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- One Row Corn Planter, circa 1855 - Farmers planted corn in hills during the 19th century. That started a year-round effort to raise food for livestock and farm family. Some used single-row planters like this. Then they cultivated with a shovel plow until corn was knee-high. They then planted squash or pumpkins to keep down weeds and retain moisture (a form of double cropping). At harvest they husked ears (to feed pigs) and shocked stalks (to feed cattle).
- circa 1855
- Collections - Artifact
One Row Corn Planter, circa 1855
Farmers planted corn in hills during the 19th century. That started a year-round effort to raise food for livestock and farm family. Some used single-row planters like this. Then they cultivated with a shovel plow until corn was knee-high. They then planted squash or pumpkins to keep down weeds and retain moisture (a form of double cropping). At harvest they husked ears (to feed pigs) and shocked stalks (to feed cattle).
- Corn Planter, circa 1875 - Farmers started a year-round effort to raise food for livestock and the farm family by planting corn in hills. Double-row planters cut the time required to plant in half. Farmers cultivated with a shovel plow until corn was knee-high. They then planted squash or pumpkins to retain soil moisture (a form of double cropping). At harvest they husked ears (to feed pigs) and shocked stalks (to feed cattle).
- circa 1875
- Collections - Artifact
Corn Planter, circa 1875
Farmers started a year-round effort to raise food for livestock and the farm family by planting corn in hills. Double-row planters cut the time required to plant in half. Farmers cultivated with a shovel plow until corn was knee-high. They then planted squash or pumpkins to retain soil moisture (a form of double cropping). At harvest they husked ears (to feed pigs) and shocked stalks (to feed cattle).
- Hand Corn Planter, 1890 - Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.
- circa 1890
- Collections - Artifact
Hand Corn Planter, 1890
Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.
- Three-Shovel Cultivator, circa 1850 -
- circa 1850
- Collections - Artifact
Three-Shovel Cultivator, circa 1850
- Cultivator, circa 1873 -
- circa 1873
- Collections - Artifact
Cultivator, circa 1873
- Hand Corn Planter, circa 1882 - Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.
- circa 1882
- Collections - Artifact
Hand Corn Planter, circa 1882
Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.
- Donaldson Brothers Cultivator, circa 1900 -
- circa 1900
- Collections - Artifact
Donaldson Brothers Cultivator, circa 1900
- Hand Planter - Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.
- Collections - Artifact
Hand Planter
Beginning in the 1850s, farmers could plant corn by jabbing the metal tip of this planter into the ground. Activating the lever would drop the seeds into the hole. This device may have sped up planting, but it remained a tool for small acreage farms or planting areas missed by horse-drawn mechanical seed drills.
- Agricultural Equipment in Henry Ford Museum, circa 1941 - Irving Bacon, a Ford Motor Company employee and Henry Ford's personal artist, created pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate guidebooks for the Edison Institute Museum and Greenfield Village (now The Henry Ford) when they officially opened to the public in 1933. An illustrated souvenir guidebook helped visitors navigate the exhibits and grounds. Ford also used these drawings in other company publications.
- circa 1941
- Collections - Artifact
Agricultural Equipment in Henry Ford Museum, circa 1941
Irving Bacon, a Ford Motor Company employee and Henry Ford's personal artist, created pen-and-ink drawings to illustrate guidebooks for the Edison Institute Museum and Greenfield Village (now The Henry Ford) when they officially opened to the public in 1933. An illustrated souvenir guidebook helped visitors navigate the exhibits and grounds. Ford also used these drawings in other company publications.
- Tread Power, circa 1885 - As farmers mechanized barn and farmyard work in the nineteenth century, they began to use stationary power sources. Some invested in animal treadmills, which used the same "endless belt" concept as modern exercise treadmills to convert animals' movement into power for a range of agricultural machinery. This version, designed for dogs, goats, or sheep, could run small machines like butter churns or cream separators.
- circa 1885
- Collections - Artifact
Tread Power, circa 1885
As farmers mechanized barn and farmyard work in the nineteenth century, they began to use stationary power sources. Some invested in animal treadmills, which used the same "endless belt" concept as modern exercise treadmills to convert animals' movement into power for a range of agricultural machinery. This version, designed for dogs, goats, or sheep, could run small machines like butter churns or cream separators.