The original was posted in 2013, and it can be found with comments on our companion site.
Economics of Farming with Horses
This interesting article appeared some time ago in Rural Heritage: Economics of Farming with Horses.
Cotton farmer, 1937.
At the time it ran, I subscribed to the magazine, and I even wrote a few articles for it. None of mine dealt with this topic, however. Nor could they, as I'm not a farmer, and I wouldn't know how to use a horse in farming. Or a tractor, for that matter.
Unhitching horses, 1937.
The same topic, horse vs. petroleum economics, is being explored here on the SMH site, but with a different prospective.
Army freight wagon, 1940.
It's an interesting topic, and one that we usually don't consider in this fashion. The slow (and it was slow) switch from horses to petroleum horse power, was an economic decision more than anything else. There are other factors, but the "inevitable" march of progress type of prospective is wholly in error. Gasoline powered vehicles of all types were enormously expensive originally, and gasoline was as well, contrary to the popular concept that it was darned near free. Early on, gasoline was actually more expensive in real terms than it is now, and for that matter, so were automobiles. The switch away from horse was influenced by other factors in various areas, including convenience and easy maintenance in urban settings, but dollars and cents mattered more than any other factor.
U.S. Army recruiting poster from 1919, the year after the Allied victory in World War One.
Of course, once they came in, petroleum fueled farm equipment not only came in because of an economic tipping point, they changed the economics of everything as well. After awhile, all farmers nearly had to switch to them, or such was the perception. That impacted what they could farm, and then what they had to farm. The irony of mechanization is that in the end, it not only meant fewer farm horses, it meant many fewer farmers.
World War One vintage recruiting poster for the Indiana National Guard.
I read the comments on the original post and all I can say is Holy Cow I used to write some long, detailed comments. I might need to dig out some of those old farm ledgers and read through them once again to see if I can see something now that I didn't see then.
ReplyDeleteWell I always enjoy your comments, short or long!
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