Farming the Plains

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Farming the Plains
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What are Plains?

• Characteristics
• How did the US acquire the Plains?
• From who did we acquire the Plains?
• What are some obstacles facing Plains settlers?

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The Plains (sod house)
Little House on the Prairie
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Great American Desert or Paradise??

• Railroads
• Homestead Act (up to 160Acres/10) easy land
• new farming methods (dry farming)
• Inventions steel plow, seed drills, mech.
  Reapers and threshing machines

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Agricultural Inventions

• In 1837, on his own, John Deere designed the
  first cast steel plow that greatly assisted the
  Great Plains farmers. The large plows made for
  cutting the tough prairie ground were called
  "grasshopper plows." The plow was made of wrought
  iron and had a steel share that could cut through
  sticky soil without clogging. By 1855, John
  Deere's factory was selling over 10,000 steel
  plows a year.

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Agricultural Inventions

• You can see how this would increase crop
  production.

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Agricultural Inventions

• Threshing machines, designed for rapidly removing
  the husks from grain, were such an advance that
  soon many farms had them. Unfortunately, farm
  labourers did not have the knowledge of the
  hazards of the machines and did not always adopt
  the necessary vigilance. It should also be
  remembered that, in summer, the labourers were
  served beer, the only safe cool drink available,
  and each man would consume around six pints in a
  day in the hot weather. Some farms and mills even
  had their own brewery

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Agriculture Revolution

• Crop Production
• Food on the Table
• Caloric Intake
• Healthier Parents (Women )
• Healthier Babies
• Decreases IMR
• Population

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Commercial Farming

• Large farms for profit, different from family
  homestead (similar to todays farms)
• Problems supply vs. demand too much wheat on
  the world market causes prices to
  _____________________________???

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IAN