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Plough
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The traditional way: a farmer works the land with horses and plough
A plough in action in South Africa. This plough has five non-reversible mouldboards. The fifth, empty furrow on the left will be filled by the first furrow of the next pass.
Ploughing with oxen. A miniature from an early-sixteenth-century manuscript of the Middle English poem God Spede ye Plough, held at the British Museum
The plough or plow (see spelling differences; /'pla?/) is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture. The primary purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds, the remains of previous crops, and both crop and weed seeds, allowing them to break down. It also aerates the soil, allows it to hold moisture better and provides a seed-free medium for planting an alternate crop. In modern use, a ploughed field is typically left to dry out, and is then harrowed before planting. Modern competitions take place for ploughing enthusiasts like the National Ploughing Championships Ploughs were initially pulled by oxen, and later in many areas by horses (generally draught horses) and mules. In industrialised countries, the first mechanical means of pulling a plough used steam-powered (ploughing engines or steam tractors), but these were gradually superseded by internal-combustion-powered tractors. In the past two decades plough use has reduced in some areas (where soil damage and erosion are problems), in favour of shallower ploughing and other less invasive tillage techniques.Ploughs are even used under the sea, for the laying of cables, as well as preparing the earth for side-scan sonar in a process used in oil exploration.
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