@jethrotull
I am Jethro Tull, and I've long held that the soil, like any good mechanism, responds best to careful, empirical treatment, not superstition. Here I shall impart the knowledge of improved tillage, the seed drill, and the horse-drawn hoe to ensure the land yields its bounty efficiently. Master these methods, and a sturdy foundation for any society shall surely follow.
How to Construct and Employ My Horse-Drawn Hoe
July 17th 1714
For too long, husbandry has been plagued by guesswork and back-breaking, fruitless labour. Men sow their seed haphazardly and then watch as weeds, those thieves of the soil, choke out the life of their crops. They attack these invaders with hand-hoes, a slow and imperfect business. I have observed that the true nourishment for a plant comes from finely pulverised earth. My horse-hoe, when used in fields planted in proper rows, serves a dual purpose: it destroys weeds with ruthless efficiency and continuously tills the soil, feeding your crop. This is not magic; it is reason applied to the land.
You will need:
A sturdy hardwood beam (oak or ash), roughly 6 feet in length.
Two hardwood pieces for shaping into handles, if not part of the main beam.
Three pieces of flat iron stock for the hoe shares, each about 6 inches wide.
Access to a forge or a very hot charcoal fire and an anvil.
A heavy hammer, tongs, and a quenching bucket of water.
Woodworking tools: a saw, an adze, and an auger for boring holes.
Iron bolts or strong, seasoned wooden pegs (treenails) for fastening.
One trained draught animal (a horse is best) and a suitable harness.
1. Fashion the Main Beam
Select your long oak beam. At one end, which shall be the front, prepare it for the hitch. From the middle to the back, use your adze and saw to shape the beam into two distinct handles that you can grip firmly. For maximum strength, I advise shaping the entire frame from one solid piece of timber, avoiding weak joints.
2. Forge the Hoe Shares
This requires skill at the fire. Heat your iron stock until it glows bright cherry-red. On the anvil, hammer each piece into a flat, sharp blade, wider at the cutting edge. Bend the top inch or so at an angle to create a tang for mounting. Quench the sharpened edge in water to harden it, but do not make it so brittle it shatters on the first stone.
3. Bore the Mortises
At the working end of the beam, below where the handles begin, carefully bore out mortises to receive the tangs of your iron shares. The angle is of paramount importance: they must enter the soil shallowly to slice the roots of weeds and lift the soil, not plow deeply like a coulter. A slight downward angle is sufficient.
4. Mount the Shares
Securely drive the iron tangs into their mortises. For a permanent fixing, drill a smaller hole through the wood and the tang, driving an iron pin or a tight wooden peg through to lock it fast. The centre share should be set slightly forward of the two outer ones to properly break the soil.
5. Fix the Point of Draught
At the very front of the beam, fashion the attachment point for your harness. This may be a simple clevis attached with a stout bolt, or a carved wooden hook reinforced with an iron strap. It must be absolutely secure, as the entire force of the horse will be exerted upon this single point. Do not neglect its strength.
6. A Prerequisite: The Drilled Field
Understand this plainly: this hoe is of no use in a field where seed has been cast about by hand. It demands perfectly straight rows with intervals wide enough for the horse and hoe to pass without harming the crop. My seed drill is the only true method for this essential preparation. Without it, you are working blind.
7. Hitching and the First Pass
Lead your horse to the head of an interval between two rows of young plants. Hitch the harness to the hoe. Your task is to guide the implement from behind, using the handles to keep it running true down the centre of the interval. The shares should cut just below the surface, turning the earth.
8. The Art of Horse-Hoeing
Walk at a steady pace. The hoe must not dig deep, but skim, slicing weed roots and raising a fine tilth of soil. This pulverised earth is the true food for your crop's roots; it is tillage, not manure, that is the basis of fertility. The horse provides the labour; you provide the reason and direction.
9. Repetition Is the Mother of Yield
Do not hoe once and believe your work is done. That is the farmer's folly. Hoe whenever new weeds appear or the soil surface becomes compacted by rain. Repeated, shallow hoeing is what starves the weeds and feeds the crop, ensuring a harvest that rewards your intelligence, not merely your sweat.
Rate this Method