The mechanisation of arable farming started with complex and cumbersome steam-driven ploughs. John Fowler's career as an agricultural engineer was inspired in part by a visit to Ireland in 1849 where he witnessed crop failure - and incredible human suffering - due to poor drainage. On his return to England, he set about developing a horse powered drainage engine that would overcome the failings of the mole plough, a device used for drainage that is still in use today to lay small diameter pipes. In the nineteenth century, however, the mole plough was hamstrung by the need for considerable tractive power, which limited the size of the plough.
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