Plough

(plow.) (From A. S. plog.] (Agric.) An important implement for turning over the exhausted soil and bringing up the fresh and fertile parts; so contrived as to save the labor of digging. Ploughs are of different forms, according to the nature of the soil, ., and are generally worked by horses, though in some places by oxen, and even, in some few instances, by steam. Ploughs without wheels are termed swing ploughs; with them, wheel-ploughs. Each kind has a beam, by which it is drawn; stilts or handles, by which it is guided; a coulter, by which the furrow-slice is cut; a share, by which the slice is turned up; and a mould-board, by which it is turned over. The subsoil P. is a strong swing P., without coulter or mould-board: its use is to follow the common P. and loosen the subsoil. It is one of the greatest improvements of modern times. Draining-ploughs are of various kinds; the mole P. merely leaves in its track an opening formed by a small iron cylinder attached to the lower extremity of the coulter; other kinds of draining-ploughs cut the soil. The application of steam to the working of ploughs and other agricultural implements is rapidly extending among agriculturists. (Written also PLOW.) [s. 717]