Agriculture and the Environment

Daily Activities

1975 Sperry-New Holland Combine | 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

About This Exhibit

This exhibit features tools and machinery that farmers used to grow crops, raise livestock, process eggs and dairy products, and generate power for farm use. Competing companies vied for the lucrative market. Farmers could select tractors best suited for row crops, orchards or market gardens. All machines, from husking pegs to microscopes, served a function — traction engines for threshing crews, self-propelled combines for wheat farmers and tomato harvesters for vegetable growers. The dynamic nature of farming helps make what is old new again, as many find new uses for antique horse- or ox-drawn equipment, while others turn to no-till technology. Regardless, farmer choices can transform agriculture and the environment.

Highlights

Massey-Harris Model 20 Self-Propelled Combine, 1938

"Combines" combine the major tasks of grain harvest: cutting and gathering the crop, threshing and separating the kernels from the chaff, and disposing of the straw. The Massey-Harris Model 20, introduced in 1938, culminated over 100 years of mechanical improvements. One driver operated the self-propelled machine, which reduced the need for hired help during the labor shortages of World War II.

New Holland TR70 Axial Flow Combine, 1975

Engineers designed the TR70 as a compact machine suitable for hilly terrain. The twin rotors (TR) shelled corn or threshed grain and moved it through the combine's body. Setting the rotors at an angle (axial) shortened the machine. Farmers changed the front-end attachment to harvest corn, beans, or wheat. Stencils on this prototype, exhibited at trade shows, explained additional features.

New Holland TR70 Axial Flow Combine, 1975

Fordson Tractor, 1917-1918, Used by Luther Burbank

The Fordson tractor, manufactured by Henry Ford and Son, Inc., was the first lightweight, mass-produced tractor that was affordable to the average farmer. Through this and other efforts, Henry Ford sought to relieve farmers of the burden of heavy labor. Ford gave this Fordson, the first production model, to fellow innovator Luther Burbank, creator of hundreds of new plant varieties.

Microscope Used by George Washington Carver, circa 1900

By 1900, cotton production had depleted Southern soils, so George Washington Carver (1864-1943) developed nutritious crops like peanuts that nurtured the soil and could be sold to make industrial products. He used this microscope in his laboratory at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

FMC Tomato Harvester, 1969

Tomatoes need careful handling. Growers who contract with processors used to rely on human laborers. The quest to plant and harvest more, faster, gave mechanical engineers and plant geneticists incentive to design a machine and a tomato it could harvest. The FMC Cascade Harvester carried 10-12 laborers who sorted debris out of the crop, fewer laborers than growers had needed for handpicking.

Oliver Chilled Cast Iron Plow, circa 1895

The high-quality Oliver Chilled Plow dominated the market during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its creator, James Oliver, perfected "chilling," a casting process that created durable iron moldboards and shares that retained a smooth surface during heavy use. Farmers relied on dependable plows like the Oliver when preparing soil prior to planting crops.