Farm Animals at Work
19 artifacts in this set
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The staff at The Henry Ford
Postcard with a Farmer Guiding Oxen, circa 1910
Postcard
For hundreds of years, farmers around the world used draft animals for transportation and field work. These typically included horses, mules, or oxen, as depicted in this postcard printed in Germany.
Man and Child Using a Mule-Drawn Reaper, 1875-1900
Tintype (Photograph)
Draft animals reduced the need for human labor, and when teamed up -- like the pair of mules shown here -- they could haul more and work faster. But these animals required care. They needed food and water, exercise and rest, regular grooming, and clean, comfortable lodging.
Ox Yoke with Two Bows, 1836
Yoke (Animal equipment)
Draft animals had to be fitted with special gear that, among other things, converted their forward, pushing motion into pulling power. Farmers typically used harnesses for horses, mules, and sometimes donkeys. Oxen were often fitted with yokes--wooden devices, such as this one, placed on and around the animals' necks.
Plowing for Horseradish, H. J. Heinz Company, circa 1905
Photographic print
As agricultural practices changed in the 1800s, some farmers began combining teams of draft animals -- like the two teams of horses hitched to the plow in this photograph -- to increase their hauling power. This helped meet growing demand for agricultural production. It was also easier on the individual animals.
Holt Side-Hill Combine in the Palouse Hills, Washington, circa 1907
Photographic print
Combining many teams of draft animals further increased their power. This enabled specialized production on an industrial scale. It took at least two dozen mules to haul this early combine on large “bonanza” farms in the American Northwest.
Haying on the Meadows, Northfield, Massachusetts, circa 1900
Photographic print
In addition to hauling agricultural equipment across fields, draft animals moved vehicles carrying goods, people, and anything else that needed to be transported to, from, or around farms. This team, or "yoke," of oxen hauled a heaping wagon of hay on a Massachusetts farm.
Wood Engraving, "October," 1854
Print (Visual work)
This engraving depicts animals hauling crops and powering agricultural machinery. On the right, a yoke of oxen arrives with a cart of apples. The horse at center drives a crusher to prepare apples for pressing into cider.
Man with Horse-Powered Grinder, Southwestern United States, circa 1950
Photographic print
Animals could directly power a range of agricultural machinery. Through rotational motion, a team of horses drove this grinder on a farm in the American Southwest.
Wheeler's Horse-Power and Thrasher, July 1847
Article
Farmers began to use stationary power sources in the nineteenth century as they mechanized barn or farmyard work like threshing, winnowing, corn shelling and corn grinding. Some invested in devices called "powers," which used the motion of animals to drive agricultural machinery. This advertisement depicts treadmill-type powers designed to be run by horses.
Two-Horse Treadmill-Type Horse Power, circa 1900
Treadmill
Treadmill-type powers, also called "tread powers" or "treadmills," may no longer be in common use, but the form is familiar. Animals walked on an "endless belt," a device similar to those on modern exercise treadmills. A wheel and belt converted the animals' movement to drive a variety of agricultural machinery.
Treadmill Operated by Oxen on the Perkins Farm, Bethany, Connecticut, circa 1880
Photographic print
Most treadmill-type powers were designed for horses, but other animals could use them too. A treadmill run by two oxen drove machinery in this Connecticut family's barn.
Tread Power, circa 1885
Treadmill
Scaled down treadmills, like this one, could be used by dogs, goats, or sheep. They drove small machines, such as butter churns or cream separators on dairy farms.
Tread Power, circa 1890
Treadmill
People introduced variations on the treadmill-type animal power. This "turntable" version, patented in 1882, employed a circular platform to drive a butter churn.
Horse-Powered Threshing at Ford Homestead, circa 1930
Photographic print
Sweep-type powers, also called "sweeps," used rotational motion to run heavy machines, such as saws or grain threshers. As many as 16 horses could be hitched to a sweep's arms. They walked in a circle to generate energy.
Horse-Powered Machine Used to Run Separator at the Ford Homestead Barn, 1924
Photographic print
Sweeps were cumbersome and worked horses hard. It was impractical for most farmers to own one, so they might hire someone to bring in and operate a sweep for special jobs.
Gray's Latest Improved Horse Powers Threshing Machines and Wood Sawing Machines, 1891
Trade catalog
A number of enterprising nineteenth-century manufacturers specialized in producing and selling both animal powers and the machines they were designed to drive.
Trade Card for the Ohio Special Ensilage Cutter, Silver & Deming, 1874-1890
Trade card
Engines eventually replaced animals as the main stationary power source for agricultural machinery. The transition began with large portable steam engines like the one visible just outside the barn door in this image. Gasoline engines, introduced in the first decade of the twentieth century, ultimately supplanted small animal treadmills.
Fordson Tractor Pulling Hay Wagon at Henry Ford Farms, 1917
Photographic print
Trucks and tractors driven by internal combustion engines offered farmers more horsepower than horses (or any other animal) could. These vehicles eventually displaced draft animals on most American farms during the early twentieth century.
Brochure, "The Amish Farm and House, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," 1967
Brochure
The shift was gradual, and working animals retained active roles on many farms long after internal combustion engines became available. Today, working animals provide power in a variety of ways across America and around the world, especially on organic farms and farms operated among certain cultural groups.