TILLAGE MACHINERY 53 



Robert Ransome, of Ipswich, England, in 1785 constructed 

 a plow with the share of cast iron. In 1803 Ransome succeeded 

 in chilling his plows, making them very hard and durable. The 

 plows of Howard and Ransome were provided with a bridle 

 or clevis for regulating the width and depth of the furrow. These 

 plows were exhibited and won prizes at the London and the 

 Pap8"expositions of 1851 and 1855. 



1^05. American development. Before the Revolutionary War 

 the plows used in America were much like the English and 

 Scotch plows of that period. Conditions were not favorable to 

 the development of new machinery or tools. The plow used 

 during the later colonial period was made by the village car- 

 penter and ironed by the village smith with strips of iron, me 

 beam, standard, handles, and moldboard were made ot wood, and 

 only the cutting edge and strips for the moldboard were made 

 of iron. 



Among those in America who first gave thought to the im- 

 provement of the plow was Thomas Jefferson. While represent- 

 ing the United States in France he wrote : "Oxen plow here 

 with collars and harness. The awkward figure of the moldboard 

 Jeads one to consider what should be its form." Later he 

 specified the shape of the plow by stating: "The offices of the 

 moldboard are to receive the sod after the share has cut it, to 

 raise it gradually, and to reverse it. The fore end of it should 

 be as wide as the furrow, and of a length suited to the construc- 

 tion / of the plow." 



/Daniel Webster is another prominent American who, history 

 relates, was interested in the development of the plow. He 

 designed a very large and cumbersome plow for use upon his 



FIG. 31 WEBSTER'S PLOW 



