTOR ,

How far away in the lapse of mast eooe
says the American Artisan. il the ,er;o
when the plow was first used to tear n,
ana aorade the soil for+he reception of Tn
eeeu, there are no certain means of know
ins' Out tradition, and the pictured record
OF the oldest nations, tell US of IFS use -
Nhaue undoubtedly at first Of the forke,
branching portion Of tree, it underwear
only trlhng changes in form and structur,
ior many ages; these, made at sone un
Known period, being the curvature giyins
10 The digging portion the first approach
10 the modern mold board, and The iro,
Point' the rude prototype Of the plowshart
ot To-day One of the first improvements
upon the primitive plow thus formed was
Inc addition OF the colter, thin blade ex-
Tending downward from the beam. and
serving TO divide the soil in advance Of the
disslng portion proper, and facilitating
Iuoreoy the forward movement of The lat
.er' In this form the implement was that
hho"h as the Rotterdam pIow, a,d from
tnls Name It is inferred that the sturdy
llohandcrs had something to do with the
hrst radical changes III the make of the
primitive apparatus.
About hundred and thirty Years sipce
Scotchman invented the cas- r,, MOI.
oo"t1' which was marked improvement
on Inc wooden one, and with this p.ow
manufacturers and plow- holders seem to
nave remained content for half century.
"hen an English inventor gave a new
e'aFt 10 their ideas of progress by bringing
Ou' Piow with a casl-iron share SIxty
years after this an American oroduced ;,
Pio" having a cdst-irOn land side and a
nlold-ooard, and wrought-iron or steel
share.
Thus at long intervals tie different
parts Of the modern plow were evoked in
Inc rude shape and design. but so slowly
ola the new ideas make progress that it is
within the memory Of men still living
"hen the old bull -plow,'' so called from
'S oluht contiguraIion, formed mostly of
"ood and wrought-iron, was in almost
universal use, 1t yet remained 10 so com,
oihe The crude elements of the indictment
that It's capabilities should become known
" tue ID ant tacturer and be made avail
able 10 the tiller of the soil. This task
and thankless one it proved. WAS accom-,
pushed by Jethro Wood, Quaker farmer
OF New York State, who in 1914 took out
a United Htates patent for a pIow which
embraced most OF the vital points essential
IN The modern implement.
hese were the suiting of the curvature
OF the mold>bOard to the resistance offered
IN turning the furrow, thereby decreasing
the orau@ht; tic connection of the cast.
IRON mold-board with the beam by means
OF cast ir;n standard the attachment
OF cast iron share 10 the u,ward and
forward surface of the mold board. and
also means of fastening the pIow handles
to tho mold board, and the latter to the
land slide, without the use of bolts These
improvements not only greatly increased
lhe value OF the plow as ar implement of
labor hut also cheaPened its production.
Notwithstanding this. however, it was
long difficult 20 overcome the prejudice of
the farmers against the ''pot- metal plow.'
and when this at last was done the manu-
l"cturers stepped into the field, took adj
vantage OF the then defective condition of
Tue patent laws, and inch by inch and
year after year fought the inventor ont of
bis rights, SO that he died financially
ruined, after years of vain and constant
struggling, during which his invention was
found IN tie burrows of every farm
Throughout the land His descendants
Jared no better although the patent was
once extended, for il has been shown that
from the commencement of the efforts of
Jethro Wood to improve the pIow. only
about five hundred dollars were received
by him or from his great invention. while
III these seif-same eforts he spent the for
tune he had originally possessed
There seems a sad parallel between the
story OF Samuel Champion, living life of
poverty while his improvements IN spins
hlnS machinery whirrcd in all the cotton
factories OF England. and the bitter trials
OF Jethro Wood, while all the broad fields
oil hls native laf,d owned the benefits con
ferred by his genius Yet the world
moves onward, and in these later times
TO some degree at least, kindlisr atmos
nhere surrounds the energetic inventor.
Manufacturers, as a general rule, find il 10
their interests to pay for the protection af-
forded by patent rather than to break il
down and, more than all. the moral sense
OF the community grows more and more
alive to the truth that the inventor, like
every other laborer in the field of human
progress, is worthy of his hire.