Late 19th to Early 20th Century Spike Tooth Harrow

 This spike tooth, or peg tooth, harrow was used pulverize dirt clods and loosen soil before the new year's crop was planted. A farmer might have used this harrow to prepare the soil for planting a crop of clover, alfalfa, or another grass. A farmer might also have used this harrow after plowing in order to better prepare the soil surface for planting a row crop like corn. Farmers also used harrows to tear up unwanted plants before planting a crop, or to scatter dirt over grass seed that had been recently cast on the ground in order to quickly cover the seed with soil.
 If you look closely at the ends of this harrow, you might notice that it has latches on both sides so that it could be connected to other harrows, allowing a farmer to pull two, three, or maybe five harrows at one time. By attaching multiple harrows together, a farmer could cover more ground with each pass of his horses or tractor. To see a video of a metal spike tooth harrow in action, being used to prepare a garden, click or touch here.