1. Agriculture in America:
History Summarized

2. Upland Cotton Encompassed the inlands of the colonies THE PROBLEM:
Majority of cotton grown in early America
THE PROBLEM:
Upland cotton fibers were difficult to separate from the seeds and chaff
By hand, it took one man an entire day to separate separate the seeds and debris from ONE POUND of cotton

3. Upland Cotton THE SOLUTION:
In 1794, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Engine (Cotton Gin)

4. Cotton Gin How it works: Insert cotton and turn handle
Inside is a cylinder encompassed with metal teeth that separates the fibers from the seeds and scrap

5. Cotton Gin The good: The cotton industry in America exploded
By the mid-1850s, the US was growing about ¾ of the world’s cotton supply
A modern cotton gin can now process a THOUSAND pounds of cotton per day

6. Cotton Gin The bad: Growth of slavery
Higher demand for cotton meant higher demand for slaves to pick the cotton in the fields

7. Wheat Reaper
In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the horse-drawn wheat reaper
Much faster and easier than cutting wheat by hand
Quiz: What device was used to cut wheat prior to the invention of the reaper?
Answer: The scythe
scythe

8. Agriculture in the 1860s
An estimated 58% of Americans were farmers. Today?...
Today, less than 2% of Americans are farmers
About 2/3 of America’s population lived in the Northern states. Why?...
resources
Industrialization

9. Westward Expansion
1803 – President Thomas Jefferson purchases the Louisiana Purchase from France
Doubled the size of the U.S.

10. Cattle Industry
Cattle in the newly discovered West were raised on the prairies
Cowboys attended to the herds
The problem:
Proximity to markets
The solution:

11. Landscape of the “West”
What did the land in the Louisiana Purchase look like?
Large prairies covered in native grasses
Ideal for raising cattle

12. Expansion of the railroads
The first transcontinental line of the railroad was finally completed in 1869
Provided cattlemen a way to get their cattle to the market
Railheads – stations along the railroad where cowboys could drive their cattle and load them on a train
Abilene, Kansas – one of the most important early railheads

13. Cattle Drives

14. Cattle production in the West
In 1874, Joseph Farwell Glidden patented “Thorny fence” – more commonly known as barbed wire
This invention changed the landscape of livestock farming
Cattlemen stopped raising cattle on the open prairie and settled in one particular area surrounded by fences

15. Barbed Wire Allowed for greater control of livestock
Kept cattle inside the fence
Kept other animals outside the fence

16. One more problem
With the expansion of the railroads, cattlemen could get their cattle to market
BUT………
On the way to slaughter plants in the East, cattle trampled each other
Death loss
Bruising
Crippling injuries

17. The Solution Gustavus Smith Meat packer from Chicago
Decided to have livestock slaughtered in Chicago and have the edible parts shipped to the East chilled
In 1878, he hired engineer Andrew Chase to design a Refrigerated Rail Car

18. Refrigerated Rail Cars
Refrigerated cars existed since before 1860 but were not functional in warm weather
How it worked:
Fans blew air over blocks of ice to cool the car
Ice was positioned at the top of the car so the cool air could flow downward naturally
Had better insulation than previous models

19. Refrigerated Rail Cars
Impact on meat/livestock industry
eliminated death loss during transportation
higher profits for producers
lower prices for comsumers

20. Legislation’s effect on agriculture

21. Morrill Act – 1862 “Land Grant College Act”
Established land-grant colleges
ONE IN EVERY STATE
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts were emphasized
Established for the common person
University of Nebraska - Lincoln

22. Hatch Act - 1887 Established agricultural experiment stations
Provided a scientific basis for what was taught in the land-grant colleges

23. 2nd Morrill Act
Established land-grant colleges in southern states for minorities
Provided additional funding for land grant colleges

24. Smith-Lever Act (1914)
Established the Cooperative Extension Service

25. Smith-Hughes Act (1917)
Established vocational education in public schools

26. Smith-Hughes Details
Provided federal funds to support the teaching of vocational agriculture, home economics and trade and industrial education
Provide money to train vocational teachers
Established a Federal Board for Vocational Education

27. Smith-Hughes - Agriculture
“...that such schools shall provide for directed or supervised practice in agriculture, either on a farm provided for by the school or other farm, for at least six months per year”
This was interpreted to mean that each student (including adults) is to have a “project” (crops or livestock).
If the teacher is to supervise it, then the teacher will need to be employed during the summer. This is the basis for 12 month employment of agriculture teachers.