History of American Farm --The Pageant of the Farm

[Music] future historians will certainly call the middle Decades of the 20th century the most difficult eventful and exciting years in the world's and the nation's history but if they are thorough historians looking deeper than the spectacular scientific and political events that have shaken the world they will call these same years the time of the Great American Agricultural Revolution for during the past 20 years agriculture has progressed further than it had in the previous 200 during most of the long centuries since men started to grow food instead of living off of what they could find they did it the hard way toiling long hours and doing much of the work by hand then came the machine and the farmer substituted horsepower for Manpower and he made progress very soon after horsepower gave way to engine power and with motor-driven equipment came breathtaking advancement today the Agricultural Revolution has become so complete and the changes and benefits so thoroughly accepted the modern farmer May easily forget that many of these wonderful things did not exist when he was a boy things like hybrid corn Contour farming good roads tractors rural electricity and modern functional farm buildings to help us appreciate our Rich agricultural Heritage let's pause and review the pageant of the American [Music] Farm [Music] the early settlers came to America for many reasons religious and political Freedom adventure and probably the most important of all for land of their own the land was free but taming it was not easy from the great virgin forests they literally carved out their farms and hunted the Wild game they needed to supplement their limited Farm produce in colonial America 94 out of 100 people lived in rural areas there was land enough for everyone and the typical Farm family was almost totally self-sufficient farm buildings met the simplest requirements a house for the family and a barn to shelter everything else that needed cover oxen slow and plotting were the chief beasts of Burden with a useful future as beef and shoe leather later in the central colonies well-kept acres and durable Bank barns spoke for the settler strong faith in the land but they didn't Overlook the possibility that colorful signs and symbols might exert some influence over seasons and crops now Field Stone and massive Timbers were combined to build strong durable two-level barns that provided shelter for livestock beneath a large Mau and thrashing floor in the southern colonies where the climate was mild and production was chiefly field crops few farm buildings were needed the land was held in large tracks and much of the wealth It produced was lavished on the plantation Manor as the population increased Farmers pushed westward in search of still more land to the middle west the Great Plains and finally over the Rockies they went by stage coach Riverboat and covered wagon they moved with nothing but their families clothing and linens a few crude implements a little stock and lots of faith in the new land as they settled they modified the Traditions they brought from the east and south to fit the climate and terrain of the new country thus the bank of the bank Barn was replaced with a ramp on flat prair land and the modest New England box grew far beyond its original size the new Western farmer had broad Rich acres and fine buildings but he still relied on hand power and oxen at this time horses were relatively scarce and had more dignified uses the coming change to horsepower was not anticipated nor recognized when it started to happen in 1857 in fact at the dedication of Michigan agricultural College the governor spoke of the light and easy cradle the handsomely turned three-time Pitchfork and the light bright hole used by Michigan farmers but in that same year 10,000 steel plows were beaten out by blacksmiths around the country when the Civil War came a million country boys left farms and Fields and for four bloody years thousands of farms were left untended but after amatics horses which had charged in Cavalry raids drawn artillery queson or wagon trains turned up on Peaceful Farms all over the North and South more machines were invented and they required power horsepower additional Acres were put under cultivation to feed this new found power and the horse barn became a fixture in the slowly growing complex of American farm buildings industry and trade stimulated by the war contined to expand drawing more people to towns and cities creating a new market for Farm produce to meet this demand Farmers began to specialize dairying was an example the first milk deliveries direct from the farm were made from cans measured in Dippers into the Crocs or kettles provided by the consumer sanitation was poor and the quality questionable by today's standards but it was a steep forward and the demand for fresh farm products increased to keep up with this demand Farmers began to feed silage to keep cows in production throughout winter months meanwhile inventive Minds were working on the use of greater power to increase Farm output they first harnessed Steam and for years smoke and Flame were the symbols of a Rich Harvest but these huffing monsters were soon replaced by the internal comb buusan engine perfected both by the pressure to mechanize during World War I and the national urge to own and drive an automobile the early gas tractor was no thing of beauty but it rapidly rode the horse off the farm and as it tirelessly crossed and recrossed Fields it released many acres that had been used strictly to grow feed for the horse the farmer thus found a new land Frontier right on his own Farm These Acres were badly needed for by 1920 the demand for farm produce had increased 33% since the turn of the century increasingly stringent Public Health laws banished the flyblown milk Croc and sanitary requirements for milk production induced many a Dairy Farmer to turn to concrete a relatively new material for new Farm structures a separate milk house provided a clean sanitary area for cooling and bulking milk for the the city market and the old horse barn was remodeled into a clean Dairy Barn for growing herds by the early 1940s the population of our country had soared to more than 132 million people most of them accustom daily to the freshest most abundant supply of food in the world by this time the American Farm was almost completely mechanized and this was a good thing because in this decade a second World War Drew Millions under arms and with our allies overrun and hard pressed America became The Granary as well as the arsenal of democracy but now with no new land to press into production America for the first time had to test its ability to increase productivity without expanding its Frontier so the Frontline farmer intensified his agriculture made all operations more efficient in the f field New Machinery did the work of many hybrids and Commercial fertilizers unlocked the productive capacity of the soil many Farm plants were overhauled and augmented to accommodate new methods of stock raising more animals were fed in confinement to release green pasture lands for cultivation in cereal and much needed bread crops paved feed yards were installed to combat mud and disease cutting down stock loss and conserving feed new buildings were planned and built to provide clean healthful surroundings for the stock as the farmer moved more and more toward the confinement of livestock the need for labor saving equipment in the barnyard became evident this started with mechanization of feeding and cleaning operations and developed into full automation of certain Farm chores that had once been predominantly hand labor today Dairy poultry and livestock Farmers provide their birds and animals with a highly productive environment confined within limited spaces the modern Dairy Barn has become a symbol of Sanitation and outdoor improvements such as paved yards have become essential facilities in the whole job of keeping cows clean new concrete masonry milking barns are a standard feature of many modern farm daies cows are milked rapidly and with a minimum of effort in kitchen clean rooms in many the milk is piped directly from milking machine to cooling tanks in the nearby spotless milk house from cow to Consumer Untouched by human hands today's milk production is the highest in quality total confinement of poultry has placed emphasis on creating a favorable environment for the birds building materials for modern poultry plants are chosen for for their insulative value durability and construction economy some of these buildings are designed to take advantage of the long low rays of the winter sun others reduce heat loss by eliminating Windows completely equipment for feeding watering ventilation and removal of manure are part of a total plan to increase production reduce labor and cut costs where hog are raised in confinement concrete makes sanitation and Disease Control positive and easy the sanitary Central farrowing house is the core of today's efficient hog plant baby pigs enter life in a pen that has been thoroughly cleaned and sterilized to kill worms parasites and disease germs from birth to Market they grow on a concrete floor that is cleaned regularly some hog Lots even have their own swimming pools disproving the old idea that Hogs have to wallow in filthy mud to enjoy their short productive lives beef cattle confined in the dry lot are fed hormones antibiotics even tranquilizers to increase their weight gains a concrete platform permits the animals to get to the feed in all kinds of weather and they gain faster when firm footing is provided shelters the cattle are built with open fronts to permit use of power cleaning equipment and natural fertilizer regularly collected from concrete floors and yards retains its full nutrient qualities because nothing is permitted to drain and filter away in muddy Earth today all around the farm concrete is performing a 100 different functions many of which were not dreamed of 30 years ago but the future of concrete on the farm has even more spectacular possibilities the late Frank Lloyd Wright usually a generation ahead of his contemporaries may not have looked too far ahead with this design for a farm structure based on the current trend of livestock confinement in smaller and smaller areas his Farmstead of the future is one integrated structure combining Farm dwelling storage buildings and livestock shelter under a single roof this concentrated time and land saing farm plant is a far cry from the crude buildings in which the American Farm was born our forefathers had unlimited land resources and a very small population besides themselves to feed the very Act of clearing their land of woods and boulders created materials for their simple shelter structures today with no new land to turn but with a population increasing by millions each year and soon to Triple itself in this Century Farmers must find far more intensively they must convert to factory like production methods and to factory like farm buildings a great start has been made in buildings like this Western milking barn where a herd of 460 is milked 80 at a time there are no columns under this continuous thin shell concrete roof which spans 40 ft and also encloses a milk house and a feed storage area an Eastern pman raises his flock in a 500t long house its concrete floors and walls arranged in solar design for year- round economy in heat control opens onto a service building where poultry products are processed packed and shipped to markets hundreds of miles away here is one of seven new poultry houses being built by a Midwest poultry Razer who is achieving centralized efficiency at a lower cost with modern buildings this Southern pork producer confines his hogs for from birth to Market on Acres of concrete year round farrowings in temperature control buildings assure a steady supply of marketable pork during all seasons of the year a farmer in the southwest obtained two strong durable and firesafe storage buildings at very low cost by shooting concrete from a gun over metal hutman sections this produced two Thin Barrel shells with usable storage space from the floor to the top of the Arches this nation wide Trend calls for use of widely available economical building materials that will assure the utmost in sanitation fire safety and durability these are the qualities that label concrete as the mark of the modern farm

Channel: King Rose Archives

Views: 61,415

Keywords: horse drawn ploughs, cotton fields, tractors, Farm (Building Function), plantations, covered wagons, Great plains, stagecoach, riverboats, oxen, carriages, buggies, harvest, pitch forks, hoe, blacksmith, forge, Civil War cannon, cows, milking, steam powered tractors, Mercer Raceabout, gasonline powered tractors, Tractor, History, Cow, Farmer, Pig

Id: 1Wd46MRkNWU

Length: 15min 49sec (949 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 30 2015