A plough or plow is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or steel frame with a blade attached to cut and loosen the soil. It has been fundamental to farming for most of history. The earliest ploughs had no wheels; such a plough was known to the Romans as an aratrum. Celtic peoples first came to use wheeled ploughs in the Roman era.
Traditional ploughing: a farmer works the land with horses and plough
13th century depiction of a ploughing peasant, Royal Library of Spain
Ancient Egyptian ard, c. 1200 BCE. (Burial chamber of Sennedjem)
Farmers using a plough. Akkadian Empire seal, circa 2200 BCE. Louvre Museum
In agriculture, a harrow is a farm implement used for surface tillage. It is used after ploughing for breaking up and smoothing out the surface of the soil. The purpose of harrowing is to break up clods and to provide a soil structure, called tilth, that is suitable for planting seeds. Coarser harrowing may also be used to remove weeds and to cover seed after sowing.
A spring-tooth drag harrow
Crumbler roller, commonly used to compact soil after it has been loosened by a harrow
Clydesdale horses pulling spike harrows, Murrurundi, New South Wales, Australia
The mould-board plow leaves distinct furrows (trenches) across the field.
