Changes in Farm Machinery 



During the period following 1870 there was also a 

 revolution in farm machinery. Before the Civil War 

 a man did well in a day to cut two acres of grain with 

 a cradle and another man did well to follow after and 

 bind the grain by hand. Then came the mower, the 

 reaper, the harvester and the self-binder. It is esti- 

 mated that in the 90's, the so-called "machine 

 period" in American agriculture, four men on the 

 farm did as much work as fourteen men in the 40's, 

 the "hand period" of agriculture. The combination 

 of increased acreage and improved farm machinery 

 resulted in overproduction of farm products. Prices 

 were forced down and farming was unprofitable. It 

 was in the 90's that in some of the western states corn 

 was used for fuel because it was cheaper than coal. 



Population and Crop Output 1900 and 1910 



However, in 1897 the farm income began to 

 struggle upward. This was about the time when the 

 population began to increase more rapidly than land 

 acreage. The situation as to farm output and increase 

 in population is further visualized in Chart 5. In the 

 decade 1899 to 1909 the total volume of farm-crop 

 output increased but 10 per cent, while the population 

 increased 21 per cent, or twice as rapidly. Prices rose 

 so that the total value of farm crops, that is quantity 

 multiplied by price, increased 83 per cent. When de- 

 mand as represented by population increases more 

 rapidly than quantity of food produced, there is a dis- 

 proportionate increase in price with a corresponding 

 increase in the value of crops. This tends to produce 

 on the one hand a higher level of food prices for con- 

 sumers and on the other hand a longer margin of 

 profit for the farmer. 



[171 



