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How Tractors Changed Farming:
Roland T. Legard, Sr.
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Roland T. Legard, age 72
Courtesy of R.T. Legard Family |
R. N. Legard was from "the old school" of flesh and blood horsepower, and he had done very well plowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting with horses since bringing his family to Loudoun from southwestern Virginia in 1906. Gasoline tractors had existed since 1892, but the transition to traction power was slow - horses outnumbered tractors on American farms until 1955. "R.N." expressed his reservations to the Lovettsville Farmers Club in 1938, saying, "he didn't like the noise they made; didn't like the smoke and didn't like the smell of them." But, Roland must have felt differently, as two years later, the Legards bought an IHC "Farmall" Model H that ran on kerosene, but started with gasoline.
in Loudoun County Virginia
R.N. Legard: Wheatland Farmer
January 8, 1908: Killed 10 hogs and sold them at $5-87 ½ per #.
October 10, 1910: Sowed 10 acres of wheat. Ground is in fine condition.
May 24, 1911: Sowed 31/2 acres of oats-10 bushels of seed.
R.N. Legard Day Book, 1897-1912
History
1929-1941 The Great Depression
1939-1945 World War II
Economy 1940
United States
Total population: 131,820,000
Farm population: 30,840,000(estimated)
Farmers made up 18% of labor force
Number of farms: 6,102,000
Average acres: 175
58% of all farms had cars
25% had telephones
33% had electricity
Virginia
2,677,773
Loudoun
Population: 20,291
Farms: 1,176
Farm Acres: 279,281
Farmers: 11,793
Wheat: 402,500 Bushels
Corn: 1,381,250 Bushels
1939 Whole milk in lbs: 40,631,913 |
Science
Use of hybrid-seed corn became common in the Corn Belt
1953 Discovery of DNA.
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