3000 BC |
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The Ancient Egyptians are using two–handled ploughs |
2000 BC |
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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 |
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ploughs with one handle, 2000 BC
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800 BC |
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Traditional scratch ploughs with an iron spike are being used in Mesopotamia |
500 BC |
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Seeder ploughs are being used in Mesopotamia (plough blades plus a seed hopper and mouldboard) |
100 AD |
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The Romans introduce the wheeled plough and rack (a cross–piece with iron teeth) to European farming |
1500 |
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Giovanni Cavallino (Italy) invents the first sowing machine of the modern age |
1665 |
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Joseph von Locatelli (Carinthia) links the plough to a sowing machine (sembrador) which plants the seeds a spoonful at a time |
1700 |
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The Flanders horticultural plough is developed with a concave mouldboard to reduce resistance |
1730 |
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Dutch blacksmiths develop an iron mouldboard with a screw–type winding mechanism in order to turn over the clods of earth completely |
1731 |
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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 |
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In Scotland John Small builds the first plough made completely of iron |
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Württemberger plough, 1800
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1800 |
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Newbold & Jefferson (USA) begin mass production of iron ploughs |
1830 |
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Ernst Alban (Germany) develops the first broadcaster |
1833 |
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John Lane develops the ploughshare made of mouldboard instead of cast iron |
1837 |
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In the USA John Deere develops the first self–cleaning plough |
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John–Deere–plough 1837
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1841 |
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The Pennach brothers (USA) patent the first seed drill based on construction principles still in use today |
1850 |
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The Wanzleber plough is introduced for deep ploughing for growing sugar beet |
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Introduction of the seed drill to Germany |
1853 |
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In England William Smith builds the first working steam–powered plough (traction engine, plough, winch, controlled by ropes) |
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German inventor Wilhelm Siedersleben constructs the first seed drill for sugar beet |
1856 |
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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 |
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The first potato harvesters are ready for mass production in Germany |
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potato harvesters Neu–Ideal Germany 1900
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1907 |
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In Germany the first motorised plough is developed by Robert Stock and Karl Gleiche |
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In Germany there are 2,239 steam–powered plough traction engines in use |
1911 |
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Mass production of tillage machinery (hay rakes, hay turners) starts at the International Harvester Company mbH in Neuss am Rhein with 700 employees |
1910 |
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The first prototypes of motorised tillers and motorised carrier ploughs are tested in Germany |
1922 |
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Harry Ferguson (Ireland/Canada/USA) develops the three–point linkage for optimum power transmission from the tractor to the plough |
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Fordson with three–point linkage, 1922
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1957 |
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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 |