The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-20
English agricultural authority long ago tLie rranasifiop.

English agricultural authority long ago laid down this proposition; .s
 "A tolerabiy correct estimate or the progress of the art of agriculture in any country whether in ancient or modren times, may be formed by ascertaining the structure of the blow. However, 1t is still an unsettled point which is the best plow for different soils and kinds or
 The primeval blow was known as the sarcle oxen drew the vehicle slowly through the fields, while the sower fol- lowed scattering the seed. Job; or pini1 cal fame was so wealthy that he Is said to have owned 5e0 oxen which were used for blowing alone. The Israelites were not alone as plowmen; the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Romans all proke a .ae handle was attached for the guide, and ahead of which were two, four and six yoke of oxen. A book published in 1854 and desbribing the early efforts In Eng fahd to break the soil says of the blow: "Somme ploughs wyll .tourn the sheld l bredith at every landsende. and plowe all one way (the same kind of .plow now found so useful on hilly ground) Wheen ploughs be good on even grounde that lyeth lyghte.'
 Just when the wheel blow came into permanent use is something of his. torical question. It is we'll established thought that primitive man sought the trees for his first blows. He needed not only a wood that was stanch, but one WnlCn was also HeKlDie to q CeTldlH cA- tent, and 1t must have such limb pro, jection as could be suitably used for soil disturbance. The open soil, free from rock, was selected for the early agricul- tural experiments, and the bulllocks or the range were rudely harnessed to the crude implement resting upon the body of the limb pressed down the projection extending from 1t into the soil This cumbersome implement and method en- abled them to blow about one-quarter of an acre of land day, although later
 when Job was complaining farmer the blow had been so improved that an acre a day of soil could be prepared for the sower
 It was only question of time before the making of lumber, the added knowl- edge of dressing timber. created a play framework and caused the wooden share to be sheathed at its point with iron; The transition from this to the wheel blow or the movable share was q gradu- al one. It was left to the American in- ventor and worker of steel and iron to produce the modern blow, such as is used on all the farming lands Of this country.
 In Russia the peasant of most of the agricultural districts still works with either wooden or old-fashioned iron blow. In many districts the spade is still used to the utter exclusion of the blow and the consequent tillage of only small part of the soil In China wooden blow Is used in the not over populated agricultural districts, but where population Is crowded the spade prevails, and the hoe. In Japan num- her of American blows have been pur- chased, and the Japanese merchants have initiated them. and now sell pro- duct of their own quite useful in It's way. In the Philippines the wooden blow Is generally used. with a bullock or water buffalo attached. Tn South Africa the English blow, something simi- lar to but not as. good as the American blow, has been in use for years. In some parts of Egypt the wooden and iron blow of the days of the Pharaohs is to be seen vet in use. Tn South America agricultural development has been slow. and the blow Is not extensively used in most of the republics. The people are still working upon the natural products of the country, or the mines, or are en- gagged in cattle raising and think little of soil tilage. The United States has carried agriculture on a large scale to the highest plane known yet by man.
 The intention of the blow trust to en- ter South America vigorously is but part of a general movement In that di-