STEEL OR IRON 



A very great majority of writers describing John 

 Deere and his plow attribute his fame to his develop- 

 ment of a successful steel plow which made cultivation 

 of rich prairie soil practical. The emphasis is always 



Figure 6. — The Shape of the 

 MoLDBOARD Continued to evolve, 

 as illustrated by this 1855 John 

 Deere plow. {Deere & Company 

 photo 57 1 92-^(4.) 



This raised two C|uestions: Why, and for how long, 

 was wrought iron used for the moldboards of the 

 Deere plows? Of what material is the moldboard 

 of the 1838 plow made? During the first few years, 

 when production was very small, there were probably 

 enough worn out mill saws available for the relatively 

 few plows made. As production increased this source 

 must have become inadequate. Ardrey gives the 

 following figures for the production of plows by Deere 

 and Andrus: '« 1839, 10 plows; 1840, 40 plows; 1841, 

 75 plows; 1842, 100 plows; 1843, 400 plows. Ardrey 

 states further that "by this time the dilliculiy of obtain- 

 ing steel in the quantity and quality needed had 

 become a serious obstacle in the way of further 



on the development of a steel moldboard and the 

 assumption is that from the 1837 plow onward 

 stretched an unbroken line of steel moldboard plows. 

 An advertisement for John Deere plows in the March 

 10, 1843, issue of the Rock River Register, published 

 weekly in Grand Detour, Illinois, gives a detailed 

 description, here presented in full: 



John Deere respectfully informs his friends and customers, 

 the agricultural community, of this and adjoining counties, 

 and dealers in Ploughs, ihat he is now prepared to fill orders 

 for the same on presentation. 



The Moldboard of this well, and so favorably known 

 PLOUGH, is made of wrought iron, and the share of steel, 

 Me of an inch thick, which carries a fine sharp edge. The 

 whole face of the moldboard and share is ground smooth, 

 so that it scours perfectly bright in any soil, and will not 

 choke in the foulest of ground. It will do more work in a 

 day. and do it much better and with less labor, to both team 

 and holder, than the ordinary ploughs that do not scour, 

 and in consefiuencc of the ground being better prepared, 

 the agriculturalist obtains a much heavier crop. 



The price of Ploughs, in consequence of hard times, will 

 be reduced from last year's prices. Grand Detour, Feb. 

 3> ■843- 



developiiieiu." 1 he statement, quoted above, that 

 the moldboard was of wrought iron and the statistics 

 on production of plows during the 1840's and 1850"s 

 belie Ardrey's claim that it was a serious obstacle, nor 

 is diere any suggestion in the advertisement diat 

 wrought iron was being substituted for steel. 



In 1847 John Deere amicably severed relations with 

 the firm of Andrus & Deere and moved to Molinc, 

 Illinois, to continue plow manufacturing in a site 

 that had better transportation facilities than Grand 

 Detour. The new firm produced 700 plows in the 

 first year, 1 600 in 1 850, and 1 0,000 in 1 857. '^ Swank '« 

 stales that the first slab of cast plow steel e\-er rolled 

 in the United States was in 1846 and that it was 

 shipped to John Deere of Moline, Illinois. A little 

 later he says that it was not until the early 1860"s in 

 this country that se\'eral firms succeeded in making 



" Ardrey, op. ctl. (footnote 2), p. K>''- 

 i' Ibid., p. 166. 



'** James M, Swank, History 0/ thf tn<iniij<uiurr ir iron m ail 

 ages . . . , Philadelphia, 1892, pp. 390, 393. 



PAPER 2: JOHN df.ere's steel prow 



11 



