Oxen plowing

[Guest guest]

Pamho. AgtSP.

 

A few weeks back Bhakta Derek and I were speaking to Sarva Sidhi Ratha dasa,

a teamster from many years back. He indicated that he used to easily plow

one acre per day with a walking plow and a single team of oxen. He didn't

mention which breed. For only one team of oxen to do the work, there would

have to be lots of breaks.

 

Seems to me it's important to understand some things about plowing. There

are many different types of plowing and many different implements to plow

with. Depending upon the crop to be planted, plowing of a certain type is

necessary, or perhaps no plowing is necessary. In some cases simply

harrowing is sufficient. Implements for harrowing or shallow plowing

typically cover a wider track for a given ox-power than say a single bottom

plow that cuts deeply. There are various reasons for plowing such as:

turning under organic material to enrich the soil, aeration of the soil,

loosening compacted soil, elimination of weeds, etc. If you were planting a

deep rooted crop in compacted soil, you would need to plow deeply. If the

soil was regularly worked and relatively loose, it might not need plowing

and it might be sufficient to disc or harrow for weed control or to

establish planting furrows. Deep plowing is hard work for the oxen. A

multi-bottom plow might require several teams of oxen to pull, but it would

plow a wider swath. A disc or harrow which do not cut deeply, are easily

pulled by a single team and also cover a wide swath. So there are lots of

factors to take into account. You need to know about your crop and the soil.

Too often I see farmers who routinely plow deeply because they don't know

any better. Often it is unnecessary and sometimes counter-productive. If you

plow in such a way that organic matter is turned deeply into the soil but

your crop is shallow rooted, the plants will never be able to take advantage

of the material you turned into the soil. It will never get used until you

plant a deep rooted crop. Tilling the soil to loosen it and to contol weeds

is often necessary before planting, but tilling does not necessarily mean

plowing.

 

What are the soil conditions in Mayapura? Does it really require plowing?

What are the crops? What is the depth of their roots? I think in most cases

simply harrowing would be sufficient and this is easy work which does not

take nearly as long as plowing in most cases.

 

Hare Krsna.

Your servant,

Taraka dasa