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An Encyclopedia of the History of Technology part 80. This one of a kind encyclopedia presents the entire field of technology from rudimentary agricultural tools to communication satellites in this first of its kind reference source. Following an introduction that discusses basic tools, devices, and mechanisms, the chapters are grouped into five parts that provide detailed information on materials, power and engineering, transportation, communication and calculation, and technology and society, revealing how different technologies have together evolved to produce enormous changes in the course of history | PART FIVE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY pattern that was created known as ridge and furrow is generally associated with mediaeval practice but in fact the method was employed well into the nineteenth century by which time other means of drainage were becoming available. Soil drainage Originally designed to turn the soil before seed bed preparation the plough has several other forms. Improvements in drainage can be achieved with a conventional plough see above but also by creating a ditch with a plough which has two mirror-image mouldboards attached side by side. In the early nineteenth century a highly specialized plough was developed specifically for draining clay soil. Clay being plastic can be moulded and if a solid cylinder is passed through it a hollow tube will be formed which will retain its shape for a considerable period acting as a drain for excess soil water. The mole plough as it was christened gained particular significance becauseJohn Fowler an engineer from Leeds in Yorkshire began to experiment with steam traction engines and winches to provide the power for this work. By the 1850s he had developed a two-engine system which was to provide a comparatively cheap and fast method of drainage with the result that hundreds of acres of cold wet land in Britain and elsewhere were brought into productive use. Extending the idea further he devised a system whereby the mole would drag behind it a string of clay pipes thus creating an instant and durable drainage system. Although the materials may have changed plastic tubes replacing clay pipes much of modern drainage is achieved in the same way. Fowler took the process a stage further by creating a conventional reversible plough with six furrows a side which could then be pulled backwards and forwards across the field turning the soil at each pass. Although these machines never ploughed huge acreages part of the significance of Fowler s achievement was that his were the first successful attempts to apply mechanical .
