3000 BC — The Ancient Egyptians are using two–handled ploughs 2000 BC — Farmers on the island of Crete are using ploughs with only one handle; the second hand is kept free to control the animals pulling it ploughs with one handle, 2000 BC 800 BC — Traditional scratch ploughs with an iron spike are being used in Mesopotamia 500 BC — Seeder ploughs are being used in Mesopotamia (plough blades plus a seed hopper and mouldboard) 100 AD — The Romans introduce the wheeled plough and rack (a cross–piece with iron teeth) to European farming 1500 — Giovanni Cavallino (Italy) invents the first sowing machine of the modern age 1665 — Joseph von Locatelli (Carinthia) links the plough to a sowing machine (sembrador) which plants the seeds a spoonful at a time 1700 — The Flanders horticultural plough is developed with a concave mouldboard to reduce resistance 1730 — Dutch blacksmiths develop an iron mouldboard with a screw–type winding mechanism in order to turn over the clods of earth completely 1731 — Scotsman Jethro Tull advances the development of a sowing machine which will sow in rows: it is constructed in a similar way to an organ 1763 — In Scotland John Small builds the first plough made completely of iron Württemberger plough, 1800 1800 — Newbold & Jefferson (USA) begin mass production of iron ploughs 1830 — Ernst Alban (Germany) develops the first broadcaster 1833 — John Lane develops the ploughshare made of mouldboard instead of cast iron 1837 — In the USA John Deere develops the first self–cleaning plough John–Deere–plough 1837 1841 — The Pennach brothers (USA) patent the first seed drill based on construction principles still in use today 1850 — The Wanzleber plough is introduced for deep ploughing for growing sugar beet — Introduction of the seed drill to Germany 1853 — In England William Smith builds the first working steam–powered plough (traction engine, plough, winch, controlled by ropes) — German inventor Wilhelm Siedersleben constructs the first seed drill for sugar beet 1856 — John Fowler makes further improvements to the steam–driven plough: two traction engines on opposite sides of the field drive a cable winch which pulls a balance plough forwards and backwards across the field (the cable plough system) 1900 — The first potato harvesters are ready for mass production in Germany potato harvesters Neu–Ideal Germany 1900 1907 — In Germany the first motorised plough is developed by Robert Stock and Karl Gleiche — In Germany there are 2,239 steam–powered plough traction engines in use 1911 — Mass production of tillage machinery (hay rakes, hay turners) starts at the International Harvester Company mbH in Neuss am Rhein with 700 employees 1910 — The first prototypes of motorised tillers and motorised carrier ploughs are tested in Germany 1922 — Harry Ferguson (Ireland/Canada/USA) develops the three–point linkage for optimum power transmission from the tractor to the plough Fordson with three–point linkage, 1922 1957 — A drilling machine developed in Norway uses centrifugal force to distribute the grains – now it is possible to work fast and calibrate precise quantities of seed