How did John Deere’s steel plow help farmers?
By moving on from wood to steel, John Deere helped farmers scour the sticky soil more easily than ever before. While steel was extremely hard to find at the time, it was the perfect material to cut through this soil without the soil getting stuck to the plow.
What did John Deere’s plow do?
The plows being used by pioneer farmers of the day were cast iron, cumbersome and ineffective for cutting and turning the prairie soil. To alleviate the problem, Deere designed a plow of cast steel; it had a moldboard that allowed it to cut through heavy soil without having the soil constantly adhering to the plow.
What did John Deere say about the steel plow?
Though he and Andrus soon had a booming business, Deere never stopped refining his designs. As he used to say, "If we don't improve our product, somebody else will." In 1846, Deere had a Pittsburgh company roll the country's first cast steel plow. He also made a commercial innovation.
How did John Deere’s invention help farmers?
Deere had an idea, and in 1837 he introduced his “self-scouring” steel plow. The blade cut through the tough, root-filled earth, and its curved shape allowed the soil to turn over. Deere's invention became known as “the plow that broke the plains” and helped transform the Midwest into fertile farmland.
What are the benefits of the steel plow?
Steel plows succeeded in thick sod and rich, clay-like soil where iron and wood plows had failed. The steel plows shed the soil as the plow cut through it, rather than collecting it on the moldboard. The steel plow is also burnished by the grinding action of the soil, keeping it sharper and cleaner.
How did the plow change agriculture?
Thanks to the plow, early farmers were able to till more land faster than before, allowing them to produce more crops in a shorter time. The plow also helped to control weeds and bury crop residue.
What did the first steel plow do?
Using the steel from an old circular saw, he fashioned the first steel plow the next year. It worked as expected; the prairie grass fell away from the plow's smooth surface. The invention was a success and it proved to be a boon to corn farmers in the region.
Why was the steel plow so important?
The steel-tipped plow had a great impact on agriculture both in the United States and worldwide. It affected both agricultural productivity and the ability of farmers to open new farmland and break through more rocky soil than could be done with the cast-iron plow.
How did John Deere change agriculture?
Deere established a process for perfecting the plow, which led to the creation of a company that has invented or mass-produced not only plows but also cultivators, combines and tractors that have reshaped a large percentage of the Earth's landscape.
What did John Deere do?
John Deere was a blacksmith who developed the first commercially successful, self-scouring steel plow in 1837 and founded the company that still bears his name. Deere was born in 1804 in Rutland, Vermont. After his father was lost at sea when he was four years old, Deere was raised solely by his mother.
Why is John Deere important to agriculture?
The company's origin dates to 1836, when John Deere invented one of the first steel plows that could till American Midwest prairie soil without clogging. The following year, Deere established a business to manufacture and market the plow, and his own company was incorporated as Deere & Company in 1868.