274 Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



similar to the ones used by the Egyptians three thou- 

 sand years before. It is worthy of note that many of 

 the greatest of the early Americans were interested in 

 the development of the plow, the fundamental imple- 

 ment of tillage. Thomas Jefferson and Daniel Webster 

 planned plows and had them constructed, which were 

 improvements over preceding types. In 1797, Charles 

 Newbold introduced the iron plow, but it is recorded 

 that the farmers of that time refused to use it, claiming 

 that so much iron drawn through the soil poisoned the 



Fig. 174. Daniel Webster's famous plow had a beam 9 feet long. 



land and increased the growth of weeds. This latter 

 superstition delayed the general acceptance of improved 

 plows for many years. The use of iron and steel plows 

 did not become general until about 1830. Many im- 

 provements were made in the construction and form of 

 the points and mold-boards, adapting them to various 

 kinds of soils. The modern plow is familiar to all. The 

 recent types of sulky plows enable the plowman to 

 ride in a comfortable seat, and, when properly ad- 

 justed, so that the pressure due to the raising and turn- 

 ing of the furrow slice is reduced, have no heavier draft 

 than the walking plow. The single-shovel cultivator has 

 given way to the double-shovel implement, and this, in 

 turn, to the straddle-row cultivator, and, in many sec- 

 tions, the two- and three-row cultivators are finding 

 favor. 



