Illinois State Museum

• Hand Tools

• Horse-drawn Machinery

• Early Horse-drawn Machinery

• Horse-drawn John Deere Plow

• Horse-drawn Harrow

• Horse-drawn Manure Spreader

• Horse-drawn Seed Planter

• Patent Models

• Automated Machinery

Early Mechanization of Farming

In the 1830s, there was a proliferation of new tools invented for agriculture. They included seed drills, shellers, mills, plows, and reapers. Many farmers were reluctant to try them because of their cost and sometimes their lack of quality. Many small farmers could not afford the new machines.

Some reformers did not approve of the machines that allowed farmers to plow, till, cultivate, and harvest greater amounts of land because it meant that even more land would be destroyed by over-cultivation. They felt that the long term health of the land and the wealth of future generations of farm families would be sacrificed to the quick money made from bigger harvests now.

Other people, however, believed that machinery was a boon to agriculture and would make it the greatest industry of the country. Between 1850 and 1860 the value of new farming equipment rose 160 per cent to $17,000,000. The average farmer in 1860, according to the 1860 census report, had about one thousand dollars worth of equipment. These included:

Three plows
Subsoil plow
Corn planter
Seed drill
Combined mower and reaper
Scythes
Manure forks
Hoes
Wagons