20 LAND AND LABOR. 



became in time fitted with a movable share of wood, 

 stone, copper, or iron, wrought to an attempted suita- 

 ble form, as we find it in the hands of our Saxon 

 ancestors. Afterwards the wooden mold board was 

 added, with various improvements in shape, which 

 continued in use until near the present time. 



In England, in the middle of the last century, the 

 plow was an exceedingly rude and cumbersome affair 

 in comparison with those now in common use. It 

 was no infrequent thing, in parts of the island, eighty 

 years ago, to see from three to five horses, in light 

 soils, and in heavy ones as many as seven, attached to 

 a plow which turned about three fourths of an acre a 

 day. The old Scotch plow was still worse, and no 

 instance was known of plowing with less than four 

 horses. The usual number was six, or four horses 

 and two oxen ; sometimes as many as ten or twelve 

 were yoked to it, each pair requiring a driver. 



In the early part of the present century our best 

 plow, in general use, was of wood, iron shod, large, ill 

 shaped and cumbersome, drawn by from one to six 

 yoke of oxen, requiring one and often two men to hold 

 it ; another to ride on the beam to keep it in the 

 ground ; still another to keep it clear, and the drivers 

 of the team often four and sometimes six men, but 

 less than two, to turn one acre a day. 



About 1740 James Small, of Berwickshire, Scot- 

 land, first introduced the iron mold board, still using 

 wr.iii^ht imn shares. In 1785 Robert Ransome, of 

 Ipswich, introduced cast iron shares. The making of 

 tin- first iron plow has Ix-cn attributed to William 

 Allan, a farmer of Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1804 ; 



