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Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology--Number 17
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES IN THE COLLECTION OF
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY
by
JOHN T. SCHLEBECKER
[Illustration]
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS
City of Washington
1972
SERIAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
The emphasis upon publications as a means of diffusing knowledge was
expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In his
formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry articulated a program that
included the following statement: "It is proposed to publish a series of
reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the
changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge." This
keynote of basic research has been adhered to over the years in the
issuance of thousands of titles in serial publications under the
Smithsonian imprint, commencing with Smithsonian Contributions to
Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series:
Smithsonian Annals of Flight
Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology
Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics
Smithsonian Contributions to Botany
Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences
Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology
Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology
In these series, the Institution publishes original articles and
monographs dealing with the research and collections of its several
museums and offices and of professional colleagues at other institutions
of learning. These papers report newly acquired facts, synoptic
interpretations of data, or original theory in specialized fields. These
publications are distributed by mailing lists to libraries,
laboratories, and other interested institutions and specialists
throughout the world. Individual copies may be obtained from the
Smithsonian Institution Press as long as stocks are available.
S. Dillon Ripley
Secretary
Smithsonian Institution
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office
Washington, D.C. 20402--Price 70 cents
Stock Number 4700-0209
Contents
Introduction 1
The Use of Farm Machinery in America 2
Catalog of Agricultural Implements and Machines in
the Collection 6
Index to the Catalog 51
Publications on Farming by the Staff of the
Division of Agriculture and Mining 58
Agricultural Implements and Machines
in the Collection of the
National Museum of History and Technology
The Author: John T. Schlebecker is curator in charge, Division of
Agriculture and Mining, Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian
Institution.
Introduction
The art and science of agriculture embrace most intentional human
efforts to control biological activity so as to produce plants and
animals of the sort wanted, when wanted. Rubber plantations, cattle
ranches, vegetable gardens, dairy farms, tree farms, and a host of
similar enterprises all represent human efforts to compel nature to
serve man. Those who undertake agriculture have had, from time
immemorial, a variety of names, not all of them complimentary. The
people involved in attempted biological control have been called
farmers, planters, ranchers, and peasants. Farmers carry on a
complicated business in which they use a variety of tools, implements,
and machines. They also employ land, chemicals, water, plants, and
animals. Their business, however, focuses on living things. No matter
how crude their attempts, or how uncertain their successes, those who
try to grow living things rank as agriculturalists.[1]
[Footnote 1: Of course, the definition excludes brewers, distillers,
biological supply houses, and others, such as zoo curators, who manage
living things. Agriculture takes place on a piece of land widely and
commonly known as a farm.]
For the most part, a museum cannot show the essential biological aspects
of agriculture. Agricultural production involves the farmer in the
course of nature in its seasons, and in the peculiar laws of living
things. In these respects, agriculture stands rather apart from
transportation, manufacturing, and artistic industries where the tools,
machines, and raw materials remain fairly inert as men work on them.
Machines move but do not live, and therein lies the major difference
between agriculture and the other arts. Farmers deal with plants and
animals but the museum can show only the things a farmer uses as he
accommodates to and regulates nature. Some of the objects, in
themselves, give a fair idea of how the farmer used them. Most people,
after all, know about edged blades and digging tools. Nearly anyone can
grasp what a man might do with a scythe or a plow. Even the working of a
modern reaper needs only a little explanation. But museums cannot well
show cross-breeding of plants and animals. Museums seldom can show the
results of that cross-breeding. Bags of fertilizer can be put on
display, as can vials of penicillin, and jars of herbicide. Although
some may find these interesting, such items show little in and of
themselves.
Unfortunately, the things that cannot be shown in any easily
intelligible way surpass in importance the items that can be shown. The
sheep shears, which anyone can understand, represent less to the farmer
than do the sheep. Sheep shears, no matter how sophisticated and no
matter how necessary, do not explain sheep husbandry. The shears tell
little about the wool industry, and nothing much about sheep breeds. And
so on through the list of agricultural enterprises.
Museums must collect and exhibit the tools, implements, and machines
which farmers use in their business. These items, however, seldom make
up the core of real agricultural activity. The catalog here presented
shows something of the range of items that farmers use and that can be
preserved and shown. The variety nearly equals the volume. Most museums
try to avoid duplication. Even so, few museums manage to collect a
continuous series of things showing any one line of development. The
discontinuity of farm objects on hand virtually rules out the telling of
a coherent and complete history of agriculture. Nevertheless, the museum
can show something about the major technological developments in
agriculture. The evolution of the plow, the reaper, or the tractor can
be suggested even if not fully illustrated. Hitting the highlights has
to suffice.
The full history of technological change also involves several social
and economic conditions.
First, changes in implements, tools, and methods result from the
accumulation of knowledge. Device builds upon device: first came the
wheel, and then, much later, the tractor.
Secondly, the potential user of the device must feel a need for it. The
new method or device not only must save him work but must clearly
increase his well-being. If any device or change merely increases the
wealth of someone else (a tax collector or a landlord for example), the
farmer seldom will adopt the new technology.
Thirdly, since, at first, the new technology almost invariably costs
more than the old, the user must have or be able to get the capital to
buy and use the newer devices and methods.
Of these conditions for technological change, only the cumulative nature
of the knowledge can be shown by the objects. Even here, however,
missing objects make it possible to present only the most obvious
changes, and then not all of them. Still, seeing the things once
used--no matter how crude or how few--can sometimes help us understand
the way changes took place. Also, this knowledge sometimes can help us
guess how other changes will take place:
The sequence of inventions also depends upon the changing needs of
a society. Needs and circumstances vary more than do degrees of
talent. Thus when need and knowledge merge, inventors quickly
appear. Indeed, several men in several places are likely to work on
the same problems at the same time, and they often solve it in
almost identical fashion. Nearly simultaneous inventions or
discoveries occur with astonishing frequency in the history of
technology.[2]
[Footnote 2: "The Combine Made in Stockton," Pacific Historian, no. 10
(Autumn, 1966), p. 14.]
The Use of Farm Machinery in America
The part of America that was destined to become the United States
started its history at the very time when the parent European
civilization began to make major breakthroughs in science and
technology. Thus, Americans became the automatic beneficiaries of the
achievements of others. Because of peculiar opportunities and needs,
Americans could and did push on to unique achievements. Nowhere,
however, did this building on the past appear as early, or as
impressively, as in the agricultural sector of the economy. American
inventors of farm implements made important strides earlier than those
in any other field. In turn, American farmers made more and better use
of discoveries and inventions.
From the 1650s onward Europeans expanded their activities in all fields
and in all directions. By that time Europeans had already discovered the
New World, and had seized or bullied most of the Old. European trade and
industry increased, and as these grew so also did population and
urbanization. People multiplied, and an increasingly greater proportion
of them began to live in towns and cities. Simultaneously, the Europeans
increased in wealth; indeed, most of their activities created more
wealth. The ever-increasing number of people called for more food, and
for changes in European farming. The Europeans' growing wealth also
allowed them to buy luxury items from around the world: silk and spice
and everything nice. The goods came not only from the Far East and
Africa but also from the New World. When Europeans began to settle
America, they almost at once had the advantages of a large and growing
metropolitan market in western Europe. This market provided
opportunities for wealth, but only if the American farmers developed
appropriate commodities and produced them at reasonable prices.
The English, Dutch, Swedes, French, and Spanish settled in North America
at trading and exploring stations. So located, they could direct the
flow of products to Europe. The English chiefly sought rare products
such as gold and spices, and they sent back furs. The Dutch concentrated
on furs. All European pioneers, however, had to feed themselves. This
took a bit of doing, which at first involved a merging of European
technology with Indian crops and methods. Later, the settlers adapted
European crops and animals. In spite of starving times in almost every
colony from Virginia to New England, the new Americans at least mastered
the art of feeding themselves.
European technology used animals for draft and employed plows, harrows,
and similar implements. This technology fit European crops better than
it fit American crops. Thus, European implements and draft animals did
not appear until comparatively late. As long as they depended chiefly on
Indian crops, Europeans simply substituted iron hoes for stone hoes, and
iron axes for stone axes. But methods such as girdling, slash and burn,
and the rest, came almost directly from Indian technology. The Pilgrims
of Plymouth Plantation went 12 years without a plow; Virginians went
almost as long. The hoe of corn culture served well enough to keep men
alive. Hunting and fishing, of course, supplemented the food supply, as
it did for the Indians.
From north to south the story was largely the same in the 17th century.
Everywhere the new Americans pursued a subsistence agriculture which
supported some other major economic activity. Pennsylvania developed
possibly the most flourishing subsistence farming. The commercial
production of tobacco, an American crop with American methods and uses,
began early in Virginia and Maryland. This specialty developed
commercially almost exclusively in the upper South. Farmers and planters
of the lower South had hesitantly begun rice culture, but as the 17th
century ended men in the Carolinas still found hides and furs the most
rewarding commodities. Meanwhile, rapid changes took place in the
European metropolitan centers, and in the West Indian islands. The
growth of population in both places created consumers for more and
cheaper food. Markets for American foods definitely began to increase as
the 18th century got under way.
Europeans, of course, primarily wanted European foods rather than exotic
Indian crops. The foods also had to be comparatively nonperishable and
easily transported. Grains, particularly wheat, and processed meat
(hams, salt pork, and such) especially met European preferences.
Commercial production of these commodities compelled American farmers to
embrace the best European technology insofar as that technology fit the
American scene. The plants, animals, methods, and tools all derived from
Europe. Contrary to a common European view at the time, the immigrants
did not bring the worst available methods to the New World. Nor did the
Americans allow any deterioration of stock or plants without good
economic reasons.
Most European criticism about American farming centered on things of no
consequence to American farmers, who were selling in a world market.
True, Americans tended toward slovenly cultivation, but niceness of
method mattered little if the land yielded an abundant exportable
surplus. Americans paid less attention than Europeans to fertilizer, but
Americans at first had less need for it. Livestock, in spite of nearly
continual importations from Europe, tended to decline from a European
standpoint. Still, the animals yielded meat of a quality suitable for
export. The hardy American animals could survive in spite of casual
care. Americans had few barns and sheds, but the world market for meat
did not demand barns, stalls, and fancy feeding. American dairy cows
yielded ridiculously low volumes of milk, butter, and cheese, but dairy
products, after all, served only the resident Americans. The corn- and
mast-fed hogs of America provided ham that was equal to any in Europe.
If the European consumer bought American food, the American farmer
thought it pointless to consider the comfort and emotional well-being of
his animals.
New Englanders tended to concentrate on animals, the middle Atlantic on
grains, the upper South on tobacco, and the lower South on rice and
indigo. The Revolutionary War disrupted the marketing from the farmer's
view, but the major commercial commodities remained largely unchanged in
the years immediately after the war. Indigo declined and then
disappeared as a major export commodity, but cotton almost at once
replaced it.
In the 19th century men everywhere made great technological advances. In
America, the advances took place in a sort of reciprocal action with
three major historical series and events dominating the story: the
westward movement, urbanization, and industrialization.
The greatest westward expansion in American history took place during
the 19th century. American farmers and stockmen conquered, and almost
entirely settled, a continent. They did this in a single century,
1801-1900. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before. Starting from
a thin line of people on the eastern seaboard (with a few incursions
across the mountains as of 1800), farmers and herders pushed into a
nearly empty land, dispossessed the Indians, and exploited the country.
And in course of time the American pioneers wanted and received
political organization. California entered the Union in 1850, the Plains
states mostly in the 1880s, and more states, such as Arizona, New
Mexico, and Oklahoma, came into the Union in the 20th century.
At the same time, a nation that was weak and underdeveloped in 1801,
had, by 1900, become the world's leading industrial nation. From
virtually no industry in 1801, America rose to leading industrial power
in 1900, with more railroads and more manufactured goods per capita than
any other nation. Involved in the industrialization, and importantly so,
was the farm implement and machinery industry. Factories everywhere
supplied farmers with the sophisticated tools and machines of the new
agriculture.
In these years urbanization also went forward rapidly. Cities of the
east grew fantastically, and even in the interior cities rose from
wilderness outposts to gigantic metropolises. Within one man's lifetime
Chicago increased from 350 people in 1830 to 1,099,000 in 1890.
Simultaneously, tremendous developments in transportation kept the
nation and its economy tied together. All of these developments had a
profound influence on farming and farmers. The rich cities provided ever
greater markets for the farmers' produce. The transportation system,
rapidly moving farm commodities, made farming profitable in remote
regions far distant from the coast. Farmers also felt the advantages of
the return flow of goods and services: the mail order catalog, the
industrially made reapers and threshers, and countless other items. City
people made a countless range of devices for farmers--from steel plows
to steam engines.
Meanwhile, as these events altered the life of the farmer, a burst of
activity took place in invention and discovery. These activities had a
delayed but considerable impact on farm methods and technology. The list
of inventions and discoveries could hardly fit in this narrative, but
this catalog of items reflects fairly well what men accomplished in the
19th century. The changes included such diverse elements as the
invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, the introduction of
Mexican Upland cotton in 1805, the discovery of the cause of Texas fever
in cattle in 1889, and the invention of the internal combustion tractor
in 1892. These and many other achievements substantially changed the
farm enterprise in two major directions: first, advances in technology
allowed farmers to do more in less time; second, discoveries in science
allowed farmers to increase the yield from the land. Farmers got more
from each acre, plant, and animal.
Farmers could use the savings in time brought by better implements and
new machines to increase the amount of land farmed and the number of
animals cared for. Presumably, the farmer could also use the saved time
for greater leisure. In fact, however, they usually used the extra time
for more work. In the 20th century they often used the saved time for
outside employment. Farmers did this in the 19th century, but not so
commonly as later. Greater man-hour efficiency gave the farmer more time
to devote to managing his enterprise, to keeping records, and to
studying his business.
Technological efficiency also allowed farmers to use more land and more
animals. The average size of farms steadily increased across the
century. Furthermore, the new machines and the pure-bred livestock cost
money which could be most profitable only if the farmer specialized in
one, or at most two, types of enterprise. So the greater efficiency
created by technology impelled farmers to greater specialization, and
with specialization came even greater efficiency. Anyone who specializes
will likely be more efficient because of the mastering of skills. He
will also have a minimum of other cares to distract him. Of course, for
the consumers, foreign or domestic, greater farming efficiencies
resulted in abundant food at comparatively low cost.
Plant and animal importation, improvement of breeds, and discoveries in
genetics, soil chemistry, the use of fertilizers, and in controlling
plant and animal diseases all helped the living things which form the
basis of farming yield. Grain farmers not only had to have a wheat which
yielded well but a wheat which resisted the attacks of nature. For
example, Turkey Red wheat, introduced in 1873 by Mennonites from Russia,
not only survived drought and yielded well but provided the genetic
elements for newer breeds of wheat. The farmer not only wanted
good-producing meat cattle, such as the Herefords, but had to control
diseases and predators which killed the animals. Sick animals do not
grow properly or, in the case of dairy animals, give much milk. Steady
advances in disease control for both plants and animals brought fewer
losses and greater productivity to farmers.
The 19th century also brought scientific discoveries in both plant and
animal nutrition. Fertilizer and soil chemistry made great advances
through scientific experiments, at first by farmers and later by
government servants. The first experiment station in the modern era
began in Connecticut in 1875, and in 1887 the Congress established such
stations in every state in conjunction with the agricultural Land Grant
colleges. Scientists at many of the stations also made discoveries in
animal nutrition. For example, as a result of animal feeding experiments
E. V. McCollum discovered vitamins A and B at the experiment station in
Wisconsin in 1915.
None of these scientific advances left much residue in the form of
artifacts for museums, but the reality of the changes should not be
obscured by the lack of objects on exhibit. Even so, some of the related
equipment survived. For example, the centrifuge used in the butterfat
test, discovered in 1890 by Stephen M. Babcock, survived in several
forms. Manure spreaders and tree sprayers, reflective of advances in
biochemistry, also survived. But these only suggest the more important
biological control activities for which these machines and tools served
merely as agents in some way.
The 20th century introduced Americans to total war. World Wars I and II
demanded the total mobilization of all resources by all contenders. In
both conflicts America became the food reservoir of the Allies. From a
technological view, the wars engendered a level of prosperity which both
allowed and encouraged farmers to adopt new methods and devices. The
principal technological change in farms was the widespread adoption of
the internal combustion tractor, first used in 1892. Inventors and
manufacturers gradually but constantly improved tractors along with the
various devices attached to them. Most notable were the corn picker, in
1909, and the cotton picker, in 1942. (Dates are for commercial
production in each instance.) Farmers found both machines impracticable
until a power source independent of the ground wheel had been developed.
More than anything else the tractor and its related equipment finally
set men free from the worst drudgery of farming. It also set many
farmers free from the need to farm at all.
The tractor and its equipment accomplished several other remarkable
things, some obvious and some not so obvious. First, it allowed the
farmer to get rid of horses and mules, and these animals steadily
declined--to such an extent that in the 1960s the census did not even
bother to count them. As a result of this decline, land that farmers had
used to raise feed for animals could grow food for people or fodder for
dairy animals. The amount of land thus released for other needs finally
amounted to perhaps 60 million acres, and maybe even more. The change
took place with increasing rapidity into the 20th century.
Also, the tractor sharply reduced labor needs for the major crops of the
United States. Even dairying, least susceptible to this sort of
improvement, felt the impact of the tractor in such things as harvesting
fodder and storing silage by running loaders off the tractor
power-take-off. Since the very founding of agriculture men had
discovered only one way to prosper in farming. The farmer had to exploit
somebody or something. Animals, serfs, slaves, tenants, sharecroppers,
or whatever, including the farmer's family and farm, had at various
times been exploited on the farmer's way to success. After the age of
machinery, however, the farmer tended to exploit the machine instead of
other people or things. People had to leave farming, but in the long run
they benefited from their removal. The machine had set them free. Chief
of the machines was the gasoline tractor.
The influence of science and technology inside a free society may have
been even more profound than seems at first glance. The farming of the
20th century, with its chemicals, genetics, machines, and all, required
not only vast infusions of capital but brains and a considerable
knowledge. Farmers had to be literate at the very least. Elitist
systems, where one group of people get educated and the others get
worked, could not accomplish much in the modern agricultural world.
Furthermore, notions of two kinds of education--one for the better sort
who think, and another for the inferiors who do the work--could and did
seriously impede the development of a modern agriculture. The
backwardness of most of the world, the poverty of the underdeveloped
countries, stemmed in large part from the impediments created by an
ignorant population.
A country like the United States with its highly technical and
scientific farming could not afford, simply could not endure, limited
educational opportunities for its people. Neither could it long endure
any class structure which placed farmers in an inferior position; for
when men feel inferior because of their work they tend to shift to some
other task, leaving the despised work to those who cannot avoid it. A
highly developed agriculture in the hands of the truly inferior, the
stupid and uneducated, would simply collapse. America, the land of
plenty, had to maintain a high level of education open to all and a
society where men reached status, at least partly, by effort and talent.
In 20th century America the comparative social and economic equality
continued, in large part, because the level of technology and science
used in America demanded it. This equality may be one of the most
important consequences of the technological and scientific advances in
agriculture during the years 1607-1972.
Catalog of Agricultural Implements and Machines in the Collection
In the following catalog the items are listed numerically in the order
in which the museum received them, with the earliest first and the
latest last. This arrangement permits expansion and reissue of the
catalog simply by adding new entries; and the user of the catalog can
easily find everything acquired in any given year. In effect, the
catalog thus presents an historical account of the development of the
museum collection. Following the item's title appears the National
Museum accession number (USNM number); year of accession, if known;
description; and donor.
The index to the catalog has several major categories of
cross-referenced entries. In addition to the general object class, such
as "Tractor," it includes use-entries, such as "Plant husbandry," the
names of donors, vendors, and those who arranged for the gifts.
1. Korean Sketch of Farming in the Late 18th Century. USNM 19048; 1887.
Korean farmers plowing and breaking clods of earth. Painted by Han Chin
U. Gift of G. Goward, Washington, D. C.
2. Korean Sketch of Threshing in the Late 18th Century. USNM 19048;
1887. Korean farmers threshing rice. By Han Chin U. Gift of G. Goward,
Washington, D. C.
3. Korean Fishing Scene of the Late 18th Century. USNM 19048; 1887.
Koreans using a fish trap. By Han Chin U. Gift of G. Goward, Washington,
D. C.
4. Scene of Korean Farmers Chopping Tobacco in 18th Century. USNM 19048;
1887. Korean farmers chopping tobacco after it has been cured. By Han
Chin U. Gift of G. Goward, Washington, D. C.
5. Scene of Korean Farmers Working on Farm Buildings in Late 18th
Century. USNM 19048; 1887. Korean farmers doing carpentry work,
including roof repair. By Han Chin U. Gift of G. Goward, Washington, D.
C.
6. Scene of a Korean Blacksmith at Work in Late 18th Century. USNM
19048; 1887. A Korean blacksmith working at his forge and anvil. By Han
Chin U. Gift of G. Goward, Washington, D. C.
7. A Korean Farrier Shoeing a Horse in the Late 18th Century. USNM
19048; 1887. By Han Chin U. Gift of G. Goward, Washington, D. C.
8. Centrifugal Cream Separator, 1868. USNM 23744; 1890. The first
centrifugal cream separator used commercially in the United States. The
Deerfoot Farm at Southborough, Massachusetts, used this machine,
patented by D. M. Weston of Boston. Gift of Deerfoot Farm Company,
Southborough, Massachusetts.
9. Model of Blount's Daisy Plow, 1890. USNM 23873; 1891. This model of a
one-horse plow shows Blount's Daisy steel plow as pictured in the
catalog of Henry F. Blount. Gift of Henry F. Blount, Evansville,
Indiana.
[Illustration: Figure 1.--Views of Old Colony Strong Plow, about 1732.
(Catalog No. 10.)]
10. Old Colony Strong Plow, 1732. USNM 34769; 1899. In 1732 Peter Hardy
of Raymond, New Hampshire, made this plow for Henry Lamprey of
Kensington, New Hampshire. Gift of J. P. Lamprey, Kensington, New
Hampshire.
11. Winnowing Basket, 1799. USNM 37441; 1901. A winnowing basket, or
pan, made of willow woven over wide sprints; elliptical in shape, with a
frame of thick rods. Noah Rogers bought this pan in New York in 1799 or
1800. Gift of Frank A. Brown, Savage, Maryland.
12. Model of Flail Threshing Machine, 19th Century. USNM 46812; 1906.
The frame of this wooden model is 7-1/2 inches high and 5 by 6 inches,
rectangular. The levers, 14 inches long, project from the frame and
strike the floor much as a flail would. Pins set in the shaft of a hand
crank act as cams, raising the flails which then fall to the ground by
gravity. Gift of United States Department of the Interior.
13. Model of Gallic Grain Header, about A.D. 70. USNM 46812; 1906. A
wooden box on wheels, 12 by 5 inches, has metal teeth set at the front
end. Shafts extend to the rear, where an ox is yoked. The forward
movement of the cart causes the grain to lodge against the teeth, which
pulled the heads off. The grain then fell back into the box. Gift of
United States Department of the Interior.
14. Model of Ten Eyck Grain Harvester, 1825. USNM 46812; 1906. Model is
made of wood and iron, 15 inches by 8 inches. Long knives on a drum were
rotated by belt shaft on traveling wheels. Long projecting points
gathered the straw. Iron shafts at the rear allowed animals to be
harnessed to push the machine. James Ten Eyck patented the harvester on
November 2, 1825. Gift of United States Department of the Interior.
15. Model of Manning Grain Harvester, 1831. USNM 46812; 1906. Model of
horse-drawn reaper measures 16 inches by 8 inches, with a wheel diameter
of 6 inches. Projecting iron points at the front end gather the grain,
and vibrating knives, powered from the hob of the wheel, cut the grain.
Patented by William Manning on May 3, 1831. Gift of United States
Department of the Interior.
16. Model of Boyce Grain Harvester, 1799. USNM 46812; 1906. This model,
made of wood and iron, is 15 inches long, 6 inches wide, and 5-1/2
inches high. Six rotating knives radically positioned on a vertical
shaft rotate by level gearing on the wheel axle. The whole is mounted on
a two-wheeled cart with shafts for draft animals. English patent number
2324 granted to James Boyce in 1799. Gift of United States Department of
the Interior.
17. Model of Newbold Plow, 1797. USNM 46812; 1906. This model of a metal
plow, with wooden beam and handles 14 inches long, represents the plow
patented by Charles Newbold on June 26, 1797, the first American patent
for a cast-iron plow. Moldboard, share, and landside were cast in one
piece. If the plow broke, it became totally useless. Not until the parts
were made in separate pieces did the iron plow come into wide use. The
cast iron broke more readily than did the later wrought-iron plows. Gift
of United States Department of the Interior.
18. Winnowing Basket, about 1750. USNM 54513; 1912. Used by the three
Richardson brothers, the first settlers of Woburn, Massachusetts. The
threshed grain could be winnowed in two ways. It could be poured slowly
from the edge of the basket in a breeze, where the heavier grain fell to
the ground while the chaff blew away. More commonly, the farmer tossed
the grain into the air and caught it in the basket, while the chaff blew
away. This rectangular basket measures 50 inches by 30 inches. Gift of
Mrs. Clarissa W. Samson, West Medford, Massachusetts.
[Illustration: Figure 2.--De Laval centrifugal cream separator of 1879.
(An earlier version of Catalog No. 19.)]
19. Centrifugal Cream Separator, 1914. USNM 56432; 1914. Carl Gustav De
Laval of Sweden invented this successful continuous-flow cream separator
in 1879. Loaned by De Laval Separator Company, New York, New York.
20. Model Tractor, 1919. USNM 64098; 1919. No particular manufacturer
seems represented by this spring-driven toy, which merely represents
tractors of around 1919. The heavy-duty field tractor has four widely
spaced iron wheels. Gift of Toy Manufacturers of the United States, New
York, New York.
21. Model Tractor with Plow, Harrow, and Roller, 1919. USNM 64098; 1919.
Spring-driven, toy tractor. The plow, harrow, and roller, as well as the
tractor itself, represent a typical machine of the period. The product
of no particular firm seems to have been copied. Gift of Toy
Manufacturers of the United States, New York, New York.
22. Meat Grinding Machine, about 1810. USNM 110326; 1930. Hand made of
wood and iron, with six parts held together by two iron bolts. The
cutting edges are set in the sides of a box parallel to each other and
about one-quarter inch apart. A shaft, set in the center of the box, is
turned by a crank. The horizontal shaft has iron slugs, graduated from
coarse to fine, set into the shaft in a helical pattern. The meat enters
through the square hole at the top and the iron teeth press it against
the knife edges; thus, the meat is cut smaller and smaller until it
comes out a small hole in the bottom of the machine. The device is very
ancient in design and could still be found in common use in the United
States as late as 1860. Gift of R. C. Fairhead, Rushville, Nebraska.
23. Carey Plow, about 1815. Received from Division of Ethnology in 1931.
A Carey plow with a slot in the beam for a colter. The landside handle
passes through the beam. Usually, the beam tenon passes through a
mortise in the handle. Possibly made by the farmer. Replication of a
common and popular American plow of the 18th century. Donor not known.
24. Hoe, about 1830. USNM 115122; 1931. Wrought-iron, handmade hoe made
in Ohio and attributed to very early 19th century. The hoe's blade is 5
inches wide and its handle is 6 feet long. Gift of Mrs. Grace M.
Swiggett, Washington, D. C.
25. Reaper Sickle Bar, about 1847. USNM 115878; 1931. Sickle bar from a
McCormick reaper. The blade style suggests a comparatively sophisticated
stage of development, most surely after 1833. David Cromer of Seneca
County, Ohio, used this sickle bar on a McCormick reaper. The blade is 5
feet long and 5 inches deep. Gift of Frank Hepp, Berwick, Ohio.
[Illustration: Figure 3.--Gail Borden's vacuum pan of 1853, used to make
condensed milk. (Catalog No. 26.)]
26. Borden Vacuum Pan, 1853. USNM 119188; 1932. The original vacuum pan
used by Gail Borden in 1853 for condensing milk by concentrating it in a
vacuum. He patented the process on August 19, 1856. Borden borrowed this
pan from nearby Shaker farmers who had used it for canning. Borden did
his early work at New Lebanon, New York. Borden at first failed to get a
patent because the process was not deemed useful. There is nothing
exceptional about this pan except that Borden used it. Gift of Borden
Milk Company, New York, New York.
27. Model of McCormick Reaper, 1834. USNM 121105; 1932. Scale model of
the grain reaper patented by Cyrus McCormick on June 21, 1834. Roderick
Davis constructed the model from the specifications of the patent. Gift
of Charles G. Abbot, Washington, D. C.
28. Model of McCormick Reaper, 1845. USNM 124615; 1933. Scale model of
the reaper patented by Cyrus H. McCormick on January 31, 1845. Roderick
Davis constructed the model from the specifications of United States
patent 3895. Gift of McCormick Historical Association, Chicago,
Illinois.
29. Model of McCormick Reaper, 1847. USNM 124615; 1933. Cyrus McCormick
patented this reaper on October 23, 1847. Roderick Davis built the model
from specifications of United States patent 5335. Gift of McCormick
Historical Association, Chicago, Illinois.
30. Wheeled Plow, 1769. USNM 127755; 1934. Wheeled plow made by Matthew
Thumb in 1769 at Palatine, New York, for Henry Kloch. It has an almost
flat, wooden moldboard; wrought-iron share and colter; a two-wheel truck
in front for the beam; and one handle. The large wheel ran in the furrow
and the small wheel on the land. The wooden parts of the hitch and the
draft chain have been restored. The plow is probably a copy of a German
one. Gift of Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome, London, England.
31. Model of Grain Separator, 1875. USNM 129836; 1934. Working model of
a grain separator for a threshing machine made by Daniel Garver. The
model represents inventions covered by three patents issued to Daniel
and Cyrus Garver: the grain separator, patent 114546, issued May 9,
1871; the fan blast regulator, patent 114547, issued May 9, 1871; and
the bag holding device, patent 161501, issued March 30, 1875. Loaned by
Miss Melchora Garver, Hagerstown, Maryland.
32. Waldron Cradle Blade and Snead, about 1840. USNM 129789; 1934. The
blade has holes for attaching the cradle. The wooden frame, or snead,
supports the cradle fingers, now missing. Gift of Sydney S. Stabler,
Washington, D. C.
33. Settling Can Cream Separator, about 1890. USNM 129789; 1934. Cooley
brand creamer, used for separating milk from cream prior to churning.
The milk and cream were set in a cool place for several hours while the
cream rose to the top. The farmer drew skim milk off through a spigot at
the bottom, after which the cream could be drawn off. Used on farms
before the hand centrifugal separator came into wide use. By 1890, in
butter-producing areas, the centrifugal separator had already caused the
disuse of the Cooley and similar separators. Gift of Sidney S. Stabler,
Washington, D. C.
34. Wooden Hayfork, about 1879. USNM 137459; 1936. Hayfork of
second-growth white oak, made by John Heiss, Lima Township, Lagrange
County, Indiana. It was used for feeding stock and for handling clover
and short straw of all kinds. Gift of E. W. Heiss, Washington, D. C.
35. Wooden Measure, 1845 or earlier. USNM 137960; 1936. Small, round
wooden measure used in 1845 by William Heiss, Lagrange County, Indiana,
to feed small grain or mill feed to livestock. William Heiss was a
grandfather of the donor, E. W. Heiss of Washington, D. C.
36. Half-Bushel Measure, about 1829. USNM 137960; 1936. Made and used by
William Heiss on his farm in Lagrange County, Indiana, about 1829.
Probably used in local barter and trade in such items as beans, corn,
and seeds for various crops. Loaned by E. W. Heiss, Washington, D. C.
[Illustration: Figure 4.--Cotton planter, about 1895. (Catalog No. 37.)]
37. Wooden Drum Cotton Planter, about 1895. USNM 14557; 1937. All wood
except for a duckbill furrow opener in front and two duckbill row
coverers in the rear, both made of metal. The drum of soft wood measures
20 inches in diameter and 13 inches wide. About the center of the drum
is a wooden, metal-rimmed wheel which ran down the furrow, keeping the
seeder on course. Near the wheel, and all around the drum, are 13 evenly
spaced holes through which the cotton seeds fell into the furrow as the
drum revolved. No counting or tripping mechanism was involved, so the
device undoubtedly wasted seed. A mule or a horse pulled the planter and
the farmer walked behind it. James Nelson of Greenwood, South Carolina,
made this planter about 1895. Gift of Ruben F. Vaughn, Honea Path, South
Carolina.
38. Cast-Iron Plow, 1854. USNM 150396; 1938. A cast-iron plow made by
Stephen McCormick of Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1854. The plow
embodies features covered by patents issued to Stephen McCormick on
February 3, 1819, January 28, 1826, and December 1, 1837. Plows of this
type, made chiefly between 1826 and 1850, involved interchangeable
parts. The first patent precedes that of Jethro Wood by seven months,
but the principle of interchangeable parts had been worked out and
patented as early as 1813. Gift of Leander McCormick-Goodhart, Silver
Spring, Md.
39. Mehring's Milking Machine, 1884. USNM 148530; 1938. Original working
model of a hand-powered milking machine built by William M. Mehring in
1884. Mehring subsequently improved and patented the machine in 1892.
The improved machine did not work well because it created continuous
suction for the length of the stroke. The successful application of
intermittent suction, necessary so as not to injure the cow, was worked
out in Scotland in 1902. Gift of Mrs. Bessie D. Mehring, Keymar,
Maryland.
40. Hand-Powered Milking Machine, 1892. USNM 148530; 1938. Practical
hand-pump milking machine designed and built in 1892 by William M.
Mehring, who was granted patent 488282 on December 28, 1892. This
milker, which injured cows when used rapidly, represents an effort to
solve the problem of machine milking, although the use of human power
also limited its usefulness. Gift of Mrs. Bessie D. Mehring, Keymar,
Maryland.
41. Ox Yoke, 1838. USNM 148675; 1938. Edward Scoville (1813-1887) used
this ox yoke when driving an ox cart from Trumbull County, Ohio, to De
Kalb County, Indiana, in 1838. Until well after the Civil War, oxen
pulled most of the wagons going west, and this yoke is typical of all
used in the westward migration, in the North as well as in the South.
Gift of Reign Scoville, Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
[Illustration: Figure 5.--John Deere plow, one of the three plows made
by Deere in 1838. (Catalog No. 42.)]
42. Deere Plow, 1838. USNM 148904; 1938. John Deere made this plow, with
steel share and polished wrought-iron moldboard, at Grand Detour,
Illinois, in 1838. Joseph Brierton bought it and used it on his farm,
and the Deere Company obtained it in 1901. It is one of three plows made
by John Deere in 1838, and presumably it is identical to his first steel
share plow, made in 1837 at Grand Detour. Called the singing plow, it
proved especially effective in prairie country after the sod had been
broken because the earth did not adhere to the share and moldboard. The
implement could also be used as a breaking plow. Gift of Deere and
Company, Moline, Illinois.
43. Model of Sulky Plow, 1899. USNM 156653; 1940. Working model of the
Hy-Lift sulky plow invented by Niels O. Starks of Madison, Wisconsin,
and made by the Fuller and Johnson Company around 1900. Starks received
patent 616984 on January 3, 1899. The land wheel on this plow
automatically raises and lowers the plow at the end of a furrow. Gift of
S. O. Strucksberg, St. Joseph, Missouri.
44. Barbed Ribbon Wire, 1879. USNM 159858; 1941. Specimen of barbed wire
made with saw teeth cut out of twisted ribbon wire. Gift of B. F.
Arthur, Winchester, Virginia.
45. Chinese Plow, date unknown. USNM 161555; 1941. This primitive,
one-handled plow has an iron hook on the end of the beam. Apparently it
had an iron shoe for a share, which is now missing. This style of plow
is typical of the kind used in rice-growing sections of China. Gift of
United States Department of Agriculture.
46. Carey Plow, about 1820. USNM 161555; 1941. The share and landside of
this small cultivating plow are in one piece of wrought iron with
sockets for the left handle and the standard bar share. It has a flat
wooden moldboard. Used in Northumberland County, Virginia, until 1855 or
1860, for cultivating corn and other row crops. Gift of United States
Department of Agriculture.
47. Plow, about 1790. USNM 161555; 1941. Only the share, colter, and
beam of this plow are original, the rest having been reconstructed. The
original parts came from Northumberland County, Virginia. Gift of Edwin
Brown, Brown's Store, Virginia.
48. Old Colony Strong Plow, 1740. USNM 161555; 1941. The moldboard of
this plow is made of wood and covered with thick pieces of iron. The
plow has a lock colter and wrought-iron share fitted on the end of a
wooden beam. Pelatiah Kinsman of Ipswich, Massachusetts, had the plow
made in 1740. It represents the New England open-drawn plows of that
time. Gift of United States Department of Agriculture.
49. Old Colony Plow, 1783. USNM 161555; 1941. This plow resembles the
Old Colony Strong Plow (No. 48) but it is not as large and the moldboard
is covered with uniform, narrow iron straps. Farmers used this plow for
cross-plowing after initial breaking by the Strong Plow and for
cultivating. It probably was drawn by oxen. John Foster, a corporal in
the Revolutionary Army, had this implement made at Ipswich,
Massachusetts, in 1783. Gift of United States Department of Agriculture.
50. Tavenner Plow, between 1810 and 1860. USNM 161555; 1941. The
Tavenner plow has a cast-iron moldboard and a wrought-iron share and
colter. Plows of this type were made and used widely in Loudon County,
Virginia. Gift of United States Department of Agriculture.
51. Smith Plow, about 1800. USNM 161555; 1941. This sod-turning plow has
its landside, moldboard, and colter in separate pieces. It was built on
the lines of a plow patented by Robert Smith in 1800. Gift of United
States Department of Agriculture.
52. Gideon Davis Plow, about 1825. USNM 161555; 1941. Gideon Davis
received a patent in 1825 for his improvements of the Newbold plow
patented in 1797. In tests in 1825 to determine the efficiency of
different plows, the Davis plow took first place in a competition with
five others. Gift of United States Department of Agriculture.
53. Woodcock Plow, about 1848. USNM 161555; 1941. The Woodcock plow has
separate landside, moldboard, share, cutter, and point. This plow has
the first reversible point. Woodcock plows were first used in 1847, in
Maryland. Gift of United States Department of Agriculture.
[Illustration: Figure 6.--Eagle plow, about 1849. (Catalog No. 54.)]
54. Eagle Plow, 1849. USNM 161555; 1941. The Number 25 Eagle Plow, which
first appeared in the catalog of the J. Nourse Company in 1849, became
the standard plow of New England after the middle of the 19th century.
Its moldboard was based on a design worked out by Thomas Jefferson. Gift
of United States Department of Agriculture.
55. Mexican Plow, about 1890. USNM 161555; 1941. This Mexican bull
tongue plow has an iron shoe on the point and it closely resembles
Spanish plows of the 16th century. It was intended to be pulled by an ox
and to break the soil for only three or four inches at the most. Gift
of United States Department of Agriculture.
56. Butcher's Saw, 1879. USNM 130572; 1942. This saw is part of a set of
butcher's tools (Nos. 56-67) presented to William H. Hoover by the
Washington Light Infantry Corps in 1879. All the tools have a silver
presentation plate on the handle and have nickel plating. A. Nittinger,
Jr., of Philadelphia, made the set. Gift of N. Auth Provision Company,
Washington, D. C.
57. Splitting Cleaver, 1879. USNM 130572; 1942. Butcher's tool. Gift of
N. Auth Provision Company, Washington, D. C.
58. Cleaver, 1879. USNM 130572; 1942. Butcher's tool. Gift of N. Auth
Provision Company, Washington, D. C.
59. Meat Axe, 1879. USNM 130572; 1942. Butcher's tool. Gift of N. Auth
Provision Company, Washington, D. C.
60. Knife, 1879. USNM 130572; 1942. Butcher's knife. Gift of N. Auth
Provision Company, Washington, D. C.