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)
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