Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1881-05-19
THE PLOW.

The plOw is the 'star in the ascendant
just noW." Now, and for the next two
months it will be the daily companion of a
million of farmers in this great central
plain our continent. The plow of to-day is
development, aud it has an interesting
! history. The Greeks held that man invent
ed the sword and spear, but the plow was a
gift from the gods. Their myth relates
that Ceres, the daughter Of Saturn and
Rhea, was instructed by her son-in-law.
Pluto, in the mysteries of agriculture. He
gave her plow and taught her how to use
it; and he gave her seed wheat adapted to
al! climates. She gave Triptolemus, her
trusty servant, her own chariot and two
dragons, as a team, and sent him out into
all countries to distribute seed and to teach
the people how to use the ploW. In honor
OF this event the Greeks held an annual
feast, sacred to Ceres and the plow. But
centuries before the Hellenists had colon
lied Greece, the Egyptians usen the plow
and cultivated wheat and barley, as we
learn from inscriptions On surviving monu-
ments. But the plow of the Greeks was
very rude instrument. Ii was merely a
forked stick--one branch cut shorter than
the other, and properly sharpened, or some
times pointed with iron or bronze. Among
the Hebrews this was a triangular plate OF
iron bolted ON the foot of the plow so as to
be nearly horizontal. This is that which is
called a plowshare in Isaiah i'll. The oxen
or asses were hitched to the longer branch
or fork, and the main trunk was dressed to
serve as handle. Virgil, the Roman poet,
in the first book of the Georges. directs
how to bend the growing ellns 70 as to give
each branch the proper shape tor its piece
in the plow. But he speaks of a mould
board attached above the share and so
curved as to turn the furrow. The Romans
also, invented the coulter, which was mere
heavy knife, attached to the beam, which
cut the sod and roots, and opened line for
the heavy shank to follow. 1t has been
generally admitted that the use of domestic
animals for draught preceded the introduc-
of the plow in every country; but, accord
ing to Prescott, the Peruvians used plow
made OF a stake of hard wood, properly
pointed and held by the plowman at an an
gle OF forty-tive degrees. 10 this was at
tached rope, by which five or six men
drew it through the ground.
But little improvement was made in the
plew till near the close Of the 10Th century,
when plow with a wooden frame and
and wrought-iron share and
coulder, was in use in Germany and France.
In 1920 plows with wrought-iron mould
boards, forged by hand, were made in Eng
land, but they were too expensive to come
into general use. In 1740, cast-iron mould
boards were made in Scotland, and in 1856
q cast share was patented i'm England. In
l79S, Thomas Jefferson wrote an elaborate
essay on the proper shape and construction
Of a mouldboard. and In 1904 David Pea
,ock patented a plow having the mould
BOARD and Landslide made of east-iron, and
The share made of wrought-iron laid with
steel. These plows slowly came in use in
New York. Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
out they were too expensive for small farm
rs. About the year 1920, the Carey plow
vas introduced in the Western States. 1t
consisted of a wrought-iron Landslide, share
md half Mouldbosrd, attached to strong
wooden frame. This was soon followed by
eveisdfl improvements, sueaihl as a boiler-iron
louldboard and seperate share-a steer. :,
,ouldboard aud share and cast-iron
and share, chilled to intense :
ardness and highly polished. The last i'm
rovement which we record is the sulky 1
low made of steel and attached to two