Editing Scow (section)

{{Short description|Type of flat-bottomed barge}}
{{confused|A Scow}}
{{other uses|Scow (disambiguation)}}
{{More footnotes|date=August 2013}}
[[Image:Sailing Scow In New Zealand.jpg|thumb|right|A New Zealand scow around 1900]]

A '''scow''' is a smaller type of [[barge]]. Some scows are rigged as [[sailboat|sailing scows]]. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. Scows were in common use in the American [[Great Lakes]] and other parts of the U.S., Canada, southern England, and New Zealand. In modern times their main purpose is for recreation and racing; there are also [[garbage scow]]s for aquatic transport of refuse.