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Horse-drawn cultivators were introduced in the mid-19th century. By 1870 a farmer with two horses could cultivate as much as 15 acres (6 hectares) a day with a machine the shovels (blades) of which straddled the crop rows. In the 20th century, with tractor power substituted for horses, the number of rows a single machine could cultivate grew to equal the capacity of multiple-row planters. Typical shovels are short, narrow, slightly curved, pointed steel pieces with polished front surfaces that dig into the soil in proportion to the pressure applied. The kind and number used per gang (in a single mounting) depend on crop and soil characteristics. Rotary hoes, used for early cultivation of corn, cotton, soybeans, potatoes, and small grain, have as many as 12 sections, each mounting several hoe wheels, with the whole machine up to 40 feet (12 metres) wide. When the rotary hoe is drawn backward, it gives a treading action that crushes clods and pulverizes stalks.
