TILLAGE MACHINERY 



55 



useof steel in 



nf 



Steel, having the pro- 



erty of taking an excellent polish, permitted the sticky soils to 

 pass over a moldboard made of it where the other materials 

 failed. 



In about 1833 John Lane made a plow from steel cut from 

 an old saw. Three strips of steel were used for the moldboard 

 \ and one for tne snare, all of whichi__were fastened to a "shjn^ s^ 

 or frame. of iron. John Lane secured in 1863 a patent on soft- 



I center steel, which is used almost universally at the present time 

 in "the making of tillage tools. It was found that pLates_.niade. 

 of steel were brittle and warped badly during tempering. Weld- 

 ing a plate of soft iron to a plate of steel was tried, and, although 

 the iron supported the steel well when hardened, it warped very 

 badly. The soft-center st.eeL which was formed by welding a 

 heavy bar of jron betwg^ntwj3j^| L jrf rolling all j 



down into plates, permitted the steel to be hardened without l| 

 ,V warping. It is very strong on account of the iron center, which / 

 will not become brittle. 



In 1837 John Deej^, at Grand Detour, Illinois, builj_.a steel 

 plow from an old saw which was much similar to Lane's first 

 pjflm. In 1847 Deere moved to Moline, Illinois, and established 

 a factory which still bears his name. William Parlin established 

 a factory about the same time at Canton, which is also one of 

 the largest in the country. / 



FIG. 33 THE MODERN STEEL WALKING PLOW WITH STEEL T1EAM AN T D 

 MOLD-BOARD FOR STUBBLE OR OLD GROUND 



