F-A-R-M-I-N-G

Farming in the Middle Ages

Dec 7, 1400

Farmers didn't know how to fertilize their crops or how to rotate them. Every year they only cultivated one-third of their crops leaving the rest in hopes that they would regain their fertility and produce a better crop.Animals were also not a big part of farming, a full grown ox only grew to the size of a calf from today and a sheep often weighed less than two ounces.

16th-18th century farming

Dec 9, 1500

Oxen and horses were used for power, crude wooden plows, all sowing by hand, cultivating by hoe, hay and grain cutting with sickle

Seed Drill

Dec 9, 1701

Seed drills are used to sow seeds, before it was invented the seeding process was done completely by hand. The basic ideas for seeding drills were first developed in Great Britain and many were then sold to the United States before the United States manufactured one of their own. Jethro Tull invented his seed drill and is the best known inventer for mechanical planters.

1st cast iron plow

Dec 9, 1797

Charles Newbold patented first cast iron plow

Farming in the 1800s

Dec 7, 1800

Farming in the 1800s was very hard work. They used mule or horse drawn plows and hand picked all the weeds. Some of the tools they used were reapers and plows. Some inventions that were made to help them was the steel plow invented by John Deere, barb wire helped the fence around their fields and windmills were adapted to pump water from deep wells to the farmers.

Jethro Wood

Dec 9, 1819

Jethro Wood patented iron plow with interchangable parts.

John Deere's First Invention

Dec 9, 1837

In 1837, John Deere invented the first cast steel plow that was of great assistance to Great Britain. The large plow was made to cut through the tough ground and was called the "Grasshopper Plow". The plow was made of wrought iron and had a steel share that could cut through sticky soil without getting clogged. By 1855, John Deere's factory was selling over 10,000 steel plows a year.

Combine

Dec 12, 1838

The combine was first invented by Hiran Moore. It took several decades before the combine came into wide use. The first combines were pulled by 16 or more horses. Later on they were pulled by steam engines and was updated to cut and thresh over one hundred acers a day. Today's modern combine has manhy luxuries and have stereo systems, comfortable seating and air conditioning.

American Seed Drill

Dec 9, 1840

America began manufacturing their own seed drills and soon after seed planters for corn were invented.

First Grain Elevator

Dec 9, 1842

First grain elevator, Buffalo NY

Hand power- Horse power

Dec 9, 1862

Many farmers changed from hand power to horse power which characterized the first agricultural revolution.

Open geared gas tractors

Dec 9, 1913

Big open-geared gas tractors came into use in areas of exstensive farming

Light tractor

Dec 9, 1926

Successful light tractor introduced.

Organic Farming

Dec 8, 1972

IFOAM(International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement) is an organic farming organization formed in 1972. Organic farming is a form of farming that incorporates green manure, crop rotation , compost and biological pest control to maintain soil control. Organic farmers use fertilizers but they are restricted to use manufactured fertilizers, pseticides, herbicides, fungicides, livestock antibiotics and genetically modified organisms.