When was the stump jump plough invented

The great increase of soil diffusion constant as plough depth increases points to the increasing importance of tillage erosion in degrading hilly areas.

Ploughs are used for primary tillage. Ploughs are of three types : wooden ploughs, iron or inversion ploughs and special purpose ploughs. 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. Methods of ploughing Continuous ploughing method. Round and round ploughing. One way ploughing. The plough turns over and breaks up the soil surface to create a seed bed to plant crops in.

Over time the disadvantages of ploughing however outweigh the advantages. The freshly disturbed surface of the earth is very fragile, especially when it rains, with soil erosion being particularly noticeable on slopes. That's right, before the introduction of modern snow plows, people had to use horse drawn plows , train snow blowers, and shovels to move the snow away from where they wanted to go.

The advantages of ploughing are: Loosening of soil can improve air circulation. The roots can penetrate deeper into the soil, thus holding the plant firmly. Ploughing enhances the water retention capacity of the soil. The stump jump plough eliminated the time consuming task of clearing land filled with stumps and stones and allowed mallee land in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, previously thought to be too difficult to work, to be cultivated.

Suggest a topic. Suggest a new Did you know? It was left to dry and then burnt. However, stumps remained in the ground and caused problems when ploughing. Grubbing the stumps was a time consuming and back-breaking exercise.

His plough was exhibited at the Moonta show in and won first prize. Initially, the plough was ridiculed. Designed by brothers Richard and Clarence Smith of Yorke Peninsula, the stump jump plough allowed farmers to cultivate the land without removing rocks and stumps. Along with the Ridley stripper another South Australian invention , the stump jump plough revolutionised farming worldwide.

Widespread land clearing in the s and s meant a vast number of mallee stumps were left in the ground posing an expensive problem to farmers wishing to plough their land. The stump jump plough was designed to allow the farmers to jump over the stumps in their way thereby protecting their machinery and avoiding the cost of having to remove each stump. Apprenticed to his brother Richard, a blacksmith at Port Wakefield and later a farmer at Kalkabury now Arthurton near Maitland he made the first stump jump plough under Richard's direction in and continued improving the design while farming at Kalkabury.