model of native-made Chinese plough

Model of native-made Chinese plough, 1925.

This is a representative type of the implement in use prior to the Christian Era, some of which may still be in use in the less developed countries. The early farming tools were often constructed from a suitably shaped branch of a tree, probably fitted with an ox-horn. These ploughs are unable to turn a furrow slice, but stirred the soil in a manner resembling the modern cultivator tine.

Of interest in this style of ploughs are the mortised wooden beam and handle. In China, the ploughs were often pulled by women, although the larger examples drawn by buffalo.