The Plow

The hand plow was the main farming tool used by the Okies. Before the Okies were forced to leave there homes, farming was the most prevalent job in the Oklahoma area. Hand plowing took a lot longer than the plows that are used in today’s farming industry. The plow also forced more manual labor than the plows that farmers use today. The hand plow shows how hard the Okies were willing to work to make money.

A hand plow is used to cultivate soil while preparing to plant seeds. These plows used by the Okies were called scratch plows. A scratch plow is a plow in which you use a handle and a rake on the end of the handle, and you drag the rake through the topsoil. The man is demonstrating the use of a scratch plow. The scratch plow was basically the only plow available at the time for the Okies to use on their land. ( Okies, Dust Bowl...)