John Fowler (agricultural engineer)
John Fowler was an English agricultural engineer who was a pioneer in the use of steam engines for ploughing and digging drainage channels. His inventions significantly reduced the cost of ploughing farmland, and also enabled the drainage of previously uncultivated land in many parts of the world.
Fowler traction engine
Fowler ploughing engine
Fowler ploughing engine
Winch and steering detail of Fowler ploughing engine
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