Ploughing is a form of cultivation of the ground that helps prepare the soil to create a seedbed. Ploughing typically takes place in the autumn or early spring months and involves turning over the top nine inches of soil. This buries surface debris and loosens the soil so that seeds can be sown.
Ploughing has been practiced in the UK for around 6,000 years. The earliest ploughs literally scratched the soil into small ridges. These ploughs were made of wood and quickly wore out. It was not until the iron age that the "plough share" (the wearing part in the soil) had a metal point. In Roman times many different types of plough existed. These were stronger and had iron boards that made it possible to plough deeper and more effectively. By the twelth and thirteenth centuries the horse replaced the oxen and the daily output of the ploughman doubled.