If you want to write on the impact of machinery on American agricultural, the first equipment that should come to mind is the tractor. Whether you live in Lynden, Washington or somewhere else, you need to comprehend the impact the invention of the tractor had on farming. From the first steam engine driven machines to those powered by fossil fuels, tractors did more than plough the soil. They took over the farm and made agriculture into a technologically driven and expansive industry.
Enter the Tractor
Steam was the first power that made a tractor work. In the United States, the first tractors appeared in the 1880s. This coincided with the expanse of farming in the Midwest. John Froelich (1849 -1933) in 1892 in Iowa, however, is believed to have invented the first notable gas-powered one. The other claimant is the Charter Gasoline Engine Company of Sterling, Illinois in 1887. In general, while the Charter tractor was indeed the first, but as far as production goes, the award would go to Hart-Parr Company of Iowa. Several states also began to produce tractors during the early 1900s. In Washington, companies such as the Sumner Iron Works, like many foundries across the country, made ploughs and harrows but not tractors.
Yet, in spite of the increasing availability of tractors, farmers continued to use the older methods, relying on horses and ploughs to ready the fields for planting. It was not until World War II arrived that they had to change their approach.
World War and the Tractor
Most farmers considered tractors unreliable. They were reluctant to use them. The advent of WWI (1914-1918) was to change this view. With men and horses going to war, the farms had to turn to an alternative source of power. As a result, the tractor came into use. They needed these machines to ensure food supplies remained equal to the demand. When the war ended, so many lives had been lost; tractors were now needed to maintain the status quo. The tractor was definitely her to stay in Lynden, Washington and all across the American agricultural States.
The Tractor
When the first tractors made their way onto the market, the country was expanding its grip on the agricultural lands of the mid-west. The tractor was the first attempt at mass mechanizing this ancient backbreaking field. Yet, it was not until WWI that farmers had to embrace this type of equipment. The result was to be a revolution that has continued into the present. Whether you live in Lynden in Washington State or in Iowa, the Corn State, you recognize the many changes that technology in the form of the tractor has and continues to make.
