USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -John Deere saves the day with a new invention! In 1837, Deere figured out a way to make things easier for western farmers by constructing a plow that was made of polished steel. Deere designed his first steel plow by taking an old steel saw blade and polishing it up.

Detailed explanation-2: -John Deere developed the first successful self-scouring steel plow in Grand Detour, Illinois. The plows being used by pioneer farmers of the day were cast iron, cumbersome and ineffective for cutting and turning the prairie soil.

Detailed explanation-3: -The earliest ploughs with a detachable and replaceable share date from around 1000 BC in the Ancient Near East, and the earliest iron ploughshares from about 500 BC in China. Early mould boards were wedges that sat inside the cut formed by the coulter, turning over the soil to the side.

Detailed explanation-4: -The original steel plow had only one shank but over time, John Deere continuously added shanks to improve the machinery. When this piece of equipment was first introduced, it was the first plow made of steel-with all the others having been made of wood.

Detailed explanation-5: -The impact of the steel plow was economic as well as agricultural. It allowed for increased and more efficient food production and the expansion of farmers’ usable land. All of these brought more economic prosperity to farmers throughout the nation, but primarily in the Midwest.