CHAPTER XIII 



TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 



Sowing and Reaping in Olden Times. For thou- 

 sands of years after men learned to plant seed they 

 tilled the soil with a forked stick. Their only object 

 seemed to be to get the seed covered in the ground. 

 In Egypt for long ages seed was scattered broad- 

 cast by hand and herds of cattle were driven over 

 the ground to tramp it in. These ancient people 

 reaped their grain with a crooked knife and beat 

 the kernels from the husks and chaff with a stick, or 



Fig. 54. The best and cheapest fertilizer. 



flail. Sometimes they drove their cattle over it on 

 the barn floor to thresh it. Then it was ground into 



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