CHAPTER X 



MACHINES, WORK, AND ENERGY 

 I. MACHINERY IN THE HOME AND ON THE FARM 



609. The Tools of the Early Colonist and Pioneer. In early 

 colonial days practically all work was done by hand. When 

 machines were used they were of the simplest kind. This has 

 always been the case with pioneers. When the colonist or 

 pioneer wished to build a new home, he supplied himself with 

 a rifle, a knife and an ax, a hatchet, and a saw and went forth 

 into the woods. With his rifle and knife he supplied himself 

 with food. With his ax he felled the trees and constructed his 

 log house. He made all his own furniture his chairs, his 

 table and his bedstead. He fashioned out of wood such other 

 conveniences as he needed. 



610. Agricultural Tools of the Colonist and Pioneer. When 

 the pioneer had " cleared" a small space around his cabin, he 

 naturally wished to raise some grain and garden truck. At 

 first, the land was generally very fertile and free from weeds; 

 little cultivation was necessary. In the spring the seed was 

 scratched into the soil. In the fall the crop was harvested 

 by using such tools as the pioneer could make. The corn was 

 shelled and the wheat threshed by hand. The corn and wheat 

 were ground into meal and flour between stones. 



Later, as the pioneer's efforts at agriculture became more 

 varied and he had oxen to help him, he secured a cast-iron 

 plow. He also secured a hand sickle and finally a cradle to aid 

 him in harvesting his grain. He likewise made a flail for 

 threshing it. As settlers became more numerous, grist mills 

 were built upon the streams, and settlers from far and near 

 carried their grain to these mills to be ground into meal and 



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