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The John Deere Steel Plow

Settlers coming to Illinois in the early-to-mid 1800s found a land of rich, fertile soil and a level terrain, a farmer's dream. The prairie had another characteristic, though, that made plowing the land very difficult. That characteristic was the growth of thick, tall, prairie grasses that had thick, deep, tangled root systems. The traditional wooden plow, and even ironclad plows were not strong enough to turn a deep furrow.

By the 1830s, men of an inventive mind turned their talents to devising improvements to the plow. One of the most successful was John Deere, who in 1837 built a plow with a curved face that was highly polished. The polished surface would allow the overturned soil to slide across the surface of the plow. This prevented the plowshare from getting caked with damp clods of soil that the farmer had to stop and clean off every few yards.

Read more about John Deere on the John Deere Company Web site.