Wheel plow

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Wheel plow

A wheel plow or cart plow is a plow that has the tension on a wheel frame.

The clod-turning, heavy wheel plow is a technical further development of the light hook plow from prehistoric times . In addition to a main plow, it is characterized by a front frame with wheels and an axle.

Advantages over other plows

Iron was used to make plows. The reversible plow had a wheel frame at the front, behind it sat the plow knife , which cut the ground vertically, pushed strips of it upwards and turned them around. The iron ploughshare was able to penetrate deeper into the ground than the hook plow, which was used up to then, and whole clods were lifted as a result. The assembled under the plow beam moldboard enabled turning over the raised globules in one operation. The arable soil was thus loosened more for later sowing. The nutrients were mobilized and brought to the surface through improved plowing. The interaction of wheel plow and three-field farming led to higher agricultural yields and favored population growth in the Middle Ages .

history

Already in the 1st century BC The use of an animal-drawn wheel plow (Latin carruca ) is documented in the Roman Empire . Due to the Germanic-Roman economic relations, the wheel plow was used in the provinces between the Lower Rhine and the Middle Danube at the end of the Roman period and used by immigrating Germanic tribes in agriculture. From the 8th century onwards, it gradually supplanted the light hook plow made of wood (Latin aratrum ) from the Neolithic . He favored the introduction of three-field farming north of the Alps.

The basic shape of the reversible plow was preserved until the 19th century. The French word charrue (plow) and the German Schar , namely ploughshare , are derived from the Latin carruca for plow . In France, the hooves that are cultivated with the wheel plow are also called charrue .

construction

The wheel plow consisted of a front part with wheels and an axle, the so-called front plow, and a main plow. The wooden plow tree (Grindel) was equipped with a holding device. An iron crowd and a movable moldboard (Riester) for breaking up the clods were attached to this.

technology

With the wheel plow, the force of the draft animals was used more for breaking up the earth and less for pulling as with the hook plow. It took three to four oxen or two horses and two people to pull the heavy wheel plow. The use of the plow therefore required the possession of sufficient draft animals. If these were not available, other forms of management such as chopping were used. The pulling technique and pulling power was considerably improved by the development of the frontal yoke for ox and the collar for horses. The tensile strength of a horse with the use of a collar could be increased four to five times compared to harnessing with straps around the neck and chest. Precise handling was required to guide the animals. Strength and skill had to be used to lift and turn the plow. The animal pulling power was made more usable for plowing the soil through the wheel plow.

literature

  • Wolfgang Stürner: Technology and Church in the Middle Ages . In: Mohammed Rasem, Ansgar Stöcklein (ed.): Technology and culture in 10 volumes . Springer, Heidelberg 1990, ISBN 978-3-540-62257-4 , pp. 161 .
  • Schlipfs: Schlipfs popular handbook of agriculture. Award-winning typeface. 18th edition. Paul Parey publishing house, Berlin 1917, pp. 36–37.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Martin: The main teachings of modern agriculture. A guide to teaching in low and medium agricultural schools . Verlag Eugen Ulmer , Stuttgart 1891, p. 114 ( archive.org [accessed November 11, 2019]).
  2. ↑ Life in the Middle Ages: From the hook plow to the wheel plow. Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, 2008, accessed on November 9, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Martin Scheufens: Busy Middle Ages. In: Spektrum.de. Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, December 27, 2013, accessed on November 9, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Anne-Marie Dubler: Plow. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland (HLS). Historical Lexicon of Switzerland, September 28, 2010, accessed on November 9, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Verena Postel: The Origins of Europe: Migration and Integration in the Early Middle Ages . Kohlhammer W., Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-17-018405-3 , pp. 132 .
  6. ↑ Christian Eduard Langethal : History of the Teutschen Landwirthschaft: From the oldest times to Charlemagne . Luden, 1847, p. 55–56 ( google.de [accessed November 9, 2019]).
  7. ^ Jean-Marc Moriceau: Rural Societies in Germany and France, 18.-19. Century . In: Gerard Beaur, Christophe Duhamelle, Reiner Prass and Jürgen Schlumbohm (eds.): Max Planck Institute for History . tape 187 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003, ISBN 978-3-525-35185-7 , pp. 86 .
  8. ↑ From hook plow to wheel plow: Advances in soil cultivation. BFW GbR, accessed on November 10, 2019 .
  9. ^ Peter Bretscher: Agricultural implements II (plows). In: Leaflets of the Federal Office for Civil Protection, Protection of Cultural Property. Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP, Department of Cultural Property Protection, 2003, accessed on November 11, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Hartung: 11th century as the “era of new beginnings” in Europe. In: milestones of European civilization . Ed .: Dirk Ansorge, Dieter Geuenich and Wilfried Loth. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 978-3-89244-438-1 , p. 54 .
  11. ^ Christian Rohr: Agriculture in the Middle Ages: Changes in Agriculture in the High Middle Ages. In: Association of Upper Austrian Museums. Association for the Support of Museums and Collections in Upper Austria (VOMUS), 2009, accessed on November 9, 2019 .