History of farm machinery presented By JERRY WEBB University of Delaware The agricultural revolu tion almost missed my home town in the Missouri Ozarks judging from the time lag between invention and use of modem fanning tools. I was reminded of this while thumbing through a lywood Feed Bins - Will Inst Outside Calf Hutches Wagon Beds and Gears Feed and Silage Carts Farrowing Crates Pipe and Panel Gates 2-16 Hole Hog Feeders Stihl Chain Saws STOLTZFUS WOODWORK RD Gap, PA Box 183 1 Mile North Rt. 897 From Gap WHY?? SHOULD I CONSIDER A FARM DRAINAGE INVESTMENT FROM COCALICO EQUIPMENT CO.? BECAUSE THEY ARE LAND IMPROVEMENT SPECIALISTS USING ALL S.C.S. APPROVED MATERIALS Call 215-267-3808 ASK ABOUT THEIR LASER BEAM GRADE CONTROL DRAINAGE MACHINE Drainage Pays High Returns Typical Annual Return Investment Land Drainage 21-46% (d) Farm Buildings 3-23% (d) Farm Land 11% (e) Stocks 7.4% (f) Bonds 6.1% (g) COMPARE Even with the conservative figures shown above, it’s obvious that land drainage should top farmers’ lists of investment priorities. COCALICO EQUIPMENT CO. V DRAINAGE & EXCAVATING RD#3 DENVER. PA. 17517 (215) 267-3808 publication called “Man, Machines and Land”. It’s a public relations effort of the Farm and Industrial Equip ment Institute that traces farm implements from sticks and stones to our pre sent modem equipment. The booklet describes in words and pictures some very important agricultural milestones and provides a time frame that to me was very useful. It was here that I realized how backward we were in our farming techni ques of the late ’3o’s and ear ly ’4o’s in our neighborhood. We fanned with hoi ses and steel-wheeled tra* ' rs, harvested wheat wit a binder and threshing machine and picked com by hand. Yet “Man, Machines and Land” says the first combine was invented in 1836, that rubber-tired trac tors came along in 1932, and commercial corn pickers were available in 1928. Modem agriculture evolv ed very slowly considering the amount of time man has been tilling the soil. Before recorded history he used sticks and stones to prepare the soil so it would grow By helping the 4'H and FFA, we’re helping all of us. In the Agn-Rnance Department of National Central Bank we finance projects for active 4-H and FFA mem! That’s because we believe that helping preserve the family farm is one of the best ways to insure a better future for us all And that involves working with our young people It’s important to give them guidance Instill the proper values Linda Shank daughter ol Mr i Mrs Layser N Shenk Manheim R D *4 with her Charolais Hereford steer purchased by NCQ at the Southeast District 4 H Baby Beal Show and donated to the Red Rose 4 H Baby Beef and Sheep Club annual banquet With Unda are Max M Smith Lancaster County Agent and Darvm E Boyd Agn Finance Dept »ers crops. Then a forked stick was used as a plow to stir the soil faster and easier. How many years, or even cen turies, this small change took isn’t known. But it is known that by 1500 B.C. Egyptian farmers were harvesting wheat with sickles and threshing it by tramping with oxen. Crops of that time mcluded wheat, rye and barley, plants that grew wild and were brought under cultivation. Records show wheat and barley under some form of tillage in Asia Minor around 7500 B.C. The plow, a farmer’s most important tool, developed to little more than a stick pull ed by oxen in the centuries before the birth of Christ. Plows remained that way for thousands of years. Ac cording to “Men, Machines and Land”, the fundamental And help them acquire the skills they need to be successful farmers The 4-H and FFA are working toward these goals And so, we support their efforts If you, or someone in your family needs money for a project, stop by and see us It just might help us all Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 4,1978—101 tools of farming - the plow, sickle and flail - and the basic crops, remained vir tually unchanged until American farmers started moving west. Sure there were refinements - settlers used cradles instead of sickles and plows had two handles and some metal parts - but the principles were the same. Seemingly simple developments revolutionized agriculture. For instance, the horse collar, invented about 1000 A.D., permitted farmers to use horses as sources of power. Some historians rate this invention along with the wheel in its importance to agriculture. Technology came hot and heavy in the early 1800’s as the agricultural revolution got underway across America. • 1809 - Jethro Wood patented a cast iron plow that worked well in Eastern soils. 1837 -- John Deere developed a plow with a polished steel moldboard that was tough enough to handle the virgin mid western soils • 1847 -- Although developed in 1831, the Mc- Cormick reaper did not gain acceptance until this year when McCormick moved from Virginia to Chicago and started manufacturing an improved reaper. • 1851 - A successful seed drill was developed that could be pulled by horses. This one development was said to have freed one man in three for other duties. Yields improved as much as eight bushels per acre. (Turn to Page 119) NATIONAL CENTRAL BANK Member FOIC/Federal Reserve System