Who invented the plow moldboard

The plow is the most suitable piece of farm machinery for the primary tillage of the land, that is to say, tilling and plowing of any kind of soil. Indeed the deeper the work, the stronger the farming equipment must be, which in turn requires a greater pulling power, with the subsequent increase in the consumption of fuel.

The plow was invented more than 5 thousand years ago and it completely revolutionized the way that furrows were made to sow the seeds. The idea of the plow was based on the hoe or shovel used together with animal traction, and it was one of the major advances of prehistoric times. The use of the moldboard plow spread from the cradle of civilization, along the shores of the Mediterranean, and in Rome it marked a whole era; the plow is used in the same way today and improvements are continually being made to it.

The possibility of being able to work on sloped ground, and the plow bolts that are put on the frog means that the plow can slice deeper into the ground, which therefore not only favours the sowing of seeds but also helps to loosen and free the soil up better. Drache Historical Research and Narrative A s Earth's population increased, technology was required to increase food production.

Having observed that crops were more productive where the soil was loosened, people reasoned that the soil needed to be tilled before seeding. By the middle of the nineteenth century, a strong man using a modern steel spade still took an estimated ninety-six hours to till an acre of land.

Obviously, some form of plow was needed. In , Jefferson began to have his moldboards cast in iron. He informed Charles Willson Peale that the plow with his iron moldboard was "so light that two small horses or mules draw it with less labor than I have ever before seen necessary. Just how widely Jefferson's moldboard was adopted by others is unclear. He never sought to patent it, and in fact sent numerous models to friends at home and abroad, where his design met with general approval.

Jefferson's moldboard was featured in James Mease's Domestic Encyclopedia Philadelphia, , and the French Society of Agriculture awarded Jefferson its gold medal and membership as a foreign associate. An article courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. Click for more. Martin and Lucia C. Princeton: Princeton University Press, ; reprint See pages