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- Corn Planter, circa 1880 - 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 1880
- Collections - Artifact
Corn Planter, circa 1880
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, 1863 - 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.
- 1863
- Collections - Artifact
Hand Corn Planter, 1863
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.
- Hay Loader, circa 1895 - By 1887, Keystone Manufacturing advertised its mower, tedder, rake, and hay loader as "the four best haying tools in America." Operators hooked the loader to the back of a hay wagon. The tines on the cylinder picked up dry hay and deposited it on the web-slatted apron or conveyor belt. The farmer unloaded the hay from the apron into the wagon.
- circa 1895
- Collections - Artifact
Hay Loader, circa 1895
By 1887, Keystone Manufacturing advertised its mower, tedder, rake, and hay loader as "the four best haying tools in America." Operators hooked the loader to the back of a hay wagon. The tines on the cylinder picked up dry hay and deposited it on the web-slatted apron or conveyor belt. The farmer unloaded the hay from the apron into the wagon.