The American farmer always sought profit and relied upon innovation to achieve this end. Early Indiana farmers were no different. Hoosiers of the 19th century were innovators in agricultural equipment. Firms such as the Oliver Plow Works in South Bend and Gaar-Scott separators and steam engines of Richmond played roles in the technological revolution that changed much of American agriculture. Tillers have long recognized the value of Indiana soil and many have realized a comfortable living from their toil. In the 19th century, Hoosier farmers considered issues familiar to farmers today. Deciding which crops to plant, what livestock to raise, and whether to use improved implements were just as important to the 19th-century agriculturist as they are to his modern cousin. This is not to say that there were also not major differences.

Though the modern farmer is often surrounded by technology, early farmers initially had limited choices. For example, early cast iron plows could be brittle and farmers sought improvements. The cast-iron moldboard plow was sold in Indianapolis, Brookville, and produced at the Richmond Foundry. Agriculturists were not satisfied with cast iron and by 1845 the firm of Beard and Sinex of Richmond manufactured a wrought iron plow, and later produced a steel plow that received awards at Indiana and Ohio fairs in the early 1850s. Improvements were made in machines to aid in small grain production. Planters, reapers, threshing machines, and fanning mills were used to increase the acreage and profits from wheat production, though many farmers still relied on hand rather than horse-power.

Corn has long been king in Indiana. However, the fields of the 19th century presented an entirely different appearance than the fields of today. Rather than rows of corn drilled a few inches apart, the 19th century farmer allowed three feet between his hills of corn. The distance between plants was necessary to allow a horse to pass through both the length and width of the field to plow between rows to eliminate weeds. Typically, corn was planted between late April and the first of June, cultivated (weeded) a few times, and harvested from late summer to early winter. The harvest was accomplished by cutting the corn at the base and bundling it into shocks. One farmer suggested that "broom twine" served this function quite well. Ears were gathered from the shocks and hauled to a barn or corn crib (rail pens were used for storage, too). As the corn was picked farmers selected the best ears to use as seed for the coming spring. This method of seed selection was common throughout the Midwest into the 1940s. This open-pollinated corn provided farmers with an average yield around forty bushels per acre, the hybrid corn grown by today’s farmer yields around 150 bushels per acre.

While corn was fed primarily to livestock, wheat provided a source of direct income. Farmers could take their wheat to a local buyer or mill and sell their excess grain. Wheat did not require the intense cultivation of corn but harvest was just as labor-intensive. Prior to 1850 mechanical reapers were seldom used and workers were hired to harvest grains using cradling scythes. These scythes had a framework of wooden teeth attached to the blade which caught the grain as it was cut. The grain had to be reaped before it was completely dry or it would shatter as it was cut and the grain would be lost. Other workers bundled and bound the wheat into sheaves which were stacked into shocks, which allowed the wheat to dry in the field. When the wheat dried it was hauled to a granary or stored in a larger stack until it was threshed.

Threshing grain could be done by machine, treading by livestock, or manually by beating it with a flail. Threshing shattered the heads of the grain and removed it from the straw. The final process of wheat processing was winnowing. Fanning mills separated the grain from the chaff and had come into use by many farmers. John Conner owned half an interest in a fanning mill which appeared on his estate inventory when he died in 1826.

The animals on Indiana farms of the early republic were similar in types to today’s livestock but similarities ended with general descriptions. Animals of the period were generally smaller. The physical appearance of the animals differed greatly from today’s genetically-selected animal. Specific breeds were rare and the level of care afforded these valuable commodities would shock most of us today. Such practices as tying young steers tails together for training as oxen, leaving animals unsheltered or unfenced would not be acceptable by current standards. It is likely most farmers treated their livestock with discipline and concern but the romantic view of a gentler past is unsubstantiated.

Cattle served a variety of purposes on the farm. Cows were milked and the cream was used for butter. Steers could be utilized for beef and hides, but were also valued as draft animals. Oxen provided power for little investment during early settlement. However as agriculture became more mechanized, the ox fell out of use. Horses had almost entirely replaced oxen in Indiana by the year 1850. Besides this conversion in animals, the horse itself was being bred larger as mares and stallions from Europe were imported to improve the bloodlines of American horses. These horses would serve as the progenitors of the large draft horses of today. However these 19th-century versions of Percheron horses, and later Belgians, were also smaller in stature than their offspring. Even if horses worked faster than cattle a debate over which was the superior draft animal continued through the American agricultural press of the mid-nineteenth century.

The most valuable animal, as is true today in Indiana, was the hog. Swine provided meat and lard. Today’s consumer is conscious of the health value of lean meat, but in the nineteenth century lard had a marketable value, too. John Goodwin, a Brookville farmer, noted in his diary on December 22, 1852, "I started the hogs. We have 83." On the 31st, he noted, "I got home from Cincinnati, got 6.80 for pork," it is presumed this price is per hundred weight. The hogs Goodwin took to market usually weighed around 200 lbs, which translates to $13.60 per hog, for a total of $1,128.80. Goodwin often drove hogs for his neighbors so the entire return may not have been his. However the economic impact of this commodity was just as important to the Hoosier farmer of the nineteenth century as it is today.

As the century neared its midpoint many farmers of the Old Northwest had embraced improved equipment, livestock, and practices. Agricultural journals, state and county agricultural societies, and local papers promoted progressive agriculture. In 1835? Indiana passed a statute promoting the formation of county agricultural societies and many counties held a fair in 1835. Though not all farmers were interested in book methods or improved tillage technology and innovation fueled the farm economy of Indiana. The farmer of the early 19th century provided the foundation for Indiana’s current strength as an agricultural producer.

Leo E. Landis, formerly a curator at Conner Prairie, is the Curator of Agriculture at Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. A Doctoral Candidate in Rural Studies at Iowa State University, his dissertation topic is an agricultural history of Indiana.

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