From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A
plow
or
plough
is a
tool
or
machine
used for several jobs, including farming and snow removal. It is pushed or pulled across the
ground
.
Human
power or other
animal
power was usual in past centuries; in the 20th century plows are mostly pulled by
tractor
s. The plow lifts and turns
dirt
and makes two
lines
of dirt behind it. Turning the soil buries
weed
s, brings more
nutrient
s to the top, and loosens the soil. Crops grow better in land that has been plowed.
Early in the
agricultural revolution
, simple hand-held digging sticks or
hoes
would have been used in areas with good
soil
, such as the area near the
Nile River
in
Africa
. At the Nile, the annual
flood
makes the soil better by
rejuvenating
it, to create places where seeds could be planted. To help crops grow in areas where floods were rare, the soil had to be rejuvenated in a different way. This is when plowing was first used, and hoes were the first plows.