Wawanesa: A Prairie Heritage - Agricultural History II

The farming methods and tools used by the first farmers in the area were ancient. The scythe and flail had been used by many peoples throughout the centuries. Farming began to change quickly as technology advanced and as farmers obtained enough money to buy mechanical implements.
One of the first changes was the replacement of the walking plow with the gang plow. The farmer could sit on the gang plow and control the depth of the blade. The new plow came with one negative aspect; many a farmer was tossed from his precarious perch upon the plow when the blade contacted a large rock.

A gang plow

Broadcasting seed, always a long and inefficient process, was replaced with horse drawn drill seeding. The drill, shown below, consisted of a trough to hold grain and drills to create a furrow. Seed ran down channels from the trough and fell behind the drills into the furrow. The chains dragged behind to cover the seeds with dirt. Seed flow was controlled by the operator who stood on the back of the machine plying the levers.

The seeder revolutionized crop planting. Speed was drastically increased, and with the addition of packers, seeds were covered with earth more effectively. Farmers had the ability to seed more land and have more time to do other work.

Two other implements that revolutionized farming during the late 1800’s were the threshing machine and the reaper.

The reaper was a horse-drawn mechanical device that cut grain into swathes. The reaper caused the scythe to fall by the wayside, likely without any protest from the farmers. Workers followed the reaper and bound the swath into sheaves with strands of grain. The sheaves were then gathered and piled into upright groups called stooks to facilitate drying.

Years later the reaper was replaced with the binder. The binder was essentially a reaper that bound the grain into sheaves instead of just cutting the grain and letting it fall. Each of these new inventions made harvesting faster and easier.

A binder

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The farming methods and tools used by the first farmers in the area were ancient. The scythe and flail had been used by many peoples throughout the centuries. Farming began to change quickly as technology advanced and as farmers obtained enough money to buy mechanical implements. One of the first changes was the replacement of the walking plow with the gang plow. The farmer could sit on the gang plow and control the depth of the blade. The new plow came with one negative aspect; many a farmer was tossed from his precarious perch upon the plow when the blade contacted a large rock.




			A gang plow
			A gang plow

Broadcasting seed, always a long and inefficient process, was replaced with horse drawn drill seeding. The drill, shown below, consisted of a trough to hold grain and drills to create a furrow. Seed ran down channels from the trough and fell behind the drills into the furrow. The chains dragged behind to cover the seeds with dirt. Seed flow was controlled by the operator who stood on the back of the machine plying the levers.

The seeder revolutionized crop planting. Speed was drastically increased, and with the addition of packers, seeds were covered with earth more effectively. Farmers had the ability to seed more land and have more time to do other work.
Two other implements that revolutionized farming during the late 1800’s were the threshing machine and the reaper.
The reaper was a horse-drawn mechanical device that cut grain into swathes. The reaper caused the scythe to fall by the wayside, likely without any protest from the farmers. Workers followed the reaper and bound the swath into sheaves with strands of grain. The sheaves were then gathered and piled into upright groups called stooks to facilitate drying. Years later the reaper was replaced with the binder. The binder was essentially a reaper that bound the grain into sheaves instead of just cutting the grain and letting it fall. Each of these new inventions made harvesting faster and easier.

		A binder

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