On a Farm

On a farm

The plow and irrigation have tamed more farmland than any other farming inventions. People first grew crops in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, but planting, harvesting and watering them by hand was a slow process.

In Egypt and India, nearly 4,500 years later, farmers prepared the ground for planting with wooden plows pulled by oxen. The Egyptians invented a machine called a shaduf, which helped them take water from the River Nile to irrigate or water their crops. Barbed wire was another great farming invention. Farmers used it to divide huge areas of Africa, North America and Australia into separate wheat, cattle and sheep farms in the 1800s. These enormous new farms revolutionized farming. Farmers now needed faster ways of harvesting grain, wool, meat and milk. The old methods were soon replaced by machines that did the work of hundreds of people.

Spade

Wooden spades with iron blades were invented by the Romans about 2,000 years ago.

Barbed wire

In 1867, American Lucien Smith invented barbed wire and made it possible for farmers to fence off their lands.

Cows and barbed wire. Photo by Elena.

Four jobs in one

In 1884, Australian Hugh McKay invented the horse-drawn harvester. It combined cutting, threshing, winnowing and bagging wheat grain into one operation. Combine harvesters with gasoline or diesel engines are now used 24 hours a day, with lights at night, to harvest the crops.

Watering the Crops

The Egyptian shaduf is a little like a seesaw. A long wooden pole, balanced on a crossbeam, has a rope and bucket at one end, and a heavy stone weight to counterbalance it at the other. The weight of the rock makes it easier to lift a heavy bucket of water.

Did you Know?

Superphosphates – aftificial chemicals that enrich the soil – were invented by Sir John Bennett Lawes in England in 1842. But fertilizers often run into the rivers and oceans, killing fish and making algae grow,

Plow

Plows made from wood and stag antlers were invented in Egypt and India about 5,500 years ago. Simple ox-drawn plows are still used on family farms in many countries.

Tractor

Three-wheeled steam tractors, built by the Case company of America in 1829, were very heavy and often became stuck in the soft soil. Modern tractors were pioneered by Henry Ford in 1907.

Time-line

• 1794: Cotton Gin (separator) – Catherine Green and Eli Whitney, USA.
• 1831: Grain Reaper (Cutter) - Cyrus McCormick, USA.
• 1833: Steel Plow – John Lane, USA.
• 1860: Nutriculture – Julius vos Sachs, Germany.
• 1868: Granny Smith Apple – Maria Smith, Australia.
• 1889: Modern Milking Machine, William Murchland, Scottland.
• 1924: Aerial Crop Dusting, USA.
• 1939: Dot Pesticide: Paul Muller, Switzerland.
• 1975: Axial Combine Harvester – International Harvester, New Holland, USA.