The Plow.

     The Plow (also spelled 'plough') is a very ancient and important tool in farming. As the ground thaws and planting time approaches the farmers of Owyhee County will put them to good use.



     This is what we call a four-bottom reversible plow. Each of the shiny bits is a single plow, there are eight of them here. Four-bottom means that when the plow is working, four individual plows will be in the ground at a time. Reversible means that this plow flips over on a hinge at the left of the picture. As you can see the plows on the top and the the plows on the bottom point in the same direction. This might not make sense right now but the reason will be explained later.

     What a plow does is roll the soil over. By lifting up the nutrient rich soil and putting it on top it allows for more productive crop growth. By dropping the tired soil underneath with all the plant material it gives time for this soil to recover. All the plant material that is buried becomes food for the many microorganisms that live in healthy soil. The microorganisms break down the plant material back into the nutrients that, in time, the plow will bring back to the surface to be used once again. If you refer to the picture above you can see all the working parts of a plow. The point (called the chisel) begins by breaking the soil and the part directly behind it (called the share or ploughshare) cuts into the soil and lifts it. On top of both of these is the large curving piece of metal (called a mouldboard) that lifts and rolls the soil over inverting the layers. The process leaves a ditch in the ground which is called a furrow. The next plow in the line tosses dirt into the furrow of the plow in front of it.



     In order to keep tossing the dirt in the same direction the plows must always point the same direction. This is where the reversible part of the plow comes in. When the tractor is turned around, the farmer will also flip the plow over and the mouldboards will be pointed correctly to toss their soil in the right place. Keep in mind that there are many kinds of plows and quite a few are used here in Owyhee County. This is only one of them but they all do the same thing.

    

      By turning the soil and leaving the plants roots-up the plow makes farming far more productive. This means more (and cheaper) food for you, the public. So no matter who you are, your life is made better by the plow, which is pretty neat if you ask me.