The first stone age fields were square because farmers had to plow the soil twice, to prepare it for sowing. When ox-drawn plows were envented this was no longer necacary and fields became longer. For centuries arable land was largely made up of long strips farmed by families to feed themselves.

Once the soil has been prepared the sowing begins. In the day before machines seeds were scattered by hand. Much of it was lost because it fell among seeds whose shoots could later choke the crop, or birds ate it before it could be covered up.

People first began to tame and bread cattle and horses thousands of years ago in the stone age. Later about 3500 B.C. ox-drawn plows created the original fields. The first wheeled carts pulled by oxen or horses meant farmers could move much greater loads-and trade trade on commercial bases. Oxen were the first animals to pull the plow.