THE LANDSWOMAN
December, /918
The Plough*<
THE early Egyptian plough had a share, or, strictly speaking,
an iron point, hut no coulter or wheels; the eany Greek
plough had wheels as well as a share. The Bayeux Ta.pestry
illustrates the Saxon ploughs of the eleventh century as having
coulters, shares and wheels. But none of these old ploughs
turned a furrow; and it was not until t- middle of the •evenhe
teenth century that the rude plough of antiquity was improved
in any important particular. Evt-n then the progress was slow,
and snch improvements as were effected were usually confined to
limite-d districts.
The mould-boards continued to be made of wood, and it was
not until 1760 that Small introduced the Scotch swing plough'
of which the beam and handles were made of wrought iron and
the mould-board of cast iron. Wooden mould-boards were still
commonly used until about 1830. Nevertheless, at t.he beginning
of the last century the self-sharpening chilled cast-iron plouahshares, the same as those now universally used, were inyent'ed
and plough bodies were made which could be taken to pieces
and the parts replaced by the ploughman in the field.
Since that time there have been no radical changes in the
principles governing the construction of ploughs, although great
advance has been made in perfecting the different parts.
The parts of the common plough.--many or all of which are
present in other ploughs-taken in the order in which it is convenient to fix them
when putting the
plough together, inelude t-he beam, to
which are fitted the
handles or stilts at the
back end, and the hake
and chain (sometimes
called the bridle) :tt the
front end. The beam
carriPs all the parts.
The handles are for
wheels shou!d, in turning the land's end, be. balanced on the
furrow wheel.
In ploughing the last f•1rrow, the land wheel is turned inwards
or drawn up out of the way.
On wet, sticky soil, where the land wheel clogs, a slide foct may
be used instead of the wheel, and a short breast, which turns the
furrow more quickly, will be found preferable to a long breast.
Jn very hard land ploughs go more easily if the draught chain is
lengthened three or four feet.
When the ground is ha.r d or stony, a share with a long point
should be used, and, a• the point wears off, the lever-neck-if
present--1nust be raised higher.
On clay or soft land, or ''hen ploughing without wheels~ a
share with a short point should be used, and a lever-neck fixed
lower. The head or draught chain sh